The liberal media, like the Democratic Party, has struggled in recent months to manufacture a Russia collusion-grade narrative capable of embarrassing or hindering the Trump administration.

This explains their excitement over the Atlantic's Monday story concerning a liberal propagandist's accidental inclusion in a top-level group chat concerning a military operation — a blunder that the man responsible, national security adviser Mike Waltz, ultimately admitted was "embarrassing."

In the grips of this excitement, CNN talking head Kaitlan Collins proved almost incapable Wednesday evening of discussing anything else with Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins, who was not part of the group chat and had virtually nothing to do with the matter.

Unwilling to indulge the CNN host's desire to gossip or to go on the defensive, Sec. Doug Collins turned the tables, set the agenda, and hammered the liberal network over its apparent mistreatment of veterans.

At the outset of the interview, the CNN host said, "You served in the Navy and the Air Force. How would you have felt if information like this was talked about, in an unclassified group chat, if a Navy fighter pilot is in the air?"

'Since you undoubtedly do not want to talk about the VA, I have a question.'

"I think the president and those involved in the chat, which I was not involved in the chat, have explained that. I trust the president's opinion on that. I trust what's been going on," said Sec. Collins. "Everyone's entitled to their own opinion. And my opinion is that my job is to take care of veterans in this country, as they come out of service, and that's what I'm going to continue to do."

The CNN host did not take the hint and kept asking the VA secretary about the group chat controversy.

"Kaitlan, as I've just told you, I've just answered the question. I wasn't part of it," said Sec. Collins. "And I'm not going to speculate more than what the president's already talked about and those who have been involved have talked about, but would love to talk about the veterans."

The CNN host asked once again about the Signal group chat, evidently stretching Sec. Collins' patience to its limit.

"Since you undoubtedly do not want to talk about the VA, I have a question, as VA secretary," said Sec. Collins. "I want to ask you — because I've been curious about this, because my job is to take care of veterans — and I would like to know why CNN is hostile to veterans, especially one in Florida where you just had a $5 million defamation suit, taking offense at a veteran who was trying to help people. In fact, one of your employees actually said, 'We're going to nail him.'"

Sec. Collins was referring to CNN's costly smear of Navy veteran Zachary Young, whom the liberal network falsely accused in a 2021 "The Lead with Jake Tapper" segment of illegally participating in a "black market" for exfiltration services in Afghanistan after the Biden administration's disastrous military withdrawal.

In January, a jury in Florida ordered the network to pay $5 million for its defamatory segment, reported the New York Times. Before the jury had a chance to award more punitive damages in the case, CNN reportedly settled for an undisclosed sum.

During the trial, the jury saw internal CNN communications in which CNN chief national security correspondent Alexander Marquardt stated, "We gonna nail this Zachary Young."

'You want to talk about everything else.'

Sec. Collins asked the CNN host Wednesday, "Is that employee still employed? Are you really concerned about veterans?"

"If we don't want to talk about veterans now, and you want to talk about everything else, I'd like to hear from CNN, as the veteran Cabinet secretary, why CNN seems to have a problem with veterans?" continued Sec. Collins.

The CNN talking head desperately tried to take control of the conversation, but Sec. Collins did not let up.

"Answer my question, Kaitlan," said the secretary.

When the answers failed to materialize, Sec. Collins indicated again that his preference was to discuss veterans and their priorities rather than to join her in idle speculation.

The CNN host then unironically stated in reference to the secretary's questions about CNN's defamation of a veteran that she had no involvement in the matter he was interested in discussing.

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