When Donald Trump finally resurfaced after seven days without a public appearance, the first female reporter he singled out in the Oval Office was Kaitlan Collins. A former Trump insider says the explanation has never really been what Trump claims.
Sarah Matthews served as Trump’s deputy press secretary during his first term, giving her a close view of how the White House press operation worked behind the scenes. During an appearance on CNN’s NewsNight on Wednesday, she told host Abby Phillip that Collins created more discomfort inside Trump’s orbit than almost anyone else covering him.
“There will be times when Kayleigh McEnany wouldn’t even call on Kaitlan Collins at press conferences, at press briefings, because she didn’t want to answer the questions,” Matthews said. “Because Kaitlan Collins is a very, very good reporter, she’s the best at what she does, and I think that’s why you see Trump go after her more ferociously than any other reporter in that room.”
That explanation took on new meaning after Wednesday’s Oval Office exchange, which became tense before Collins had even asked anything.
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Trump was discussing the $1.8 billion Anti-Weaponization Fund, which the administration has remained vague about abandoning following bipartisan criticism, when he pointed toward Collins and said: “CNN’s a very corrupt organization, with a corrupt reporter standing right there. Never smiles. She never — she’s a young, beautiful woman, never smiles. I never see a smile on her face. I see her standing with hatred in her eyes.”
When Collins later pointed out that Republicans had also criticized the fund, Trump responded by telling her to “be quiet.”
The timing also added an interesting wrinkle to the exchange. Just one evening earlier, Collins had appeared on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen and was asked whether a journalist would ever publicly fire back at Trump.
“Maybe, I don’t know, right? Never say never, I guess,” Collins said.
The answer was not exactly a challenge, but within twenty-four hours Trump had given everyone another round of material to discuss.
Matthews made her own feelings about the exchange clear.
“It is disgusting to watch him tell a woman that she needs to smile while doing her job. I’ve seen Kaitlan smile plenty of times, but when she’s asking someone a hard-hitting question, I don’t think that means she has to smile while doing it.” She continued: “I wish that this wasn’t normalized, and that we weren’t desensitized to this type of behavior from the president, but it really is appalling.”
Collins has also been far from alone. Trump has called ABC’s Rachel Scott a “horror show,” told a Bloomberg reporter to be “quiet, piggy,” described New York Times reporter Katie Rogers as “ugly, both inside and out,” and called Collins herself “stupid and nasty” in December.
Featured image via YouTube screengrab
