A deranged raccoon caused a commotion outside the White House when it made a beeline for a news anchor who had to fight the creature off.
The CNN reporter, Joe Johns, was minutes from a live broadcast when the furry animal attacked yesterday morning, October 7.
In footage recorded by the crew, Joe has a stand-off with the raccoon and things quickly get physical.
“Get!” he roars, yelling: “There he is!”
The raccoon is off-screen but Joe has turned around and appears to be looking at something right in front of him.
He then throws a box at the animal and makes an aggressive growling sound.
Joe Johns battles a raccoon before giving his CNN report (Image: CNN)
Seamlessly, he turns around and delivers his report to the screen.
“Now, no events on the President’s schedule today…” he says.
Later, the undeterred raccoon comes back for another pop at him.
Spotting the animal, Joe says: “Frickin’ raccoons, man. God, again!
“This is the second time! Jesus. It always comes around right around when I’m about to go on TV.”
Raccoons are one of the wild animals in the US which can transmit rabies to humans (Image: Getty stock)
Unsurprisingly, the hilarious footage has been watched more than 1.8million times since it was shared on Twitter by CNN’s Alisyn Camerota who complimented her colleague’s cool-headed demeanor.
She tweeted: “This is what a consummate professional @joejohnscnn is. Seconds before his @NewDay live shot, he fends off a raccoon attack!
“Just another day in the nutty news cycle.”
Many people sided with Joe and said the raccoons were a nuisance and others believed it might have bitten him if it had the chance.
“What kind of shoddy security are they running there at the white house?!?! seriously, very impressed with the cool reaction,” tweeted one supporter.
A second said: “Didn’t something similar happen at an event last week? What’s up with overt raccoon boldness at the WH?”
Meanwhile, a raccoon fan commented: “Hilarious! I found raccoon paw prints on the inside of my windshield after my van door was left open overnight and the garbage can was overturned but nothing other than garbage taken.”
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
