CNN White House reporter Kaitlan Collins was banned from attending an event in the Rose Garden on Wednesday, after she asked President Trump questions about his former personal lawyer Michael Cohen and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Collins was the pool reporter, meaning she represented all of the networks during a brief photo opportunity in the Oval Office. Trump was there with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, and not knowing if there would be an opportunity to ask Trump questions later in the day, Collins inquired about Putin not coming to Washington this fall and if he felt Cohen betrayed him by secretly taping at least one of their conversations. Trump didn't answer.
The White House then announced that the press was invited to the Rose Garden, where Trump and Juncker would speak, but Collins was told by White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Bill Shine, the new deputy chief of staff for communications, that she was not invited. Collins told CNN's Brian Stelter they said the questions she asked were "inappropriate for that venue," and that she had been shouting. Collins said she told them she was being banned because "you don't like the questions I asked," and they responded that her network wasn't banned, "but you are not invited to the Rose Garden today."
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Sanders confirmed this, saying in a statement that Collins "shouted questions and refused to leave despite repeatedly being asked to do so. To be clear, we support a free press and ask that everyone be respectful of the presidency and guests at the White House." Other reporters and networks, including Shine's former employer, Fox News, are standing behind Collins, who said she was shocked by what happened. "I'm from Alabama, I'm not rude," she told Stelter. "I believe you should always be polite when you ask a question. I totally believe that."
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