Does UA Grad & CNN Reporter Kaitlan Collins Scare Trump?
Does the Cable News Network's reporter and anchor Kaitlan Collins scare President Trump? Some of his former staffers think so.
The University of Alabama graduate has made a rapid rise to the top of her profession and is becoming a media star partly thanks to constant attacks on her by the president. She regularly draws his ire because she is a tough questioner and doesn't back down.
Trump's harsh insults and personal attacks have included calling the Prattville native "Stupid and Nasty", "The Worst Reporter", "Corrupt", has claimed she has "Hatred in her eyes", and says he has never seen her smile. He has also alleged there is something wrong with Collins.
Trump's most recent attacks on Collins came during an Oval Office briefing last Wednesday. It garned national and international media attention and prompted former Trump White House press aides Sarah Matthews and Stephanie Grisham to defend CNN's Chief White House Reporter.
During a conversation with Abby Phillips on CNN's Wednesday's edition of NewsNight, Matthews said, “I will say that during my time working as Deputy Press Secretary in the first Trump administration, Kaitlan Collins was the one reporter that scared Kayleigh McEnany (former White House press secretary) and President Trump the most. There would be times where Kayleigh McEnany wouldn’t even call on Kaitlan Collins at press conferences, at press briefings, because she didn’t want to answer the questions because Kaitlan Collins is a very very good reporter.”
During the appearance, Matthews noted she has seen Collins frequently smile but when its her turn to ask a question, she is all business and Trump doesn't know how to handle that by a woman.
Academy Award winning actor Sean Penn has even defended and complemented Collins. During an interview with Collins at the 25th annual Tribeca Festival Friday, Variety quoted Penn telling Collins she’s “brought so much of what real integrity is to covering this president” while noting that “if anybody ever had any question of who’d win the stare-down contest, I think this week was a killer."
Collins has other ditractors such as Vice President J.D. Vance, who has also critcized her for not smiling, Conservative host Megyn Kelly has called her "boring" and lacking personality.
Instead of damaging Collin's career, Trump's constant attention has actually boosted her popularity. The Source with Kaitlan Collins, typically averages between 500,000 and 600,000 total viewers. This makes the 8:00 p.m. Central Time hour program one of the network's top-performing shows.
No doubt the soap opera that is the contention between Trump and Collins will continue.
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