Kaitlan Collins, the CNN White House reporter, was caught on camera after a White House press briefing on Friday yanking off her face mask and putting others at risk for coronavirus infection after she apparently thought the cameras were off.
Collins, who was once the focus of scrutiny of years-old anti-gay slurs, was called out on Twitter by Eric Trump, who posted the video and wrote, “Just a reminder that @CNN is a total joke: “Mask-police CNN reporter @Kaitlancollins caught removing hers at presser, as soon as she thought the cameras were off.”
President Trump retweeted his son’s post and wrote, “A CNN Faker!”
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Collins fired back the industry-standard media response to Trump criticism during the coronavirus outbreak, “Nearly 90,000 Americans have been killed by coronavirus, and the president is tweeting about me pulling my mask down for six seconds Friday.”
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Fox News reported that Collin had previously questioned why Trump officials weren’t wearing the facial covering during the outbreak.
Health officials have said the coronavirus is highly contagious, especially in close quarters. As of Monday afternoon, the U.S. had nearly 1.5 million confirmed cases and nearly 90, 000 deaths.
The New York Post pointed out that Collins was called out online over what seemed like hypocrisy. Darla Shine, wife of former White House Communications Director Bill Shine, wrote on Twitter, “CNN’s Kaitlan Collins removes her mask as soon as the cameras shut off. #FakeNews #CoronavirusLiar.”
John Nolte wrote in Breitbart that Collins is one of the reporters who use White House press conferences to try and grandstand to make a name for herself.
“What’s amazing is that when she was seated, she would not have been a danger to anyone with her mask off. She was far enough away from everyone in the room for the duration of the briefing,” he pointed out. “The only time Typhoid Katilin actually was a danger to others is when she stood up and exited the briefing room. This is the only time she got close to others in the room, and — incredibly — this is the exact time she chose to remove her mask.”
CNN did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Post.