CNN's Kaitlan Collins addresses Trump's tirade of insults at her as president launches fresh attack at reporter
Topics: US News, Donald Trump
Callum Jones
Featured Image Credit: YouTube/Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen
Topics: US News, Donald Trump
CNN journalist Kaitlan Collins has addressed the criticism she's faced from Donald Trump in recent months, including a recent insult where the president stated she has 'hatred in her eyes'.
Reporters were present in the Oval Office on Wednesday (June 3) as Trump signed yet another executive order in front of press at the White House.
During one instance, the president was responding to a question about his decision to drop the $1.776 billion anti-weaponisation fund, before then lashing out at CNN and Collins, in particular.
Trump said: "You know the good advantage to sitting here is we can get information that you wouldn't get. But I said what we have and what we are going to be showing over the coming weeks and months, you're not even going to believe. Some of you will believe it. Like CNN will believe it because they knew what was going on. They're crooked as hell."
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Specifically targeting the CNN reporter, the president added: "CNN's a very corrupt organization, with a corrupt reporter standing right there, never smiles. She never... a young beautiful woman [who] never smiles. I never see a smile off her face. I see her standing there with hatred in her eyes."
Trump went on to claim that Collins' 'hatred' was because 'we have borders, because we have a strong military, because we cut our taxes, because we do things that everybody wanted'.
It's not the first time Trump has insulted Collins, with the reporter asked on Watch What Happens with Andy Cohen recenlty if she sees a journalist saying 'f*** you' to the president in response to attacks.
Collins said: "Never say never I guess, but I truly think as a reporter you shouldn't make it about yourself, it's about the president, the person you're questioning. But we are people too. When he told me I should smile more when I was asking him about sexual assault victims, in that moment I thought, 'This is not going to be received well by people in terms of the line of questioning and what it's about.'"
Amid the continued attacks from Trump, including an incident in February in which the president said the journalist 'never smiles', her employer has continually backed her, telling The New York Post Collins ‘is an exceptional journalist, reporting every day from the White House and the field with real depth and tenacity’.
“She skilfully brings that reporting to the anchor chair and CNN platforms every day, which audiences around the world know they can trust,” the outlet added.