Donald Trump is losing control thanks to his fear of Kaitlan Collins and other journalists he has banned, according to his late-night nemesis.
On Tuesday night’s episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the host exposed just how afraid Trump is of Collins.
Last week, the 80-year-old president invoked an unprecedented ban on journalists from CNN, MS NOW, and Politico, keeping the outlets away from the White House and sounding an alarm on press freedom in the country.
CNN’s Collins, 34, has long intimidated Trump, who, in turn, lashes out at the journalist every chance he gets. The latest incident came at the United Nations General Assembly, just days after he spearheaded the White House press bans. As the president and first lady Melania Trump walked into the U.N.’s New York headquarters, Trump had a meltdown at the sight of Collins, who had been accredited by the U.N.
Kimmel described Collins’ presence as “a very unwelcome surprise” for the president.
“You should not be here covering me,” Trump fired at Collins. “You said you weren’t going to cover me. You shouldn’t be covering.”
In response, Kimmel quipped, “That is also what he says to his stomach when he’s trying to see his penis.”
“How can anybody be so afraid of someone named Kaitlan?” asked the ABC host, who himself has faced the consequences of calling out MAGA.
He continued, “There is no defense for why the White House would ban three reputable news organizations because he doesn’t like what they have to say.” Kimmel described the press ban on Collins and her industry counterparts as one of the many “nonsensical, unconstitutional, knee-jerk reactions he has to everything.”
The press ban led several networks to keep cameras off the president in a display of solidarity with their colleagues. This includes Trump-friendly Fox News, which joined in the boycott of the TV press pool that covers the president day to day.
Kimmel mocked the president while praising the extraordinary boycott, saying the latter will “drive Trump even crazier than he already is.”
“There’s nothing this man loves more than being on television. And right now, thanks to his own dumb actions, the only camera at the White House is the Ring camera Melania had mounted on her bedroom door to keep him out of it,” joked the late-night host.
In response to the ban, CNN, MS NOW, and Politico have filed a joint federal lawsuit against the Trump administration, battling his dangerous decision to bar them from the White House. The outlets are suing Trump, White House Communications Director Steven Cheung, Secret Service Director Sean Curran, and Chief of Staff Susan Wiles.
In an appearance on Anderson Cooper 360° on Tuesday evening, Collins denounced Trump’s astonishing move. “The president is the one who’s trying to dictate how we cover him,” she said. “And of course, it is still our job to do so.”
The Committee to Protect Journalists said, “The decision to ban CNN, MSNOW and Politico from the White House sets a dangerous precedent, one in which the President decides what the American people can know and from whom they can know it.”
The organization’s statement was signed by The New York Times, The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Financial Times and other major outlets.
“No news organization should be punished by the government for exercising its right to report...” they said. “We stand together as news organizations in our firm defense of a free press and in condemning any attempts to restrict their ability to report on the government.”
