The contrast between covering the administrations of Donald Trump and Joe Biden may seem obvious to the general public, but from the perspective of Caitlan Collins, as someone who literally reports on the presidency every day, She found some differences you might expect.
Collins, who was named CNN’s chief White House correspondent in January 2021, will co-anchor the network’s “Morning Show Reimagined” alongside Don Lemon and Poppy Harlow, and will be chairman and chairman of CNN Worldwide in September. CEO Chris Licht made the announcement. A new morning news show called “CNN This Morning” debuts today and airs weekdays from 5 a.m. to 8 a.m. Central.
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She covered all four years of Tram’s term and the current president’s year and a half. As soon as I started covering Biden’s White House in 2021, I saw a big shift, especially in how the media was treated.
“There was a big difference,” she told AL.com. “Perhaps the most tangible thing that I noticed right away on day one was the relationship between the press office and the press. relationship.
“You disagree about things. They’re pushing one thing, but you’re asking questions they don’t like. It’s always there. They always didn’t like my question, but I think there was a level of professionalism in the Biden administration’s news outlet that I didn’t necessarily experience in the Trump administration. It was the biggest difference.”
When it comes to presidents themselves, she said, reporters have to cover many of the same issues from administration to administration, such as how they are dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I was in the room when Trump came out and talked about bleach and sunlight and what COVID looks like,” she said. Your job remains the same, it’s to get information.There are big differences in how they govern, how they are staffed, how they live in the West Wing, and how they operate. We have a similar relationship.”
On Air Force One, the president often engages in more casual conversations with members of the White House press corps. It was the case with one of them.
“One thing I can say is that this is different, and I think this will always be interesting for people who aren’t there on a daily basis,” Collins said. “Trump has made various criticisms of the media and his CNN, but when we traveled somewhere in his Air Force One, he usually came in the back of the plane. was talking to us off the record.
“Of course we couldn’t report what he said, but he came back and talked to us all the time. So even though he was really critical of us publicly, He was back again chatting with us and asking questions Biden doesn’t normally come back on the back of the plane and ever since I was there he’s been back on Air Force One I think he may have done it once.”
Now Collins is trading studio fields for her new role on CNN. This is a challenge she has accepted.
“I love reporting and obviously it was my pride and joy to cover the White House. I loved doing it. It was really fun doing it,” she said. . “And for a job like that that requires a lot of you, you have to really love it. But I’ve also covered the White House for five and a half years — every year of Trump’s presidency, and one and a half years of Biden. Such an important opportunity, you have to take it. I didn’t really even think twice about it because I know it’s a new challenge. By comparison, it’s a different skill set that I develop. And I think I can bring my reporting background from Whithouse to this new role.
“That was actually a big selling point for me because I still talk to my sources, legislators, this group of people I’ve relied on over the past few years. Just bring it to the morning show, we watch three hours of TV in the morning, and especially at this time when politics is paramount, I find it very useful to bring that report to the anchor desk. think.”
