Journalist mocked Trump supporters who berated Jim Acosta - here's what he says now

A reporter for Politico viciously mocked supporters of President Donald Trump from his social media account during the president's rally in Tampa, Florida, but later changed his tune.

'I made fun of garbage people'

Politico's Marc Caputo came to the defense of CNN reporter Jim Acosta, who was being berated and heckled by the rancorous audience at the president's rally Tuesday, but he did it by attacking the president's supporters.

"If you put everyone's mouths together in this video, you'd get a full set of teeth," he posted in a now-deleted tweet with a video provided by Acosta of the crowd heckling him.

Just a sample of the sad scene we faced at the Trump rally in Tampa. I’m very worried that the hostility whipped up by Trump and some in conservative media will result in somebody getting hurt. We should not treat our fellow Americans this way. The press is not the enemy. pic.twitter.com/IhSRw5Ui3R

— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) August 1, 2018

"Oh no! I made fun of garbage people jeering at another person as they falsely accused him of lying and flipped him off," Caputo said in a second now-deleted tweet.

"Someone fetch a fainting couch," he added sarcastically.

Caputo continued on to those who objected to his tweets on social media.

'Divisiveness serves no decent purpose'

On Wednesday, Caputo deleted the mocking missives and apologized in a trio of tweets explaining why he did what he did.

"I need to apologize for tweeting caustic remarks after seeing a reporter berated & abused. Hate begets hate. My comments referred ONLY to those jeering and swearing at the man, not a broad swath of people," he tweeted.

I need to apologize for tweeting caustic remarks after seeing a reporter berated & abused. Hate begets hate. My comments referred ONLY to those jeering and swearing at the man, not a broad swath of people. But the fault is mine for causing confusion and feeding anger. 1/3

— Marc Caputo (@MarcACaputo) August 1, 2018

"But the fault is mine for causing confusion and feeding anger."

"In the age of social media, where divisiveness serves no decent purpose, these flippant comments on my part only made things worse and contributed to a cycle of rage that I should not have inflamed further," he continued. "So I'm sorry."

"While it’s usually a good idea to just delete tweets that are wrong," he added in a third tweet, "I own this and the criticism (both accurate and misleading) that has followed. I'll do better."

While it’s usually a good idea to just delete tweets that are wrong, I own this and the criticism (both accurate and misleading) that has followed. I'll do better. Here they are: 3/3 pic.twitter.com/G2rZrHjYWb

— Marc Caputo (@MarcACaputo) August 1, 2018

Acosta had reported live from the rally while the attendees were yelling at him and trying to drown him out.

“And Wolf, just to give you a sense of what’s happening right now,” Acosta said to CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer, “you can hear there is a chorus of boos and other chants in this Trump crowd here in Tampa, Florida.”

“They’re saying things like ‘CNN sucks,’ ‘go home,’ and ‘fake news,'” he added.

Some came to Acosta's defense from the attacks by the Trump rally attendees, but others, like Trump ally Sean Hannity, said that he deserved the abusive treatment because of his bias against the president.