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CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins insisted her job was not to “take down” President Donald Trump as she defended her controversial 2023 town hall with him on Wednesday.
Comedian Hasan Minhaj asked “The Source” host about the town hall on his podcast and whether it was a bid by the network to win back Republican viewers. Collins said the event was similar to other CNN presidential town halls because Trump was “very clearly” preparing to run for office again.
Despite the backlash she received from liberals both inside and outside CNN, Collins maintained that her job was to report on the reality of Trump potentially running for office again.
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CNN faced fierce criticism for airing a 2023 town hall featuring then-former President Donald Trump. (Screenshot/CNN)
“Actually what that moment showed was there was still a lot of support for Donald Trump, and I think it was jarring for some people to remember that, maybe, and to see that,” Collins said. “But that was reality, and our job is not to sanitize things and say, ‘Well, this is what you want the narrative to be’ or ‘This is what you want to happen.’”
She continued, “Our job is just to cover it as it happens and to show you what that was, and I think that town hall showed people that my job is not to take down Trump. I’m a reporter and an anchor.”
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Collins said that she did not think about the CNN audience when preparing for the town hall and instead focused on challenging and fact-checking Trump on his statements. She added that the town hall “foreshadowed” the eventual 2024 presidential election based on the audience’s reaction to Trump.
Former President Donald Trump participated in a CNN presidential debate at CNN Studios in Atlanta on June 27, 2024. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
“If you watched that town hall, you weren’t surprised when Trump went on to sweep the Republican nomination, and you weren’t surprised when he won the election,” Collins said. “Trump was reelected and put back in office.”
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Trump sparred with Collins on several issues during the 2023 town hall, including the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and his claims that the 2020 presidential election was rigged. During one exchange, Trump referred to Collins as a “nasty person” to the cheers of his supporters in the audience.
Collins also stood by the town hall in a 2024 Elle magazine interview, arguing that Trump would have garnered attention with or without CNN.
Collins has repeatedly defended her Trump town hall despite backlash from liberal critics. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images; Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters)
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“I don’t think you can ignore someone who is the Republican front-runner, and likely if it was tomorrow, the GOP nominee,” Collins said at the time.