This is the second time this year they’ve rejected a Trump spot. They turned down the first one three months ago because it referred to “fake news,” which is understandable. Why would a publication run an ad that calls their own product bogus?

The supposed crime this time is describing the media as “enemies” of Trump. What percentage of reporters would privately concede the accuracy of that characterization? Ninety? Jim Acosta probably has an “Enemy of Trump” onesie he wears to bed at night. After standing in front of the mirror for 20 minutes and admiring how it looks on him, of course.

“CNN would accept the ad if the images of reporters and anchors are removed,” a network spokesperson said in a statement to BuzzFeed News. “Anchors and reporters don’t have ‘enemies,’ as the ad states, but they do hold those in power accountable across the political spectrum and aggressively challenge false and misleading statements and investigate wrong-doing.”

“Today, CNN provided further proof that the network earns this mistrust every day by censoring President Trump’s message to the American people by blocking our paid campaign ad,” Michael Glassner, executive director of Trump’s reelection efforts, said in a statement. “Clearly, the only viewpoint CNN allows on air is CNN’s.”

Weirdly enough, unless I missed it, Acosta isn’t included in the roll call of unfriendly journalists in the clip. I wonder if that was an oversight or a clever snub by Team Trump, knowing that the worst thing you can do to a grandstander like Jim is to ignore him.

Exit question: Trump’s campaign deliberately baits the media in its ads hoping that it’ll get CNN or MSNBC or one of the broadcast networks to reject them, right? Controversy draws an audience; this ad has nearly a million views on YouTube already, thanks in part to CNN rendering it taboo. No one understands how this works better than a media manipulator as practiced as the president.