Kaitlan Collins says her job isn't to 'take down' Trump as she pushes back on liberal critics

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins defended her controversial 2023 town hall with President Donald Trump, insisting that her role was not to “take down” him during an appearance on 'Hasan Minhaj Doesn’t Know' on Wednesday, November 5.

She reiterated that her job is not to “take down” Trump but to report and anchor with journalistic integrity. 

Kaitlan Collins defends CNN town hall with Trump

Collins defended the controversial 2023 town hall with Donald Trump that aired on CNN, saying she would not assume her job was to dismantle his candidacy.

She said, “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 added, “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.’ Our job is just to cover it as it happens and to show you what that was.” 

Emphasizing her professional stance, she continued, “I think that town hall showed people that my job is not to take down Trump. I’m a reporter and an anchor.”

She faced backlash from liberals both inside and outside CNN for her role in facilitating the town hall.

Collins also said “she did not think about the CNN audience when preparing for the town hall, but rather focused on challenging and fact-checking Trump’s statements."

Kaitlan Collins links CNN town hall to Trump’s 2024 victory

During the town hall, Trump sparred with Collins on multiple issues, including the Capitol riot and his claims that the 2020 presidential election was rigged.

At one point, Trump referred to Collins as a “nasty person,” drawing cheers from the audience. Collins later stood by the town hall in a 2024 interview with Elle magazine, “arguing that Trump would have garnered attention with or without CNN.”

Collins emphasized that Trump was “very clearly” preparing to run for office again, and that CNN’s decision to host the town hall was consistent with other presidential town halls. She said, “I don’t think you can ignore someone who is the Republican frontrunner, and likely, if it was tomorrow, the GOP nominee.” 

She connected the audience reaction at the town hall to what she described as a foreshadowing of the eventual 2024 presidential election.

Collins pointed out that viewers who watched the town hall would not be surprised when Trump went on to win the Republican nomination and then the election. “Trump was re-elected and put back in office,” Collins said.