CNN's Acosta blasts Sanders and other Trump officials: 'They can't keep gaslighting the American people'

CNN's Jim Acosta on Friday lowered the boom on White House press secretary Sarah Sanders and other officials, telling host Anderson Cooper the "gaslighting" of the American people needed to stop.

"In the press corps I think 'lost confidence' would be an expression that might be used by some of my colleagues," Acosta began. "But then again, there have been concerns about what Sarah has been saying for some time now, I think that just goes without saying."

"For some time we just haven't heard from Sarah Sanders in the White House press corps," Acosta went on. "We've only had two White House press briefings in the last 100 days which is a pretty staggering data point, I think, for somebody who is a taxpayer funded public servant, somebody working on behalf of the taxpayers."

"Until Sarah deals with it in a more effective way than she did this morning, where she was just sort of shouting at news anchors asking legitimate questions," he said of growing calls for her resignation, "this conversation about whether or not Sarah should continue is just something we're going to be hearing about for the -- until she really deals with this."

Cooper noted that it wasn't just Sanders who was lying to the public -- in fact, the administration had also tried to get Rod Rosenstein to lie as well.

"They do not view talking to the public, talking to the press in the same way that they view talking to the FBI or talking in a situation where they could perjure themselves," Acosta said. "They view lying to the press as another day at the office."

"I hate to put it in those terms because it sounds rather harsh," he went on. "What Sarah Sanders is getting raked over for over the last 24 hours memorialized in the Mueller report, remember Sean Spicer was doing that before Sarah Sanders became the White House press secretary."

"It has, I think, shaken the confidence in the American people in terms of what they're hearing coming out of the White House," Acosta said. "They can't keep gaslighting the American people from their taxpayer-funded positions inside of the White House."

Watch the video below.