CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins has a theory about why Donald Trump often criticizes her.
Collins, whom Trump has now twice attacked for “not smiling,” said in an April interview published Wednesday that she doesn’t think Trump likes her questions in the White House Briefing Room.
Collins, one of several female reporters Trump has lashed out at, discussed the 79-year-old president’s track record on that front with New York Times White House Correspondent Shawn McCreesh in Interview Magazine.
“Well, I don’t think the president likes tough questions from anyone, and he’s threatened a lot of our colleagues who are men, like Jonathan Karl and Peter Alexander. But I do think that this term, people have started to notice the difference in his reaction when women like Mary Bruce or Nancy Cordes are doing the questioning,” Collins said.
Collins, 34, also mentioned how Trump shouted “Quiet, piggy!” at Bloomberg’s Catherine Lucey when she asked about the release of the Epstein files last November.
“All of them are excellent reporters. They don’t need our defense because they know they’re awesome,” Collins said.
The anchor of The Source then discussed Trump’s irritable reaction in a February Oval Office encounter when she asked him about Jeffrey Epstein’s victims.
“When I asked him about Epstein in the Oval Office, he said, ‘In the 10 years you’ve covered me, I’ve never seen you smile.’ He was surrounded by lawmakers and was showing off all these new hats he had on his desk, and I was thinking about what questions I wanted to ask regarding a sex trafficker who ruined the lives of dozens of women,” Collins said.
“I think a lot of people have been frustrated with how his people handled Epstein, and then, to understand that he wasn’t even really listening to the question,” she continued.
Last week, Trump again laid into Collins over her expression after she asked about the Department of Justice’s scrapped “weaponization” fund and how even Republicans had objected to it.
“You are so bad. You know, you are the worst reporter. No wonder,” Trump said then. “CNN has no ratings because of people like you.”
“She’s a young woman,” he continued. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you smile. I’ve known you for 10 years. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a smile on your face.”
Collins told McCreesh that the way Trump comes off in front of cameras is partly a character.
“I do think he’s very much someone who is one way in front of the cameras and another when he’s off the record. He has always played the media game. He used to impersonate someone and call in and speak positively about himself,” she said. “I think his base doesn’t always realize he seeks validation from the same mainstream media they all trash.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
