President Donald Trump threw a tantrum in the Oval Office Monday, repeatedly berating CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins and launching into a familiar rant against the network.
“Let’s hear the question from this very low rated anchor at at CNN,” Trump sneered during a meeting with El Salvador President Nayib Bukele.
The 78-year-old president grew irritated as Collins repeatedly pressed him on why he’s refused to bring home a Maryland man wrongfully deported to El Salvador.
“How long do we have to answer this question from you?” he snapped, interrupting Collins mid-question. “Why don’t you just say, isn’t it wonderful that we’re keeping criminals out of our country? Why can’t you just say that?”
Trump continued, “Why do you go over and over, that’s why no one watches you anymore, you have no credibility,” and waved her off to call on another reporter.
Earlier, Bukele, an authoritarian president, had goaded Trump into going after the press. As Trump boasted about border crossings allegedly dropping by 99 percent, Bukele asked, “Why are those numbers not in the media?”
Right on cue, Trump launched into his favorite refrain about “fake news” and singled out CNN for a full-on assault.
“CNN over here doesn’t want to put them out because they don’t like putting out good numbers,” he fumed. “Because I think they hate our country, actually.”
Later in the day, CNN anchor Dana Bash pushed back against his comments on air.
“I just want to say, for the record, since we heard President Trump say in the Oval Office that , hates our country, CNN does not hate our country,” Bash said. “That should go without saying. I’ve been here for 32 years.”
“I see a rhetorical device in him saying such a thing,” she added.
Trump has made attacking the media a central feature of his political playbook, and Collins, who joined CNN in 2017, has often become a fixture of his jabs. The 33-year-old anchor remains unfazed in the face of Trump’s tantrums, however, describing herself as a “joyful warrior” in a Vanity Fair piece published on Friday.
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