CNN’s Kaitlan Collins Clashes with Donald Trump Jr. Over Assassination Attempts: ‘You Can’t Blame the Media’
CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins sparred with Donald Trump Jr. in the spin room after the vice presidential debate when the younger Trump blamed the media for the assassination attempts on his father.
Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) met in New York City for a debate moderated by CBS News anchors Norah O’Donnell and Margaret Brennan, sparring over issues like immigration, the 2020 election, and the records of their running mates, former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Collins commented that the vice presidential debate had been “very civil,” with the candidates having “acknowledged when they agreed” and “gave each other the benefit of the doubt.”
“Should we see more of that on the debate stage when your dad’s up there?” asked Collins.
“You know what? I’d love to see that across the board,” replied Trump Jr., before launching into a rant about the “political climate,” “Trump derangement syndrome,” and “Russian disinformation.”
“You know, the media did that,” he declared. “They created so much of that environment. The media has radicalized the people that are trying to kill my father. I’ve had to deal with that twice now, in the last two months. I’ve had to have that conversation with my five young children, twice in the last two months about someone trying to shoot their grandfather. You know that didn’t just magically happen. That’s not him, that’s a media-created fake Russia scenario. They ran with it for years. Even when it was disproven, they still ran with it. You know, that environment wasn’t just created by Donald Trump.”
“Okay, but, but can I say, you can’t blame — and no one wants — everyone wants your dad to be safe,” replied Collins. “Everyone wants your dad to be safe. No one wants the threats against his life to happen. But you can’t blame the media for those threats. There’s been no evidence. That’s what drove those –”
“When someone calls — and allows people to have a platform to call someone literally Hitler every day for nine years, it creates it, whether you want to believe it or not,” said Trump Jr. “That’s a fact.”
“But as you know, JD Vance, once likened your dad to Hitler as well — he questioned if he was America’s Hitler,” Collins pointed out before asking Trump Jr. about the possibility of the ex-president doing another debate.
Watch the clip above via CNN.
