Kaitlan Collins appeared to brush off Donald Trump’s latest attack with a message from Eleanor Roosevelt.
The CNN star, who was singled out during the president’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner speech Friday, shared the former first lady’s famous quote—“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent”—after accepting an award earlier in the evening for her coverage of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s Oval Office visit.
One moment in Donald Trump’s speech that drew swift condemnation was his attack on the CNN star.
Earlier in the evening, after her colleague Wolf Blitzer presented her with the award, the 34-year-old journalist graciously shook the president’s hand as he sat beside the podium.
Later, when it was his turn to speak, Trump, 80, told the journalist from his bully pulpit—not for the first time—that she should smile more. He then made a “joke” about a Bud Light sponsorship that was really an anti-trans slur and sank faster than a stone.
Collins posted about the eventful evening on Instagram Saturday afternoon, sharing a carousel of images to her main page.
“The second best part of last night’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner was receiving an award from my friend and mentor, @wolfblitzer,“ she captioned the post.
“The first was reminding everyone why the First Amendment—and asking uncomfortable questions that people in power don’t like—matters," she continued, in an apparent nod to Trump’s comments.
Alongside the caption, she posted two photos of herself and Blitzer, a video of Blitzer announcing her award, a statement from CNN management expressing support for her and other CNN journalists targeted by Trump, and the Roosevelt quote.
The sentiment echoed one of Trump’s other favorite targets—former first lady Michelle Obama—who famously said at the 2016 Democratic National Convention, while speaking about Trump, “When they go low, we go high.”
Trump’s remarks, early in his lengthy speech, began with him calling Collins’ award into question.
“I want to personally congratulate CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on receiving her award. It was all about me. It was a fake, she shouldn’t get the award, it was a fake. But I didn’t mind. I said, ‘Kaitlan, congratulations.’ But it was fake, there’s no question about it,” Trump ranted.
But he wasn’t done yet. The octogenarian continued by telling the audience, largely composed of Collins’ peers, that she is “a young, attractive woman.”
He then revisited a comment he has made several times before: “She never smiles. I said, ‘Kaitlan do you ever smile? Smile!’ You have a nice position; you’re at CNN fake news. You should be a happy person. So smile, Kaitlan! Just smile.”
Trump’s next comments implied he had once confused Collins with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, who appeared in a controversial ad for Bud Light in 2023. The president’s seeming attempt at humor prompted immediate backlash.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Within just a couple of hours, Collins’ post had been liked more than 100,000 times and had garnered more than 4,000 comments, the overwhelming majority in support of the journalist.
Comedian Chelsea Handler commented: “National treasure you are!!!”
Musician Gracie Abrams called Collins “a legend.”
Others pointed out that Collins might be getting used to being singled out by the president, as she’s often in his firing line.
Collins has said before that she believes she draws the president’s ire because he doesn’t like her questions.
CNN’s statement after the speech said the network stood by Collins “to the fullest extent.”
