People Who Can't Stand CNN's Kaitlan Collins (& What They Have To Say About Her)

Kaitlan Collins has been a rapidly rising star in political reporting since the first Trump administration, and despite rumors that she may be fired from CNN, we have every reason to believe she will be sticking around as the top network's Anchor and Chief White House Correspondent. She became the youngest to ever achieve the position for CNN at age 28 back in 2021 after performing the role previously at the Daily Caller, and now she's at it again, while simultaneously anchoring her weekly spot at "The Source with Kaitlan Collins." CNN chairman and CEO Mark Thompson spoke of her unprecedented new role, saying, "Kaitlan is a political journalist of real depth and tenacity who already boasts an amazing record of scoops and exclusive interviews. I'm excited to see what new heights she scales as she combines this key new posting with her duties as a major CNN anchor." (via CNN)

The Alabama native has undergone a glamorous transformation, making a name for herself in political reporting at lightning speed. She went from celebrity gossip columnist at Tucker Carlson's the Daily Caller in 2014 to their official White House correspondent in just two years, in turn landing her role at CNN by 2017. And despite gaining the confidence of the top dogs at her new network, Collins is not without her haters. From other news anchors to the President of the United States himself, read on to learn who's called her names, made her cry, and why she was disinvited from a White House event.

After taking a peek inside Kaitlan Collins and Megyn Kelly's brutal feud, we have to admit that there's only one of them expending energy on name-calling, and it's not Collins. Not only does the host of "The Megyn Kelly Show" think that Collins is biased in her reporting, she also called her a "cold-hearted b****" on-air in August of 2024. What seemed to send Kelly into a tizzy was the fact that Collins spoke about her network on "Real Time" with Bill Maher, calling CNN a "fair" place where "both sides can watch." (via New York Post)

"I will submit to the record, her biggest sin is not that she is biased, though she is, it's that she's boring. She's extremely boring with no personality," Kelly said, choosing to focus on a personal attack of the well-known correspondent, and it only got worse from there. "I have a pro tip for her: smile. Try smiling every once in a while. Try not to be like, in your delivery, such a cold-hearted b*** all the time, because it gives people nothing to bond to," she continued on "The Megyn Kelly Show."

Kelly went on to dismiss Collins' popularity, saying "I'm sorry, but she's only a star with the leftists" (via the New York Post). Perhaps Kelly's disdain for Collins has to do with her solid status at the network that Kelly herself turned down a job from. After hitting the scene in 2015 as an Independent, Kelly worried that joining CNN would alienate her fanbase, reportedly rejecting a generous offer. Perhaps it's possible her hate for Collins is rooted in professional jealousy, as her scathing opinion seems to be a bit much considering she's admitted to not knowing her rival personally.

The rumored drama between CNN's Kaitlan Collins and former co-host Don Lemon certainly complicated their dynamic on "CNN This Morning." The two worked alongside Poppy Harlow and didn't always see eye to eye on the issues at hand. One of their more memorable spars occurred over the subject of the wage gap between men and women in U.S. soccer, with Lemon defending the fact that male players earn a higher wage. "If there is more interest in a men's sport, the business people, the people who make money off of sports, will put that on television because we live in a capitalist society. And if people were interested in that, there would be more attention, and more money would be paid," Lemon said, implying that there was a lack of interest in women's sports. He seemed unwilling to hear Collins out, interrupting her when she pointed out that men being featured over women was a systemic problem. "Men were putting men's sports on TV way before women's sports," she countered (via Fox News).

And while things got awkward on-air, they escalated even further once cameras stopped rolling after Lemon accused Collins of interrupting him during a segment just a week later. An insider reported that Lemon lost his cool in front of other staffers, shocking quite a few people on set. "Don screamed at Kaitlan, who was visibly upset and ran out of the studio," one source claimed (via the New York Post). "At this point, Kaitlan wants to be on set with Don as little as possible. It's messy," another insider confirmed. CNN CEO Chris Licht was disturbed by his anchor's behavior, reportedly telling Lemon to take the next day off, and he and Collins were not seen together as often after the incident. 

In a move that was condemned by CNN, other news networks, and the White House Correspondents Association, Kaitlan Collins was banned by the White House from attending a press event after asking "inappropriate questions" at a photo op of President Trump and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker back in 2018. "Did Michael Cohen betray you, Mr. President?" she asked multiple times (via AP Archive). "Mr. President, are you worried about what Michael Cohen is about to say to the prosecutors?" she continued, referring to Trump's former lawyer who would become a star witness for the prosecution in Trump's hush money trial. The pool reporter also posed questions regarding Vladimir Putin.

When open press availability was announced for later in the day, Collins was pulled aside by Bill Shine, the deputy chief of staff for communications, along with press secretary Sarah Sanders, and informed that although her network was still invited, she was not. "They said 'You are dis-invited from the press availability in the Rose Garden today,'" Collins revealed (via CNN). "They said that the questions I asked were inappropriate for that venue. And they said I was shouting."

Sanders confirmed that Collins was disinvited after she "shouted questions and refused to leave despite repeatedly being asked to do so," despite the assertion from other journalists that Collins behaved appropriately. "This decision to bar a member of the press is retaliatory in nature and not indicative of an open and free press. We demand better," CNN said in a statement defending Collins. Even Fox News, one of CNN's top competitors, agreed. "We stand in strong solidarity with CNN for the right to full access for our journalists as part of a free and unfettered press," said Fox News president Jay Wallace.

CNN's Kaitlan Collins and Donald Trump have been locked in a bitter feud for years, and with Collins serving as CNN's Chief White House Correspondent for the new Trump administration we don't see that changing anytime soon. Their beef dates back to the president's first term, when the anchor posed questions about Michael Cohen, Trump's former lawyer and fixer, and Vladimir Putin, but it was only the beginning in a stream of contentious exchanges between the two.

They clashed over the topic of Trump's famous wall during a press conference in early 2019, with Collins bringing up the issue only to be immediately interrupted. "You ran your campaign promising supporters that Mexico is going to pay for the wall," she started, with Trump soon interjecting. "Here we go again," he said (via CNN). "Right now our government is shut down over a demand from your administration that the American taxpayer pay for the wall. How can you say you're not failing on that promise to your supporters?" After sarcastically referring to the inquiry as a "beautiful question," Trump went on to spar with Collins over the building materials of concrete and steel.

In 2020 the controversial topic at hand turned to COVID-19, when Collins addressed the president's erroneous claims about the virus. "The woman that you said is a 'great doctor'... said that masks don't work and there's a cure for COVID-19, both of which experts say is not true," she said, reportedly causing Trump to depart a briefing early (via CNN). But President Trump's most explicit show of contempt came in the form of name-calling during a primetime town hall in 2023. "It's very simple that you're a nasty person," he said to Collins (via Newsweek).