Kaitlan Collins nowhere to be seen at press briefing after viral clash with Karoline Leavitt

Kaitlan Collins was noticeably absent at the White House press briefing on Wednesday afternoon after she went viral on Monday for an uncomfortable clash with press secretary Karoline Leavitt.

While the exchange was heated, Collins remains in her role at CNN and was absent because the network rotates their team.

Chief National Affairs Correspondent Jeff Zeleny was at Wednesday’s press briefing instead.

Collins is CNN’s chief White House correspondent and hosts the network’s primetime show, The Source, from Washington DC.

Alayna Treene, Kevin Liptak, and Kayla Tausche are also on CNN’s White House team.

While Collins doesn’t attend every press briefing, her recent appearances have certainly made an impression.

In their latest encounter, Leavitt slammed Collins for asking whether there was any evidence to suggest that President Biden’s last-minute pardons were voided because he used an autopen.

The press secretary quipped, ‘You’re a reporter, you should find out,’ in a cringe-worthy moment.

Kaitlan Collins was absent at the White House press briefing on Wednesday as her colleague Jeff Zeleny represented CNN at the press pool

Karoline Leavitt has frequently sparred with reporters at her briefings and recently hit back at Collins for a question on former President Biden’s pardons

CNN’s Chief National Affairs Correspondent Jeff Zeleny represented CNN instead of Collins during Wednesday’s briefing

‘The president (Trump) was raising the point. Did the president (Biden) even know about these pardons? Was his legal signature used without his consent or knowledge?’ Leavitt added.

Leavitt then called upon Collins and the rest of the press corps to ask those questions themselves and get to the bottom of whether there were any illegal implications to Biden’s last-minute pardons instead of pestering her about it.

At a press briefing last month, she questioned Leavitt on why the Associated Press was blocked from attending press events by the White House.

‘Which White House official made the decision to bar the AP reporter from the Oval Office and the diplomatic reception room last night?’ Collins asked.

Leavitt answered that attending a press briefing was a ‘privilege’ and that ‘nobody has the right to go into the Oval Office and ask the President of the United States questions.’

The Trump administration is shaking up the way the White House press corp. operates, which has increased tensions with the press.

In an unprecedented move, the administration decided to revoke the AP’s invitation to pool events.

Collins suggested in a recent briefing that the move was ‘retaliatory’ after the AP announced their reporters would continue to refer to the Gulf of America as the Gulf of Mexico, following a Trump executive order to change the name.

Leavitt has had numerous contentious moments with Collins, including a recent interaction over the White House’s decision to block the Associated Press from press events

Collins has gained a reputation for asking tough questions and has had multiple cringe-worthy moments with Leavitt and Trump

Leavitt and Collins clash over question about Biden’s signature

‘Is this setting a precedent that this White House will retaliate against reporters who don’t use the language that you guys believe?’ Collins continued.

Leavitt replied that the White House would penalize news outlets ‘if lies are being pushed’ and that it was a ‘fact’ that the body of water off the coast of Louisiana was now called the Gulf of America.

‘I’m not sure why news outlets don’t want to call it that, but that is what it is,’ she added.

Not only has Collins frequently sparred with Leavitt, but the president has made his feelings known about the reporter numerous times.

During a briefing at the Oval Office in early February, Trump made multiple jabs at Collins when she asked him about Russian President Vladimir Putin.

When asked by Collins if he believed Putin wanted peace, Trump blamed the war on Biden and suggested that Collins was a friend of the former president’s.

‘He’s [Biden] a friend of CNN, and that’s why nobody watches CNN anymore because they have no credibility,’ Trump said.

During Trump’s first administration, he even blocked Collins from attending a White House event after she asked him questions about Putin and his former lawyer, Michael Cohen.

Associated Press reporter Josh Boak pressed Leavitt on her understanding of who pays tariffs – American importers or foreign countries, which she later deemed ‘insulting’

Press Sec Karoline Leavitt claims tariffs are tax cut for Americans

Collins isn’t the only journalist who has sparred with the Trump administration, as Leavitt hit back at an AP reporter for an ‘insulting’ question just last week.

Josh Boak asked Leavitt about Trump’s decision to impose tariffs on foreign countries, a policy that has come under scrutiny by economists. The exchange quickly escalated when Boak asked Leavitt if she had ever paid a tariff.

‘Ultimately, when we have fair and balanced trade, which the American people have not seen in decades. As I said at the beginning, revenues will stay here, wages will go up, and our country will be made wealthy again,’ said Leavitt.

‘And I think it’s insulting that you’re trying to test my knowledge of economics and the decisions that this President has made. I now regret giving a question to the Associated Press.’