YouSaid · the spoken record

Kaitlan Collins

lines on the record: 79
first: 2023-06-08
most recent: 2023-06-08
sittings or episodes: 1
sources: podcast

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“I'm from their hometown. They know me. I'm from their home state. And they can turn it on. And I feel like they have that level of trust with me. And that's really precious to me. And I think of that when I'm doing my reporting and making sure that I'm being fair and being unbiased, but also telling them the truth, the hard truth of what's really happening and what it actually looks like behind the scenes.”
2023-06-08 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 537 — Kaitlan Collins · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“It is, but also it's not. You know, I was just home a few weeks ago, and it's just, it's always humbling to go home and makes you realize, you know, you never should forget, obviously, where you came from. I never could because Alabama has shaped me in every single way. But it's exciting to know that, and as you were talking earlier about what were my, what was my family's reaction and friend's reaction when I got my job at CNM, you know, now my dad in the lobby of his office where they sell mobile homes, they keep it on CNN. And sometimes people will come in and say, are you watching CNN? And they're like, oh, Jeff's daughter works there. And I think what I love is being a source of credibility and trust for them that they know something that they've been told not to trust for whatever reasons. They know that”
2023-06-08 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 537 — Kaitlan Collins · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“He had lost his mother. So it was really emotional, and his aunt were together. And it was this really emotional moment. And he really was someone who, his mom watched CNN all the time. It was just this moment of humanity where we talked to him, and I still keep in touch with him to this day. But I think in a moment like that, you know, when we were doing our reports from there, it wasn't about just what President Biden was doing per se. It was what these people had been through and what their experience had been like. And some of them didn't even have shoes because a tornado sometimes hits so quickly if you're barefoot at home. You don't always think to put shoes on. I know that because my mom and my grandmother used to always make us put tennis shoes on if a storm was coming. And so I think things like that, you know, when there is humanity, I mean, we're all human. We are anchors and reporters, but we also understand that aspect of it. And so I think that's something that you apply in any situation that you're in, because anchoring a 9 p.m. show will be many different stories, whatever.”
2023-06-08 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 537 — Kaitlan Collins · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Things like that are so precious, and we really wanted to get it to whoever as it was. We're walking around. It's a neighborhood where a lot of these families had lived there their entire lifetimes. And we were talking to this guy, I won't say his name because just in case he's a private person. And it was his family's photo. And so”
2023-06-08 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 537 — Kaitlan Collins · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I think so much of journalism is learning things as you go in and experiencing them and covering them and being there on the ground and talking to people. And yeah, I've been covering the White House for so long and been an anchor since October. But I think what I love to do is to travel to those places because I think the best way you tell a story is to be there in person. And I think of when President Biden went to Kentucky when they had a really devastating string of tornadoes. Obviously when a president visits a site like that, you are at a distance from it because there are so many storm relief efforts underway. And we were in this neighborhood and we were walking around and talking to a lot of the families there. I mean, the neighborhood was completely leveled. And I dealt with a lot of tornadoes growing up in Alabama. And we found this photo on the ground, my producer, and it was a family.”
2023-06-08 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 537 — Kaitlan Collins · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I think we'll see what that looks like when it's underway. I think really the biggest thing that I've understood being at CNN is that our audience cares about news. That is truly all they're invested in. They want to see interesting interviews, smart conversations, and they want to hear the news. And that's what drives me. That's what I always have cared about. And so I don't think doing the nine o'clock is reinventing the wheel. I think it's just taking my approach to reporting and interviewing and bringing that to the 9 o'clock. And I really enjoyed it when I did it a few weeks ago. And so I just think it's a perspective of how to do that and have our audience who knows me so well from the White House. And I think trust me when it comes to our sourcing and our reporting, how do I bring that to a show at nine o'clock that is just focused on the biggest things of the day?”
2023-06-08 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 537 — Kaitlan Collins · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“But I think challenges are good. I think it's good to deal with things like that. That was how I viewed it how can I make this better? I mean, that's always how I've viewed my role and things is to be a happy warrior in those situations and to bring my best to the table. And that's what I did every day”
2023-06-08 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 537 — Kaitlan Collins · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I think what was the challenge for me was moving to a new city and having a new job. Luckily, I was still at CNN and I knew so many people here. And just learning how to be an anchor, something that it's a different set of skills than just being a correspondent. And I loved being a correspondent. I felt like I mastered that. I think I'll always be a correspondent at heart and a reporter at heart. And I think that was where I was more focused on, is what could I do to make this better and to make this show better and to get good guests on who we are the newsmakers of the day and ask those questions and bring new reporting to the show. I think that was.”
2023-06-08 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 537 — Kaitlan Collins · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Think there will always be moments when I miss the White House, but I also was looking forward to trying something new and to having a new challenge. And I fully was aware of that going into it. So it wasn't”
2023-06-08 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 537 — Kaitlan Collins · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Last week. And so I think I thought of it in that way, of this is a new challenge, and I've never said no to something like that and to an opportunity. And so I moved to New York and did the morning show.”
2023-06-08 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 537 — Kaitlan Collins · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I had just become head of the White House correspondence association, which, of course, I loved. Those elections are hard fought. If you ever watch them, because the White House press corps is, I mean, they really want someone who's a fearless leader and you have very important decisions to make with that. And that was a fun period. And I love my time covering the White House. I could have covered the White House for the rest of my life and really enjoyed it because I'm deeply fascinated by presidential history and whatnot. But I was approached to do the morning show. It would be a different set of skills than I had really ever taken on before. And I think of this, even in terms of interviewing style. I had only done press conferences and briefings and whatnot and questions in those sense of the manner, but I'd never done a lot of one-on-one interviews with lawmakers. This gave me a chance to do that. I still kept reporting as I am still doing to this day. We had a bunch of big stories.”
2023-06-08 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 537 — Kaitlan Collins · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yes, which they moved pretty quickly on. Biden's as a special counsel, Trump's obviously has a special counsel. And so his team is meeting with the DOJ today ostensibly to talk about the special counsel's investigation. I assume they're warranting some, they have some complaints that they're lobbying about it. But I do think there's a level of uncertainty and uneasiness in Trump's corner about where that investigation is going.”
2023-06-08 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 537 — Kaitlan Collins · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And it's a national defense document, we're told. That reporting has shifted the level of confidence that I've heard from Trump allies about what's going to happen in this. I think there's a level of uncertainty that has been injected into it where they don't ultimately know where the document's investigation is going. Previously, they thought after what happened with President Biden's documents from his time as VP and Mike Pence's documents from his time as VP, they thought that would help buffer Trump basically from any real charges or pursuits. I think they see it very differently now. So I don't know. Pence”
2023-06-08 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 537 — Kaitlan Collins · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Just based on the Trump team's mindset of where this stands, they think in June there will be some movement. They don't know what that movement is, but that is their prediction. And so we'll see what that looks like. But I do think what we reported, which was that Trump's unrecorded audio talking about classified information and making clear he knows he doesn't he shouldn't have it outside of an unsecure area and that he doesn't have the power to declassify it out of office like he's claimed.”
2023-06-08 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 537 — Kaitlan Collins · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I don't know if it's the toughest thing I've had to grapple with. I think I take things. I take my work really seriously I work really hard to be prepared for moments like that because I think that is how you best handle something like that. That's what suited me well during my time covering the White House when Trump was in office. And I think that's. You handle it”
2023-06-08 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 537 — Kaitlan Collins · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“But I spent weeks preparing for that. I watched Past Town Halls, past debates, I did my homework. And I think when you come out of something like that, you have to be prepared to, people are entitled to their own reaction to it. And we certainly saw that. My question for me at the end of the day is, do I think that I did the best job that I can do? And how do I feel about my performance in that? And I felt like I did the best job that I could do. And so it didn't bother me in the sense that maybe you could have misgivings if I felt, well, maybe if I had asked it this way or said that question or watched this, I would have been better prepared. I went into it fully prepared. I was prepared for how he was going to respond to that and what that was going to look like. And I think that was.”
2023-06-08 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 537 — Kaitlan Collins · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I don't view it as a setback. I totally understand that there was a lot of criticism and thoughts on how it was handled and what it looked like. I think it's important to hear from the Republican front run.”
2023-06-08 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 537 — Kaitlan Collins · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Is a word that he attends to women. Nasty is that. And I later heard from some of his allies who said they thought that was his worst moment during the town hall. I think I'm pretty immune to the criticism from him on that kind of stuff, the personal stuff, because A, it's not his first time doing it to me. He kicked me out of the White House, of the Rose Garden once for an event because he didn't like the questions I asked him. So I'm very well aware of what his reactions to tough questioning often are. And I think my job is to not be deterred by that and to be, it is really important for any reporter, but especially if you're covering Trump to be unflappable in that way.”
2023-06-08 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 537 — Kaitlan Collins · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Whatever your quote was. But I think when I was in there, I'm a reporter. I always will be. And I know how Trump operates really well, probably better than not most. I mean, I would obviously with all the people who covered Trump obviously understand that very well. But I knew how I operates and I knew what were the important questions to ask. And so that was all that I could focus on. Or here are the questions that the Republican frontrunner needs to be asked in my view. And based on our reporting, that was where we pursued those lines. I think on the investigations and whatnot, those are answers that we'll live on for a while.”
2023-06-08 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 537 — Kaitlan Collins · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I don't know if he went in there with a game plan. I think he had some apprehension going into it. I think he's always emboldened by an audience, though. And that is what's important to keep in mind here. And I think will be something going forward, is that that one cheer from the audience or that one chuckle, that he feeds off of it. That's why you see him speak so differently. When he's at the White House, when he was giving an address, then when he's at a rally because he feeds off the crowd. And so I think that was part of it. But I never had a moment where I was like, holy smokes”
2023-06-08 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 537 — Kaitlan Collins · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Who I covered obviously from day one when he was in the White House till when he left and have covered him ever since amid all of his investigations and whatnot. And he had never been pressed on January 6th, on the document's investigation, on all of these things in a public way. I don't think he had done a TV interview with a major outlet besides Fox News since he left office. That's what I was interested in, is asking him those questions and getting a, we have a pretty good idea of his mindset, I think. But sometimes it's more revealing when he's being pressed on things and not just when he's asked an open-ended question in a Fox News interview or in a rally. And so I think that was what was important to me was to actually get more of his mindset. He didn't apologize to Mike Pence for endangering his life. He talked about pardoning the rioters if he gets into office again, including those convicted of seditious conspiracy and the ones who beat up cops that day.”
2023-06-08 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 537 — Kaitlan Collins · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yes and no. And I think he was exactly what I expected. I don't think many of his answers surprised me. I think there were really important areas to press him on because from my view going into it, this is the front runner for the Republican nomination.”
2023-06-08 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 537 — Kaitlan Collins · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“There's also a level of respect and just understanding of your each just doing your job that I think was something that the Biden White House took into mind that the Trump White House did not I mean, often the Trump White House, if you wrote something that was true but critical, they would personally attack you. And instead of just, you know, the reporting wasn't wrong. They just didn't like that you were reporting it.”
2023-06-08 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 537 — Kaitlan Collins · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“On day one of the Biden administration, that was so different to go up there, the environment, and how they just approached, because there's always tension between a press office and a press corps. Politician dating back in history”
2023-06-08 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 537 — Kaitlan Collins · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“General parameters That every White House has. Yeah. And Trump obviously broke all of those. And so I remember one thing that was noticeably different on day one to me was, as you know, if you're a reporter and you go past the briefing room, you can go to what is called upper press. That's where the press secretary's office are and their aides who sit outside of them. You know, during the Trump era, and you as a reporter have a right to go up there and stand outside their office and wait for big questions, you know, we'd often be lined up outside Kaylee McInny or Sarah Sanders or Sean Spicer's office or Stephanie Grisham when Trump had fired someone waiting because we needed a comment from the White House.”
2023-06-08 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 537 — Kaitlan Collins · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“It's like night and day. It's very different. And I think when you go into it as someone who had not covered Obama or other past presidents before then, Trump was my first president that I had covered. And so when you're not used to how the White House typically works, which it's a little different for every president, of course, and Trump was your own.”
2023-06-08 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 537 — Kaitlan Collins · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“The tone was definitely lower. Than it ever was. But I think that's Trump. I think he, I mean, In front of the cameras, and I think that's one of the reasons why if you're going to cover him, you have to be prepared for that because it's not personal. You can't let it become something between the two of you because then that's what he wants and it gets away from what you're trying to ask.”
2023-06-08 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 537 — Kaitlan Collins · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, and everyone is listening But often we would laugh because you'd get on, he'd be very critical of the media One time we were at a rally, he did. I can't remember where, what state it was in. And I was on the phone actually with a source who had called me. It was very loud. And then all of a sudden I returned back to the table and everyone was looking at me and I was like, what? Trump just called you out from the stage. And Trump had said something about, I think it was talking about evacuating Afghanistan or it was something related to the military. And he said from the stage, Remember that, Caitlin as in, remember when you're covering this that I just said that. And it was kind of like he was, you know, chiding me. I think probably half the audience was like, who's Caitlin? And then we got back on Air Force One and the plane is still ascending and he comes back to talk to the reporters who were gathered there. And that was a pretty regular occurrence. And those were always off the record conversations. So I can't.”
2023-06-08 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 537 — Kaitlan Collins · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Himself also, this is what I would explain to my friends and family back home. He's so critical of the media, especially he was critical of CNN at the time, obviously, but he desperately sought the media's validation behind the scenes. And I think he's always been like that. I think he was like that in New York when you read Maggie Haberman's book and you read about the calls that he used to make To the table, it was all there. None of it changed when he came to the White House. It was just amplified, and it was on a different level because it was the president of the United States doing it and not a New York businessman.”
2023-06-08 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 537 — Kaitlan Collins · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah. Well, I think when it comes to the aggressive questioning, I think I also, because I had of my background, I knew when they were being dishonest in their criticisms of the media or they didn't want to answer a question and those briefings in the early days, as everyone remembers, was just a series of lies. And so I think that was a big, or they would just not try to answer, they would try to dodge the questions. And I think that was on display for people. And I think a lot of the reporters who had been talking, because also with the Trump White House, you talk to all these sources and officials behind the scenes, and they tell you one thing. And then you'd go into the briefing room, and they would be saying something very different. Their colleagues. And you knew what was really going on behind the scenes. So I think it was frustrating in that sense of a lack of transparency.”
2023-06-08 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 537 — Kaitlan Collins · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Very fair to say. Definitely overwhelming. And I remember at the beginning, I think my dad's reaction was, why not Fox? I think he genuinely didn't understand it. And then I started at CNN and my whole life changed.”
2023-06-08 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 537 — Kaitlan Collins · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“It was very interesting, I think, because I think their initial reaction was confusion as a family who didn't watch CNN a ton. Obviously, they didn't watch a lot of cable news. My dad watched the local news, and that was... But fair to say, people watch cable.”
2023-06-08 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 537 — Kaitlan Collins · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yes, and now runs all of news gathering. And it just went from there. And then I started interviewing for a job. I didn't really know if I would get it. I interviewed for several months. I talked about what I thought I could bring to the table as a reporter. And then I got a job at CNN.”
2023-06-08 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 537 — Kaitlan Collins · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“No, I wasn't looking for that in any way. I was still just adjusting to White House coverage and enjoying being a White House reporter. And Jeff said thanks very much, and nice to meet you. And we went our separate ways. And then like an hour or so later, he came back to me and introduced me to Virginia Mosley.”
2023-06-08 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 537 — Kaitlan Collins · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I was like, why not And Oliver had just started at CNN, which Oliver and I laugh about this day. But I went up and I just said I just want to introduce myself. I'm Caitlin Collins. I cover the White House for the Daily Caller. And you've had me on a few times and I really appreciate that because obviously I knew it was widely reported how involved Jeff was at CNN at the time. And I said, I just wanted to thank you for letting me come on. I was not looking for a job and broadcast. I never, I'd only done a handful of TV appearances before.”
2023-06-08 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 537 — Kaitlan Collins · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And I went to this brunch and I was standing with Oliver Darcy, Darcy and media reporter, and he was like, oh, that's Jeff Zucker. And I said, oh, which one? And he pointed to him. And I said, I'm going to go say, hey. And Oliver was like, you can't go say hey to him.”
2023-06-08 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 537 — Kaitlan Collins · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, I had been going on CNN and other outlets to talk about my reporting and what was happening inside the White House, moments from the briefing room, and including CNN, where they'd always treated me not as a reporter from a conservative leaning outlet, but as a White House reporter. And I deeply appreciated that because that wasn't necessarily my expectation. I'd kind of been told by others, like, be ready when you go on. And when I went on, it was a really pleasant experience. I went to the White House correspondence, CNN brunch that they have on Sundays, as you know. I was like a plus ones plus one. I don't even know how I got in the door. I was not supposed to be there, but I'd just done ABC that morning because John Carl was guest hosting and invited me on, which I really appreciated.”
2023-06-08 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 537 — Kaitlan Collins · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Maybe Sean Spicer, they would often call on me thinking I'd be friendlier to them. And when I was just a straightforward, normal reporter, I think it caught them off guard at times. But I saw how. How that worked. And I think all of that shaped my experience, but that was how I really learned, you know, to cover the White House was from watching in those early days, watching those other reporters in the room.”
2023-06-08 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 537 — Kaitlan Collins · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Oh, so I learned from so many people, and this is what I always tell people if you really want to learn how to be better at something, just watch people who are really good do it. From the second to last row where I was, you know, I would watch John Carl and all of these reporters at the front, Steve Holland, Jeff Mason, Major Garrett, asking their questions. And I would just, I would see, I learned so much from watching that. Mara Elias and NPR. That was a deeply informative to me. And so then I was in that role just for a short period of time. I quickly learned a lot, I think, about covering them. I also felt like I had a bit of a leg up because I did come from a conservatively leaning outlet. So I think people in the White House.”
2023-06-08 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 537 — Kaitlan Collins · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Day one that Trump took office, yeah, but they didn't really have any kind of, there was no one who was covering the White House for them at the time then. So I was kind of, I was the only person, and I was figuring out we didn't have a seat in the briefing room. I would have to go to the, when I started covering Sean Spicer's briefings, I'd have to get to the briefing three or four hours before it started. And there was one or two seats where the person did not come on a regular basis. And I would plant myself there and just sit there and work on my questions. And of course, as you know, White House briefings get delayed all the time. And I would be sitting there for six hours or so. But I got to know the briefing room. I got to know all of these veterans of the White House, the photographers, everyone who'd been there. And I really started and I watched these other reporters in the briefing room. And that was how I really figured out how to operate in that way. Did you?”
2023-06-08 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 537 — Kaitlan Collins · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I was there, and when I covered, what I covered there was not even politics at the beginning. I covered entertainment and did their clickbait stories that they did. Some people would always ask if I was even a real person because I would do, my job was to do slideshows and stuff. And I think then at that age, I was so, my experience with journalism was so limited. I mean, I'd been in college. I'd been interning. And then I started there. So much of that was just me learning how to be an adult and what it was like to have a job and operating in a newsroom. And I think where it really changed was, and I got very burnt out on that because I didn't feel fulfilled doing clickbait. Obviously, I wanted to cover real stories. And where it shifted was when I started covering the White House and I started covering day one. Big leap.”
2023-06-08 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 537 — Kaitlan Collins · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“He's deeply influential over the Republican Party, and I think that was another thing covering the Trump White House that you saw and understood. And because I knew him, I had an understanding of how we saw what an influence, you know, which everyone said Sean Hannity was like the shadow cabinet member with the former president. I think Tucker was also a very big influence with Trump, obviously. Trump sought his validation and wanted that. The other thing I thought when Tucker left Fox and is deciding what his next move is, is the effect that has on the Republican primary happening right now because he is such a force for Republican voters and for that base that you were just talking about and how that shapes the fates of certain people when it comes to how they talk about Ukraine and other major issues I think will be very interesting to watch and how that's different now without that”
2023-06-08 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 537 — Kaitlan Collins · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I think he was different then because I think not different as a person, but I think he had his life was different, his platform was so different. Obviously day-to-day ran this small website, the Daily Caller, small by the definition of what a typical newsroom would look like, and then was hosting the early morning show on Fox on the weekend, which was, you know, obviously Fox and Friends in the Morning is very different than Fox at Night. And it was just a completely different platform, I think.”
2023-06-08 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 537 — Kaitlan Collins · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yes. So he was still in the office a bunch then because that was when he was, I believe still a weekend host on Fox& Friends. It was before he became. I'm Time Tucker. I mean, he was already well known. Obviously, he had shows on CNN and MSNBC. But yeah, but he was in the office pretty frequently then.”
2023-06-08 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 537 — Kaitlan Collins · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I was reflecting on this recently when I moved to New York because I moved to New York last fall and I was in the train station, which I've been in a million times to come to New York, but this time was obviously different because it was my last time leaving as someone who lived in Washington. To reflect on where I was when I first moved to DC, which was interning at the Daily Caller, making a few hundred bucks a month with only the promise of eight weeks, by the way, before they brought me on full time. I lived with a guy of Craigslist that I didn't know. And then to see where I was eight years later as I was leaving was as someone who's not a sentimental person. It was a special moment for me to reflect on.”
2023-06-08 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 537 — Kaitlan Collins · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I looked it up and I sought the advice of a mentor of mine at the time. And I said, do you think I should go here? This is really my only option that's out of state or it's just an internship, but I want to move. I want to just get my foot in the door. And it definitely had a conservative lean to it, obviously. But this person at the time said, you're not going to have your dream job right out of college. It's important to get experience. It's important to get your foot in the door. So I thought about it, and a month later I moved to Washington. I packed up my car. I got dropped off. I don't take my car to DC. And I just figured it out, kind of.”
2023-06-08 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 537 — Kaitlan Collins · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“California based journalism center. It's called the Franklin Center. Basically, took applications for interns, and I'd applied to them, made it through their process, got it. It was like, I think 10 other students myself. I thought it meant that I was moving to California, but the way they do their program is they basically place you around the country. And they kind of pay that place a few hundred bucks to have you as an intern. So you could be in local news in North Carolina. You could be in Iowa. They called me and they said, you're going to the Daily Caller in Washington. I'd never even heard of the Daily Caller before.”
2023-06-08 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 537 — Kaitlan Collins · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I knew graduating that I wanted to move out of the South. I wanted to see something different. I'd been there my whole life. I'd barely traveled outside of the Southeast. And so I applied for any and everything. And so I applied for a lot of jobs in LA and in California, New York. I hadn't really applied to that many in Washington. But this one.”
2023-06-08 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 537 — Kaitlan Collins · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“When people would wonder aloud why Republican lawmakers in Washington would refuse to criticize Trump for the certain things he did or condemn him or rebuke him and I went to so many rallies of Trump's. We covered obviously all of them when we were covering him as president. You'd go to South Carolina and you'd see 10,000 people, 15,000 people in an arena there with Trump and Senator Lindsay Graham is obviously standing to his side. They see up close the effect that he has. Most other politicians would not be able to get 10,000 people into a room, into an arena like that. And so I think that was the clearest line. They watched that and they understood that their political fates were tied to him.”
2023-06-08 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 537 — Kaitlan Collins · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I think that's true. And I do wonder, though, especially this is why this election will be so fascinating, is because you do hear from voters when you go on the ground in Iowa or in New Hampshire or certain places who say it is a bit chaotic, it is a bit much with everything that's going into him. I do wonder how voters will assess it when there are the challenges to him. And he does have obvious competitors.”
2023-06-08 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 537 — Kaitlan Collins · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source