New York Times correspondent Maggie Haberman criticized the White House media environment on Monday, claiming that CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins is the only reporter aggressively challenging President Donald Trump in his second term.
Haberman praises Collins on 'The Daily Show'
“Routinely, the only person really challenging him aggressively — and not rudely or unprofessionally — is Kaitlan Collins,” Haberman said on Monday’s airing of “The Daily Show.” She appeared alongside colleague Jonathan Swan to promote their new book, “Regime Change,” which details several bombshells during Trump’s second term.
Haberman told host Jon Stewart that the Trump administration has structured the press corps “so that it is primarily people, or half people, who they consider to be friendly to them.” She added, “They control the media pool that is in there now. They control seats.”
Collins takes 'enormous amount of shit' without backup
According to Haberman, Collins, who has drawn insults and backlash from the president, is the only reporter in the room who really grills Trump. “And she takes an enormous amount of shit, and she keeps a total straight face. But she doesn’t have backup,” Haberman said.
She recalled how difficult the administration made it for pool reporters during Trump’s first term, but questioning him was still “doable.” “You’d ask a question, somebody else in the pool would follow up on your question. Now it is, you ask a question about Ukraine, Iran, I can go on and on, and he turns to the Reflecting Pool, and it’s 20 minutes of him just talking, and so it is much more challenging,” Haberman said.
Trump controls the terms
According to Haberman, even speaking with Trump directly is difficult for reporters because “he controls the terms.” “There have been some pieces of news that have come out, but generally speaking, it’s him setting the agenda,” she said. “He says one thing here, he says something totally different 15 minutes later, and it’s just him flooding the zone, and it’s what he did in New York when he was a tabloid guy.”
