CNN White House Correspondent Jim’s Acosta’s tell-all book, “The Enemy of The People,” describes his time “fighting on the front lines in President Trump’s war on truth.”
Acosta showed up Wednesday to the Barnes & Noble in Arlington, Virginia, for an impromptu book signing. Acosta tweeted out pictures of himself at the “surprise signing” displaying a stack of books and himself signing one.
Surprise signing at Arlington, Virginia Barnes & Noble! pic.twitter.com/8UCrbfwsQ4
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) June 13, 2019
An Arlington Barnes & Noble employee told The Daily Caller the signing was not a planned event, but Acosta had called the store in advance to alert them he would be coming. The employee told the Caller the signing consisted of Acosta standing behind a counter and signing books for about an hour.
“It was kind of very quiet — he showed up and signed,” she said. She said there were “no customers waiting for him to sign his book” — he simply appeared without an announcement.
A manager at the Arlington Barnes & Noble told the Caller that the store sold “like 30-or-something” copies of Acosta’s book while he was there. He said the store still has some of Acosta’s books in stock.
Acosta’s signing drew comments on social media, many of which mocked him for what they perceived as a small number of people at the signing.
“Jim Acosta goes unnoticed at book signing, signs book for himself,” one person captioned the photo Acosta had tweeted at the event:
Jim Acosta goes unnoticed at book signing, signs book for himself pic.twitter.com/e2KhyeMRIc
— Jack Posobiec ???????? (@JackPosobiec) June 13, 2019
Sean Hannity’s website reported an article titled “All By Himself: Jim Acosta Makes ‘Surprise’ Bookstore Appearance, No One Shows Up.” The article says Acosta’s pictures show him “waiting to sign copies of his new book to a near-empty store.”
While promoting his book today in an interview with Wolf Blitzer, host of CNNs “The Situation Room,” Acosta discussed the theme of his book, which was released Tuesday. “I think the question becomes whether or not a reporter in this country is hurt, or God forbid killed, as a result of this escalating rhetoric,” he said, referring to what he calls President Donald Trump’s “hostility” towards the press.
The description of “The Enemy of the People” on Amazon says it is a “first-hand account of the dangers [Acosta] faces reporting on the current White House.” The title of the book is a reference to a tweet Trump made regarding the press that used the same phrase.
Acosta drew a sizable crowd Tuesday for a formal event on his book at Barnes & Noble Union Square. He also made appearances this week on CNN’s “Reliable Sources,” CBS’s “Sunday Morning,” and C-SPAN’s “After Words” to promote the book.
Friday night Acosta’s book was ranked No. 163 in books on Amazon, and his publisher was selling it at a 20% discount.