What to Know
Journalist Kaitlan Collins is CNN’s Chief White House Correspondent and anchor of The Source with Kaitlan Collins. She’s known for challenging President Donald Trump, so when she shared photos from the Vanity Fair Oscar Party, some people immediately made it political.
Collins attended the event in an orange dress adorned with gold flowers. When she shared the look on Instagram, she captioned it with, “The Marty Supreme color scheme,” referring to one of the films nominated this year. She also included the song “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” by Tears for Fears, which is also featured in the film. However, given what people know about Collins, they assumed the outfit was a nod to something else entirely.
After all, people have been making jokes about Trump’s apparent orange makeup for years now.
So, some people had a hard time believing that Collins’ orange dress was merely a coincidence (or a Marty Supreme reference). Earlier this year, Collins went viral when she asked the president a question related to the Epstein files and he called her “the worst reporter.”
Collins had asked him what he would say to “the survivors who feel like they haven’t gotten justice.” The question wasn’t even about him specifically. It was about justice for survivors of sexual assault. But instead of answering the question, Trump attacked Collins and claimed that he’s never seen her smile.
“You know, she’s a young woman. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you smile,” Trump said. “I’ve known you for ten years. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a smile on your face.” Unfortunately, lots of women have experienced this brand of misogyny, so when Collins showed up at the Oscars event in an orange dress, some people in her comments section saw it as a subtle clapback.
“I love the irony in wearing orange and smiling,” one person commented on her post. “Does anyone else get it?” Someone else said, “Love it! Those are the first two things I noticed in these pics!!!” Others pointed to Collins’ song choice, assuming that it could also be Trump-inspired.
People made lots of comments about her smile.
They were all clearly referencing that tense interaction between Collins and the president. “Now that’s a great reason to smile,” one person wrote. Another person said, “She smiles ALL THE TIME! Pure class!”
Someone else even said she should send the photos to Trump (not that she has to prove that she does, indeed, smile when she’s not asking questions about convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein). “Gorgeous!! Send these to Taco as he claims he’s never seen you smile!! 🧡🧡” someone commented on the post.
During a February appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Collins revealed that lots of people actually have been sending her pictures that show her smiling—because she does smile “when it’s appropriate.”
Those who commented on Collins’ post referenced Trump’s sexism in other ways, too.
Collins is not the only female journalist that Trump has gone after. When another journalist tried to ask Trump a question related to the Epstein files, Trump said, “Quiet, piggy.” Reacting to Collins’ photos, someone referenced this interaction as well. “Far from ‘piggy,'” they wrote. “You look Stunning!! Hope you had a wonderful night.”
Others speculated that Collins’ beauty, strength, and intelligence are among the reasons that Trump is so bothered by her. “She is absolutely stunning and she’s smart,” someone said. “Trump pretends that he hates her because of the aforementioned.” And another person chimed in with, “Beautiful, smart, tough AND female. No wonder the 🍊🤡 always gives you grief!! Thanks for asking the right questions….even tho he NEVER answers them!”
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