CNN reporter attacks Trump for taking off mask while alone, outdoors. Trump campaign releases video of her doing the same thing.
The Trump campaign shredded a CNN reporter who insisted that President Donald Trump was reckless for taking his mask off while alone, outside, and on the balcony of his home.
A coronavirus-stricken Trump took to a White House balcony on Monday night following his release from Walter Reed Medical Center, took off his mask, and waved to the public in an apparent show of strength.
What are the details?
CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins drew quite a reaction on social media Monday night after issuing her complaints about the president's behavior following his release.
Speaking with CNN's Erin Burnett, Collins said, "[L]et us remind viewers now that the president is on steroids and a drug that fewer than 10 people outside of clinical trials have gotten inside the United States to deal with coronavirus. He had a level of treatment and a level of care that most Americans would not get. That's understandable — he is the President of the United States, obviously everyone expects that."
"[W]hat the president is portraying by taking his mask off when he gets back to the Truman balcony to give this grand return to the White House is that everything is fine and, as he said, don't let coronavirus control your life," she added. "But that is very much still a president who has coronavirus. Despite the lights and the flags and the staged entrance that the president wants to create, he still has coronavirus and he is only a few days into the diagnosis."
Collins also warned that the president still isn't even out of the woods with his diagnosis yet.
"And Erin, today, his doctor didn't reveal a lot of information as he hasn't for the past two days, but he did still say that he will not breathe a sigh of relief until Monday. That's a fully week from today."
Following the conversation with Burnett, Collins took to Twitter and shared a video clip of the president's grand return.
She captioned it, "Only days into his diagnosis, the first thing President Trump does when he gets back to the White House is take his mask off."
Collins' remarks drew the ire of many social media users, including that of conservative actress Kirstie Alley, but none more than the Trump campaign itself.
Only days into his diagnosis, the first thing President Trump does when he gets back to the White House is take his… https://t.co/QLl6bfyXFq— Kaitlan Collins (@Kaitlan Collins)1601939875.0
What did the Trump campaign say?
In a now-viral video tweet of its own, the Trump campaign wrote, "CNN reporters like Kaitlin [sic] Collins obsess over masks when the cameras are on, but when they think they're off, off comes their masks!"
The video showed Collins immediately taking off her mask following an indoor White House briefing that took place earlier in the year.
At the time of this reporting, the Trump campaign's video has been viewed more than 4.4 million times.
CNN reporters like Kaitlin Collins obsess over masks when the cameras are on, but when they think they’re off, off… https://t.co/WeWy2Tb5wS— Trump War Room - Text TRUMP to 88022 (@Trump War Room - Text TRUMP to 88022)1601941513.0