‘Again…’: Kaitlan Collins Slaps Down Trump’s Claim That His Courthouse is Guarded ‘Like Fort Knox’
AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura
CNN’s Kaitlan Collins offered a terse takedown of former President Donald Trump’s latest misleading rant about his hush money trial on Friday.
During another day in court, Trump posted to his Truth Social:
I’m at the heavily guarded Courthouse. Security is that of Fort Knox, all so that MAGA will not be able to attend this trial, presided over by a highly conflicted pawn of the Democrat Party. It is a sight to behold! Getting ready to do my Courthouse presser. Two minutes!
Collins shared Trump’s grievances on X a few hours later and offered a quick fact-check. “Again, the courthouse is open the public. The park outside, where a handful of his supporters have gathered on trials days, is easily accessible,” Collins wrote.
Trump has complained in recent days about the size of the crowd of his supporters outside the courthouse and has wrongly claimed that the NYPD is refusing to allow them to gather. On Tuesday, Trump shared a New York Times article titled, “The Circus Trump Wanted Outside His Trial Hasn’t Arrived” and claimed, “Thousands of people were turned away from the Courthouse in Lower Manhattan by steel stanchions and police, literally blocks from the tiny side door from where I enter and leave. It is an armed camp to keep people away.”
Trump, who has been sending out incendiary messaging claiming that “All Hell is About to Break Loose” and making explicit calls for nationwide protests on his behalf, was quickly fact-checked again over his claim that his supporters were being driven away.
“In reality, the designated protest zone for the trial is at a park directly across the street from the courthouse – and, in addition, people are permitted to drive right up to the front of the courthouse and walk into the building, which remains open to the public. If people show up early enough in the morning, they can even get into the trial courtroom itself or the overflow room that shows near-live video of the proceedings,” CNN’s Daniel Dale noted.
