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CNN host Kaitlan Collins credited White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Wednesday for defending the journalist while on a presidential trip to Saudi Arabia.
Collins explained on Heather McMahan’s “Absolutely Not” podcast that she was in Saudi Arabia on a trip covering President Donald Trump’s visit to the country and noted the Saudis famously do not like the media.
“I asked a shouted question to President Trump, who had seen me when the U.S. press came in,” Collins said. “He didn’t answer, which is, I mean, that’s how it works. You shout questions. They either answer or they don’t — it’s their prerogative. And then the world leaders left the room.”
“The Saudi Royal Guard kind of freaked out because I dared to ask a question, and they’re not used to that there because they don’t have a free press,” she said.
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Collins said Saudi authorities then tried to stop her from entering the next press event and, when she pushed back, they told her she wouldn’t be allowed in.
“I could see them like, whispering, and pointing about me,” Collins said. “And, some of the younger White House staff, they are with the press, weren’t really sure what to do, and they went to Karoline and, to her credit, she said, ‘No Kaitlan’s coming in with the rest of the U.S. press,’ and we went in. And so, it didn’t become this huge issue.”
“So to her credit, she, without a doubt, was like, ‘No, you’re coming in,'” Collins said of Leavitt. “Which I do think is important in that moment, especially when you’re kind of the U.S. contingent abroad, and we don’t do things like they do in Saudi Arabia.”
The White House did not immediately return Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Collins said a similar incident occurred in the previous Trump administration when the president visited the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).
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Collins has frequently clashed with Trump while covering the White House.
Trump has called her “stupid and nasty” and criticized her during a recent Oval Office exchange for not smiling.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a smile on your face,” he told her earlier this month.
Trump often criticizes the press and has threatened lawsuits.
However, Collins said during an October podcast that Trump has actually “embraced” the media in ways other presidents have not.
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Though she’s only covered two presidents as a White House correspondent, Collins said even veteran reporters have noted Trump changed the media dynamic.
“When you speak to reporters who covered President Obama, he almost never responded to shouted questions,” Collins said at the time. “It wasn’t his thing. He would have his moments with world leaders, and then you would leave the Oval.”
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“Trump kind of upended that when he came into the White House,” she said. “Sometimes presidents are press-averse. Trump embraced the media.”
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