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Carlson Interviewed Collins Years Before CNN Townhall – Here’s What She Said About Trump

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OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.


CNN’s Kaitlin Collins, years before she became the network’s “it” girl, held far different views about the media and President Donald Trump, whom she moderated during what has become a controversial town hall event last week.

As reported by Mediaite, Collins previously worked at the right-leaning Daily Caller during the period when founder and now-former Fox News star Tucker Carlson was leading the organization.

In March 2017, Collins provided an alternative viewpoint on the Trump White House during an interview on “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” just two months into Trump’s presidency.

“The press is throwing a royal tantrum because they can’t control what the country is talking about. For the last eight years, they’ve all decided what the question should be, and they’ve all gone in there and asked the same question. And now that they’re not being called on, they can’t control what the news is about, and it’s driving them crazy,” she said.

She added that the media were a “little hysterical” because they were being criticized by the then-president, who often referred to them as “fake news.”

“But what president has not hated the press? We make their lives harder, and they all hate us. They may not all talk about it, but they definitely hate us. So but people are taking it really personally. And you shouldn’t take the president’s criticism personally. It shouldn’t affect your reporting,” she said then.

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“But you can tell when you read The New York Times and CNN that it does affect their reporting, and that’s not what should happen. I don’t take my cues from the president, I report on him. I don’t report to him,” Collins told Carlson.

Collins went on to say that the White House mainstream media stars were ticked off because Trump “calls them up by their names, and they don’t like that. And then they get a lot of hate on Twitter, and then it makes them resent him, not for his policies and not for not following through on his campaign promises, but for who he is as a person. And that’s not your job. Your job is not to get your feelings hurt.”

Referencing the White House Press Corps, Collins added that Twitter “feeds their egos. They like to know how many people follow them, who’s praising them.”

Collins was criticized by some of her own colleagues for allegedly failing to “control” Trump during the town hall, but the 30-year-old journalist and new CNN host defended the event.

“About last night: the 70 minutes I spent on stage in New Hampshire with former President Donald Trump was a major inflection point in the Republican party’s search for its nominee, and potentially the starting line for America’s next presidential race,” Collins said.

“It’s important to remember that he is, right now, the GOP front-runner, that he is running, as noted, while being criminally indicted, found civilly liable and under investigation for everything from his handling of classified documents to his business empire,” she added.

Below are just a few examples of Trump hitting back at Collins and firing up the crowd during the town hall:

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Nevertheless, the criticism has continued. Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who is no Trump ally, also launched some verbal broadsides against the town hall, per ABC News.

“As to the audience reaction, let’s face it, CNN went in the tank to get Trump on there. They allowed him to negotiate who was going to be in that audience, and those were all Trump supporters. I don’t care how they introduced them,” he said.

But Republican real estate investor Steve Richard disagreed, telling CBS News: “I thought last night was a tremendous clear messaging from President Trump. I think that audience reflected that over and over again.”

June Dickerson, an Independent, said Trump is “a very honorable man. He always said what was on his mind. He was always honest and forthright, and I don’t believe lies.”

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