Kaitlan Collins Biography
Kaitlan L Collins is a CNN chief correspondent and co-anchor of CNN This Morning (6-9 am ET) alongside Don Lemon and Poppy Harlow. She is a former CNN’s chief White House correspondent and the youngest ever for the network to hold the position at 28.
She began her career in journalism at the Daily Caller, a conservative website co-founded by Tucker Carlson, where she reported showbiz gossip but after two years she was promoted to the 2016 campaign beat, and then in early 2017 to White House correspondent. She started getting booked for occasional talking-head appearances on CNN while covering the Trump White House.
Collins made headlines when she was barred from a Trump administration press conference in the White House Rose Garden in 2018 after she asked the president about Russian President Vladimir Putin and Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen while in the Oval Office. Senior White House officials told her such questions were “inappropriate for that venue”. She was later banned from attending the Trump’s Rose Garden statement on trade with the European Union Commission.
Kaitlan Collins Age
Kaitlan is 30 years old, she was born in Alabama, United States. She celebrates her birthday on April 7.
Kaitlan Collins Height
Collins stands at a height of 5 feet 8 inches tall.
Where Is Kaitlan Collins From?
Kaitlan is an Alabama native.
Kaitlan Collins Education
Collins attended Prattville High School in Prattville, Alabama and later joined the University of Alabama graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in journalism and political science.
Kaitlan Collins Parents
Kaitlan is the daughter of Jeff Collins, a senior mortgage banker in Alabama. There is no public information available regarding her mother. She was brought up alongside her two younger brothers, Brayden Collins and Cole Collins.
Kaitlan Collins Husband
Kaitlan is not married but she is engaged to her longtime boyfriend Will Douglas. Will is a pharmacist and the owner of the Crimson Care Pharmacy Group. He holds a bachelor of Science degree from the University of Oklahoma and a Doctor of Pharmacy from The University of Oklahoma College of Pharmacy. In 2022 he run unsuccessfully for Texas House representative -District 113 and had also run in 2020.
Kaitlan Collins CNN
Kaitlan is chief correspondent and co-anchor of CNN This Morning (6-9 am ET) alongside Don Lemon and Poppy Harlow. She joined CNN in June 2017 as a White House reporter and in 2017 she was name White House Correspondent based in Washington, D.C. becoming the youngest to hold the position for the network. During her tenure, she broke several stories in her coverage of the Trump White House, including major staff departures and consequential policy decisions. She also reported n the Senate special election in her home state of Alabama.
She was included in Mediaite’s list of the 50 Most Influential people in News Media. She was also named to Crain’s NewsPro’s 12 to Watch in TV News in January of 2019, as well as one of Forbes magazine’s “30 under 30: Media” in the same year.
She began her career working as an entertainment reporter for the Daily Caller, a conservative website co-founded by Tucker Carlson. She was then promoted to White House correspondent in January 2017 following her coverage of the 2016 presidential campaign for the site. Due to her reporting on Trump, she caught the eye of CNN, nd she was invited on the network on several occasions. She says that she was grateful of the opportunity as they saw as a reporter and didn’t care she was from The Daily Caller which is a more ideologically aligned organization than CNN. She met with CNN’s president at a White House Correspondents event and thanked him for having her on CNN and from that meeting, she was invited for interviews and a month later she was hired.
How Did Kaitlan Collins Get her Job?
Kaitlan got her job at CNN after approaching Jeff Zucker, CNN’s then-president, at a brunch event after the White House correspondents’ dinner to thank him for the opportunities. At the time she was working as a White House correspondent for the Daily Caller and she would get booked for occasional talking-head appearances on CNN. After thanking Zucker, it began a conversation that saw her hired as a reporter by the middle of 2017.
Kaitlan Collins Don Lemon
Kaitlan and Don Lemon are co-anchors on CNN This Morning. It is alleged that there might be animosity between the two after Don allegedly screamed at Kaitlan off-camera in December 2022. It is alleged that Don approached Kaitlan after the December 8 broadcast and accused her of “interrupting” him on air.
In March 2023, Kaitlan dropped her agent Jay Sures, who is also Don Lemon’s agent. It is alleged that Jay was not representing Kaitlan following the December incident. She is now represented by Ari Emanuel’s agency, William Morris Endeavor (WME).
Kaitlan Collins Political Affiliation
Kaitlan remains impartial when it comes to political affiliation. She at times gets associated with conservatives due to her time working with the Daily Caller which was a conservative website but she says she is nonpolitical.
Kaitlan Collins Trump
In July 2018 Collin was blocked from attending the Trump’s Rose Garden statement on trade with the European Union Commission. This was after she had previously asked the president if his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, betrayed him.
“Did Michael Cohen betray you, Mr. President. Mr. President, did Michael Cohen betray you? Mr. President, are you worried about what Michael Cohen is going to say to prosecutors?”
She has also asked about Russian President Vladimir Putin, who met with Trump in Helsinki, Finland and was in the process of being invited to Washington for a followup meeting.
“Why has Vladimir Putin not accepted your invitation? Why has Vladimir Putin not accepted your invitation, Mr. President? Are you worried about what is on the other tapes, Mr. President?”
The white house officials found her questions “inappropriate” and barred her from the event.
CNN released a statement which read; “Today, CNN White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins was denied access to cover an open press event at The White House. After posing questions to President Trump earlier in the day as the network pool reporter, Collins was told by White House deputy chief of staff for communications Bill Shine and press secretary Sarah Sanders that her questions were ‘inappropriate.’ They were not. Just because the White House is uncomfortable with a question regarding the news of day doesn’t mean the question isn’t relevant and shouldn’t be asked. This decision to bar a member of the press is retaliatory in nature and not indicative of an open and free press. We demand better.”
Sanders also released a statement confirming that Collins was kept out of the event but added that other CNN journalists were welcome to attend in her place.
“At the conclusion of a press event in the Oval Office a reporter shouted questions and refused to leave despite repeatedly being asked to do so. Subsequently, our staff informed her she was not welcome to participate in the next event, but made clear that any other journalist from her network could attend. She said it didn’t matter to her because she hadn’t planned to be there anyway. To be clear, we support a free press and ask that everyone be respectful of the presidency and guests at the White House.”
In May 2020 President Trump through twitter called Collins a CNN Faker, this is after a video shared by Eric trump showed Collins removing her face mask.
A CNN Faker! https://t.co/boSTXeIWcU
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 17, 2020
Nearly 90,000 Americans have been killed by coronavirus, and the president is tweeting about me pulling my mask down for six seconds on Friday. https://t.co/UYib8tS7pO
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) May 18, 2020
This was after she had earlier asked the president why some administration officials at a Rose Garden briefing were not wearing masks.
“We’ve all been tested and we are quite a distance away and we are outdoors, so I told them, I gave them the option, they could wear it or not so you can blame it on me, but I gave them the option. We could wear it or not.” Trump replied.
Kaitlan Collins CNN Salary
Kaitlan earns an estimated annual base salary of $100,000.
Kaitlan Collins Net worth
She has an estimated net worth of $2 million.