Donald Trump’s former White House spokeswoman led the chorus of critics condemning the president for “misogynistic attacks” he launched against CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins during an impromptu press conference.
Collins, CNN’s chief White House correspondent, was attacked by Trump Wednesday in the Oval Office while answering another reporter’s question about his failed $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund proposal. “A young beautiful woman, never smiles,” Trump said of Collins, adding that she has “hatred in her eyes.”
Sarah Matthews, who served as Trump’s White House deputy press secretary during his first administration, said the remarks were “disgusting” and claimed there was a reason why the president targets Collins.
“I will say that during my time working as deputy press secretary in the first Trump administration, Kaitlan Collins was the one reporter that scared Kayleigh McEnany and president Trump the most,” Matthews said of the former White House Press Secretary Wednesday on CNN’s NewsNight.
“There would be times where Kayleigh McEnany wouldn’t even call on Kaitlan Collins at press conferences, at press briefings, because she didn’t want to answer the questions, because Kaitlan Collins is a very, very good reporter. She’s the best at what she does,” Matthews continued. “And I think that’s why you see Trump go after her more ferociously than any other reporter in that room.”
The former Trump official, who describes herself as a “Republican in exile,” went on to say it was “disgusting to watch” Trump “tell a woman that she needs to smile while doing her job.”
“I’ve seen Kaitlin smile plenty of times, but when she’s asking someone a hard hitting question, I don’t think that that means that she has to smile while doing it. And he brings it up time and time again,” she added.
Stephanie Grisham, another former Trump White House press secretary, addressed the controversy in a social media post, and lashed out at the White House Correspondents’ Association.
“I’ve gone toe-to-toe w Kaitlin, she can hold her own but I don’t understand @whca these days,” she said, sharing a clip of the interaction between Collins and Trump. “To stand for a free press, yet allow the POTUS to denigrate that stance daily, then invite him to dinner (correspondents dinner) is nonsensical & I promise, he loves the twisted irony.”
Anderson Cooper supported his colleague on his Wednesday CNN night show, and pointed out that what happened to Collins “doesn’t happen to men.”
“That’s the president of the United States,” Cooper said. “A nearly 80-year-old man who has no problem commenting on her physical appearance and telling her she needs to smile.”
“No one‘s ever said that to me in an office setting,” he continued. “She was there, like every other journalist doing her job, standing around with a bunch of non-smiling men, by the way, all behind her… she gets singled out.”
Democratic Rep. Yassamin Ansari also laid into the president. “Nothing to see here. Just our clearly deteriorating president attacking women and the free press. For the millionth time, without any consequences,” she wrote in a post on X.
“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.”
Comedian and host Loni Love shared a photo with Collins in a supportive social media post. “She smiles when she wants to—not because she has to,” Love said. “Keep on pushing.”
The Independent has contacted the White House for comment.
Trump was in the middle of a lengthy answer to another reporter’s question the $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund proposal when he turned to 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 tore into her again when the reporter mentioned Republican concerns that the fund, which critics called a “slush fund,” could pay January 6 rioters who 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.”
Collins acknowledged the exchange on her Wednesday night show The Source and pointed out that the attack came before she’d even asked him a question.
“The president seemed clearly irritated when he was asked earlier today why his administration says it is not moving forward with that $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund, as they have called it,” she said.
“And just to note, as you’re about to listen to this, this first exchange actually occurred before I had yet to ask the president a question.”
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