President Trump repeatedly criticized CNN’s Kaitlan Collins in the Oval Office Wednesday, accusing her of “false reporting” and “never” smiling.
Collins asked Trump about the status of the Justice Department’s $1.776 “anti-weaponization fund” following a Republican revolt on Capitol Hill, which set the president off.
“I thought that was the greatest thing,” Trump said of potential payouts for victims of lawfare, “because people like you have abused our people so badly.”
President Trump repeatedly criticized CNN’s Kaitlan Collins in the Oval Office on Wednesday. AP Photo/Alex Brandon
CNN journalist Kaitlan Collins works ahead of a press briefing by US President Donald Trump in the Brady Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, DC. AFP via Getty ImagesWhen Collins attempted to interject, the president shut her down.
“Be quiet … you should be ashamed of yourself. You used to be a conservative,” Trump told the reporter. “She used to be a conservative from Alabama. Can you believe it? But CNN, in particular CNN, does such false reporting, but now they have new ownership, so maybe it’ll straighten it out. I doubt it. It’s hard to straighten garbage out.”
Collins didn’t respond to Trump’s criticisms aside from noting that she’s “still from Alabama.”
Earlier, the president called CNN “a very corrupt organization, with a corrupt reporter [Collins] standing right there, never smiles.”
“Young, beautiful woman, never smiles,” Trump said of Collins. “I never see a smile on her face.”
“I see her standing with such hatred in her eyes.”
Trump accused Collins of “false reporting” and “never” smiling. AFP via Getty ImagesA CNN spokesperson told The Post that Collins “is an exceptional journalist, reporting every day from the White House and the field with real depth and tenacity.”
“She skillfully brings that reporting to the anchor chair and CNN platforms every day, which audiences around the world know they can trust,” the spokesperson added.
Trump has previously slammed Collins, who began her career as an entertainment reporter and later White House correspondent for the Daily Caller, as CNN’s “worst reporter.”
Collins joined CNN in 2017 to cover the first Trump administration.
Trump’s attacks on Collins mark his latest outburst toward a female journalist.He lashed out at the New York Times’ Katie Rogers last November, calling her “ugly, both inside and out,” and admonished Bloomberg News’ Catherine Lucey aboard Air Force that same month, telling her, “Quiet, piggy.”
