President Donald Trump used sexist tropes while sharply criticizing CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins on Wednesday, the latest in a long string of incidents in which the president has crudely attacked female journalists.
The Republican was in the middle of a lengthy answer to another reporter’s question about the president’s now-shuttered $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund proposal when the president began attacking Collins. “A young beautiful woman, never smiles,” Trump said. “I never see a smile off her face. I see her standing there with hatred in her eyes, like she has hatred, because we had borders, because we have a strong military, because we cut our taxes, because we do things that everybody wanted, and then we win our election in a massive landslide.”
The president slammed Collins again when she mentioned Republican concerns that the fund, which critics called a “slush fund,” could pay January 6 rioters that faced prison for attacking police officers. “The fake news, like CNN, like The New York Times, and like others, have abused our people, have abused our people so badly,” Trump said. “And you should be ashamed of yourself. You used to be a conservative. She was a conservative from Alabama, can you believe it? But CNN in particular does such false reporting, but now they have new ownership, so maybe it’ll straighten out, but I doubt it.”
The president appeared to be referring to the pending deal from his allies the Ellison family to buy the news network’s parent company Warner Bros. Discovery. “Kaitlan Collins is an exceptional journalist, reporting every day from the White House and the field with real depth and tenacity,” a CNN spokesperson told The Independent in a statement. “She skillfully brings that reporting to the anchor chair and CNN platforms every day, which audiences around the world know they can trust.”
Fellow journalists rallied to the defense of Collins. “I’m sure Kaitlan Collins is not rattled in the least by these casual, sexist, repeated attacks by Trump,” editor Amanda Carpenter wrote on X. “Her steadiness should be a reminder that NO woman owes any man her smile.”
The president has berated Collins in the past along similar lines, complaining that she didn’t smile after the CNN reporter asked Trump in February about the Epstein files. “It’s not a laughing matter, I don’t think, to talk about sex trafficking victims,” Collins said on a podcast later that month. “And I’ve interviewed a lot of these women who were underage girls at the time and their stories are powerful.”
President Trump is known for his harsh verbal attacks on perceived rivals and critics, but he has reserved special vitriol for female journalists who ask him pointed questions. Last month, when asked about the administration’s focus on projects like renovating the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool amid economic struggles for average Americans, the president accused ABC News reporter Rachel Scott of being a “horror show” and “a disgrace to our country.” Last year, the president told a female reporter, “Quiet, piggy,” when asked about the Epstein files.
