Acosta made the comment during an interview with Trump’s niece, Mary Trump, on Sunday evening.
He noted that the former president had decried the recent removal of the Lee statue in Richmond, Virginia—one of the country’s most notable monuments related to the Confederacy that Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam ordered to be removed following nationwide protests over the death of George Floyd last summer.
When the statue came down last week, Donald Trump issued a statement claiming: “Our culture is being destroyed” and praising Lee as “the greatest strategist of them all.”
He also claimed the war in Afghanistan would have ended in “a complete and total victory many years ago” if Lee has been leading troops.
“Where do you start? It’s just baffling in its brainlessness and just craziness,” Acosta said, after reading part of the statement.
“And it’s dangerousness because people listen to him and, shockingly, as you say, 63 percent of Republicans want him to be leader of their party,” Mary Trump added.
She continued: “He seems to forget the fact that for four years, he was commander-in-chief and did nothing but weaken our position in Afghanistan, first of all.
“Secondly, he clearly knows absolutely nothing about American history. Robert E. Lee was very far from being a brilliant general. And beside which, Robert E. Lee was a traitor to this country who was directly responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans which sounds very familiar so maybe that’s why Donald identifies with him so much.”
At this point, Acosta suggested that: “Maybe he identifies with the fact that he’s a loser.”
Acosta said: “He lost. Trump lost. They’re both losers.”
“Unfortunately, I don’t think people who support him see him as being a sore loser, even though he is, of course, because it’s a lie that he won the election,” Mary Trump noted earlier in the interview.
Continuing Support of Republicans
“The problem is that he’s continuing to be supported by Republican leadership or at least not criticized by them.”
She also denounced her uncle for supplying commentary for a boxing match on the 20th anniversary of 9/11.
“Last I checked, nobody pushed back on the fact that on the 20th anniversary of the worst tragedy to hit this country, he was commentating a boxing match to line his own pockets,” she said.
“It’s entirely in keeping in what Donald always does. He doesn’t understand dignity. He doesn’t understand tragedy. He doesn’t understand anything that doesn’t pertain directly to him.”
A spokesperson for Donald Trump has been contacted for comment.
