Trump Calls Moderator Kaitlan Collins A ‘Nasty Person’

Topline

Former President Donald Trump called CNN moderator Kaitlan Collins a “nasty person” at the end of the network’s town hall with the ex-president on Wednesday—an event his advisers reportedly believe went well for Trump as the audience laughed throughout the program, despite serious questions from Collins about January 6 and Trump’s legal problems.

Former President Donald Trump speaks at the National Rifle Association Convention in Indianapolis, … [+] on April 14, 2023. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File)

Key Facts

Trump made the dig at Collins when she asked him why he did not comply with a Justice Department subpoena for classified records he took to Mar-A-Lago, which led to an FBI raid in August that produced more than 100 classified documents, including 18 labeled top-secret.

“It’s very simple to answer. You’re a nasty person, I tell ya,” Trump said as the audience cheered and burst into laughter, adding that he was “negotiating” with the National Archives and Records Administration to turn over the remainder of the documents (prosecutors have suggested Trump’s team may have obstructed justice by avoiding handing over documents).

Trump said he “had every right” to take documents and “didn’t make a secret of it,” while repeating his fraught claim that the records were “declassified” when he removed them (presidents have the power to declassify documents, but it’s unclear if Trump did so regarding the specific documents he brought to Mar-A-Lago while he was still in office).

Trump’s advisers are reportedly “thrilled” with his portrayal during the hour-long event, the New York Times reported, specifically with the audible laughs from the audience.

Surprising Fact

Trump repeatedly clashed with Collins during his time in office and his press team once tried to move her to the back of the briefing room after the two sparred over a question about North Korea. The “nasty person” line he used on Collins Wednesday is closely reminiscent of an insult he threw at Hillary Clinton during a 2016 debate, when he called her a “such a nasty woman” while she expressed plans to raise taxes on the wealthy if elected.

Tangent

Trump also generated laughs from the audience—which CNN said was filled with Republican-leaning and independent voters—when he mockingly described writer E. Jean Carroll’s account of how Trump attacked her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in the 1990s. A day earlier, a Manhattan jury found Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll and defaming her by lying about the events, awarding her $5 million in damages. “This woman, I don’t know her. I never met her,” Trump falsely stated during the town hall, despite a widely publicized photo of the two together from the 1980s.

Key Background

Trump made his first appearance on CNN since 2016 Wednesday, where he repeated his claims that he was free of wrongdoing in the January 6 Capitol riot and said he would pardon “many” of the 600-some rioters convicted by the Justice Department, including potentially the four Proud Boys members convicted of seditious conspiracy last week. He also refused to acknowledge that he lost the 2020 presidential election and would not commit to accepting the 2024 results if he lost again.

Chief Critic

In the leadup to the event, pundits and media personalities chided CNN for hosting Trump. Retired D.C. police officer-turned-CNN contributor Michael Fanone accused CNN of prioritizing “ratings and money” over “journalistic integrity” in a Rolling Stone op-ed Wednesday titled “CNN Is Hosting a Town Hall for a Guy Who Tried to Get Me Killed.” Fanone, who was on duty at the January 6 Capitol riot, suggested CNN’s push to be less partisan under new network President Chirs Licht was to blame.