Anderson Cooper Goes Hard at Trump After President Attacks Kaitlin Collins: ‘That Doesn’t Happen To Men’

CNN host Anderson Cooper went hard at President Donald Trump on Wednesday after his latest verbal assault on Kaitlin Collins in the Oval Office.

Trump was answering press questions when he changed direction mid-answer to go after Collins while she stood feet away. The president was asked why he “decided to drop the Anti-Weaponization fund” that the Department of Justice set up after the president settled a $10 billion lawsuit he had brought against the IRS. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche claimed at a hearing on Tuesday that the department was “not moving forward” with the fund.

“So, I love it. I think it’s so important,” said Trump of the fund, before describing weaponization he believed was perpetrated against his supporters and himself, calling it “fake and corrupt.”

He then suddenly called out Collins, calling her a “young, beautiful woman” who has “hatred in her eyes.”

“Some of you will believe it, like CNN will believe is because they knew what was going on. They’re crooked as hell. CNN’s a very corrupt organization, but– with a corrupt reporter standing right there. Never smiles. You never-, she’s a young, beautiful woman. Never smiles. I never see a smile on her face; I see her standing there with hatred in her eyes,” he said. “She has hatred because we have borders, because we have a strong military, because we cut our taxes, because we do things that everybody wanted.”

Cooper, after playing a clip of the moment, called out the president for his comments, going on to play a compilation of Trump’s comments to female reporters.

COOPER: I’m not asking Kaitlan about this because she’s got actual work to do, and she doesn’t need to be answering questions about this kind of behavior. That’s the president of the United States, a nearly eighty year old man who has no problem commenting on her physical appearance and telling her she needs to smile. That doesn’t happen to men. No one’s ever said that to me in an office setting. She was there, like every other journalist doing her job, standing around with a bunch of non-smiling men, by the way, all behind her. I don’t know if you saw that. She gets singled out. Now, this, of course, is not the first time the president has focused on professional female reporters, Kaitlan included.

[FIRST CLIP]

TRUMP: You are the worst reporter. No wonder– CNN has no ratings because of people like you.

[SECOND CLIP]

TRUMP: I don’t think I’ve ever seen a smile on your face.

COLLINS: Well, I’m asking you about survivors of Jeffrey Epstein.

[THIRD CLIP]

TRUMP: You are an obnoxious, a terrible, actually, a terrible reporter.

[FOURTH CLIP]

TRUMP: Are you stupid? Are you a stupid person?

[FIFTH CLIP]

TRUMP: You’re a terrible person and a terrible reporter.

[SIXTH CLIP]

TRUMP: You ought to go back and learn how to be a reporter. No more questions from you.

[SEVENTH CLIP]

REPORTER: If there’s nothing incriminating in the files, sir, why not–

TRUMP: Quiet. Quiet, piggy

Cooper then spoke with journalist Tara Palmeri about the president’s tendency to make such “bizarre” comments.

“I don’t know why I’m surprised by this. I shouldn’t be, but I just– I don’t think guys, I don’t think any guy would– It’s just bizarre that this is something he does over and over and over again,” said Cooper. “I mean, and I think people do it to women all the time.”

“Yeah, absolutely. What you are seeing is a day in the life of a woman,” said Palmeri. “She’s a powerful woman, and he’s objectifying her, and he’s using a misogynistic comment about her appearance to belittle her.”

After Palmeri discussed the connotations and probable intentions behind the president’s remark, claiming Trump wanted Collins to “be happy about his policies” and fit into a decades-old archetype of power dynamics, Cooper summed up the segment succinctly.

“It’s incredible to watch an entire press corps of men who are not smiling, standing around the president, asking him questions, looking very glum, and it’s the women he focuses on to belittle and besmirch,” he said.

Watch above via CNN.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!