'Answer my question, Kaitlan!' VA secretary hijacks CNN interview as he attacks network
What started as a jovial interview between CNN’s Kaitlan Collins and Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins – who both chuckled as the host noted he is of “no relation” to her – quickly devolved into a tense confrontation as the Trump cabinet official unleashed an all-out attack on the network.
The feisty back-and-forth began just seconds into the interview when a defiant Doug Collins was clearly uninterested in answering questions surrounding the Signal group chat scandal, which he noted he was not a part of. But when the host continued to press Collins, who appeared ready for a fight, he snapped.
“Alright, Kaitlan, as you undoubtedly do not want to talk about the VA, I have a question,” Collins said. “As VA secretary in this cabinet, 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 is trying to help people. In fact, one of your employees actually said, 'we're going to nail him.'"
He continued to fire shots at the network and Collins while demanding to know: “Is that employee still employed?” and “Are you really concerned about veterans?”
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“No answer my question!” the VA secretary shouted as he shook his head while the CNN host attempted to take back control of the interview and justify her line of questioning. “Answer my question, Kaitlan!”
“Respectfully, sir, I’m asking the questions here, and I have no involvement in what you’re referencing there,” the host said.
"No, I am right now!" Doug Collins replied. "I am right now."
The VA secretary said it “does me no good to speculate on something that I’ve already asked and answered.”
The host moved the interview forward by acknowledging that the Trump cabinet official didn’t want to answer, “whether or not it's commonplace for secretaries in the cabinet to use Signal.”
She instead asked about VA-related funding cuts.
The VA secretary took heat earlier this month when he lashed out at a reporter over claims her reporting was “scaring veterans.”