CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on Tuesday revisited Donald Trump’s recent chastising of her for not smiling while she was questioning him about justice for the victims of the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a former close associate of the president.
Appearing on “The Late Show,” Collins told host Stephen Colbert she wasn’t caught off guard by Trump’s insult.
But one aspect of it stood out.
I don’t think it surprised me in the moment of the attack. I mean, the president has called me a lot of names, he’s gone after me and tried to deflect from the questions that we’re asking. But in that moment, he is someone who is often politically savvy or tied in with what his base wants. In that moment, I was thinking if he had said that in response to a different question, I think it would have had a different reaction.
“I think a lot of women can identify with that moment and that feeling,” she continued. “But I think it was actually the question that is what generated so many headlines out of that. Because my question was about sexual assault survivors and it wasn’t even accusatory of the president.”
“I don’t think it’s a controversial opinion that you shouldn’t smile when you’re asking questions about a sex trafficker and sexual assault victims,” she added.
Colbert’s audience erupted in applause.
“That’s reasonable,” Colbert responded.
Collins said that, since the exchange, she has been flooded with photos of herself smiling — including from family members.
They show “that I do indeed smile, when it’s appropriate,” she said, smiling at Colbert.