Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel launched another vulgar attack on President Donald Trump after the president confronted CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins at the United Nations. Kimmel used the exchange to accuse Trump of being afraid of Collins before directing an obscene joke at the president’s body. The monologue aired Tuesday night on ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”
The exchange began when Trump encountered Collins while arriving at the United Nations headquarters in New York with first lady Melania Trump. CNN had recently been denied access to the White House alongside Politico and MS NOW, but Collins was able to cover the president at the United Nations using credentials issued by the international organization. Her presence gave Trump an opportunity to confront the network directly.
“I’m surprised that CNN is here covering me,” Trump told Collins. “You should not be here covering me. You said you weren’t going to cover me. You shouldn’t be covering me.” The other four major television networks suspended White House television pool coverage after the administration removed CNN, the designated pool network for Trump’s trip, from its scheduled duties. CNN had not stopped reporting on Trump.
Kimmel characterized Collins’ appearance at the United Nations as “a very unwelcome surprise” for the president, apparently thinking that the President’s response to Collins was out of fear rather than pointing out that the outlet couldn’t stay away from him. He responded to Trump’s comments with a crude joke, according to The Daily Beast. “That is also what he says to his stomach when he’s trying to see his p—s,” Kimmel said.
The host continued attacking Trump by portraying the president’s dispute with Collins as what he imagined to be evidence of some kind of fear of the CNN personality. “How can anybody be so afraid of someone named Kaitlan?” Kimmel asked. He offered no real evidence that Trump was actually afraid of Collins, instead treating the president’s criticism of CNN and the lack of White House access as petty material for his monologue.
Kimmel shifted from the personal insults to the administration’s decision to bar CNN, Politico, and MS NOW from the White House. “There is no defense for why the White House would ban three reputable news organizations because he doesn’t like what they have to say,” he said. Kimmel called the decision one of the “nonsensical, unconstitutional, knee-jerk reactions he has to everything.”
Watch Kimmel’s monologue and comments about Trump here:
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The three outlets responded to the White House action by filing a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration. The suit also names White House Communications Director Steven Cheung, Secret Service Director Sean Curran, and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. The other members of the White House television pool, including Fox News, ABC, CBS, and NBC, suspended presidential pool coverage after CNN was prevented from fulfilling its scheduled duties.
Kimmel praised the networks for withholding their cameras and said he thought the move would anger Trump because of his supposed appetite for television coverage, an ironic accusation coming from a late night TV host. “There’s nothing this man loves more than being on television,” Kimmel said. He followed that point with another low-blow attack involving the first lady: “And right now, thanks to his own dumb actions, the only camera at the White House is the Ring camera Melania had mounted on her bedroom door to keep him out of it.”
Collins also addressed the dispute Tuesday evening during an appearance on CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360°.” She accused Trump of attempting to control the way news organizations report on his administration. “The president is the one who’s trying to dictate how we cover him,” Collins said. “And of course, it is still our job to do so.”
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video.