CNN’s Jim Acosta compares ridicule he endured from Trump to physical abuse

The comment came during Monday night’s handover between his fill-in hosting gig and Don Lemon Tonight, according to Fox News.

Acosta said he still had "marks on my back" for his time service as a White House correspondent during the Trump presidency.

"As someone who witnessed the unraveling of our democracy, had a front row seat to it … is it better? Worse? Can we turn this around in your estimation? You were the White House correspondent for the entire Trump reign," CNN host Don Lemon asked Acosta.

Acosta is currently hosting a week-long show about democracy being in "peril," occurring during disgraced former CNN host Chris Cuomo's time slot.

"Yeah. And I've got the marks on my back to prove it, Don," Acosta said.

Acosta laughed, and added that he thought American democracy is currently in worse shape than it was under the Trump administration.

Acosta claimed that the country is "facing a crisis," saying that future elections could be "thrown into chaos" due to questions being raised about the legitimacy of the 2020 election.

"To some extent things are better. I mean, today we had the president of the United States refer to a reporter as an S.O.B. You know, Don, you and I got called a lot worse back in the day. We never got an apology. I don’t remember that from the commander in chief. So maybe things are a little bit better to some extent," Acosta said.