So much for Kaitlan Collins

| 10:00 pm EDT May 11, 2023
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When I first wrote about Kaitlan Collins, the journalist who moderated the CNN Trump “town hall,” I called her wooden-voiced. A few people were offended. And they wanted to know why I disliked Collins. But the truth is I don’t dislike her at all. I just don’t trust her.

In the light of day, Collins is being attacked, laughed at, and sneered at by so many on both sides. Yet, I do not feel she deserves THAT. She was likely ordered by Chris Licht to do this town hall. And she also probably wants to snag the 9:00 PM time slot, which is rumored to soon be hers.

But that does not mean I sympathize. Collins comes from a far-right background. She worked for several years at The Daily Caller, an alt-right site founded by Tucker Carlson. She has also made some incendiary comments. For example, Collins once appeared on Fox non-news and ridiculed George Soros, whom she declared backed open-border politics.

“Soros is this foreign-born left-wing guy,” Collins said on Fox, adding that he had an: agenda.” All of this contributes to my distrust of her. Watching the town hall, I feel that Collins did offer some push-back but nowhere near enough. She failed to push back on serious issues.

For example, Trump all but called Democrats baby murders. I saw no pus-hback from Collins, not even an attempt to correct his words. As the town hall went on, Collins looked more and more unhappy, And yet she persisted in calling Trump “Mr. President.”

This use of “Mr. President” was noticed by millions, and not in a good way. It was not appropriate, and while I am aware that some former presidents are referred to that way, this was not an appropriate venue to do so. No law says Donald John Trump must be called “Mr. President.” Collins should have known better.

And that’s really the heart of the matter. It was wrong for Licht to ever give Collins this assignment, but then again — this lady knew what she was getting into, knew with whom she was dealing, and so try as I might — I can’t really muster up all that much sympathy for her.