Meghan McCain is calling for CNN Chief White House Correspondent Kaitlan Collins to have her press credentials revoked, calling her an “absolute imbecile” and a “pure partisan hack” following a tense exchange during a White House press briefing.
McCain’s criticism comes after Collins clashed with Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Wednesday.
“Kaitlan Collins is an absolute imbecile and a pure partisan hack,” the podcast host and conservative commentator wrote on her X account on Wednesday.
“Have some respect for the two women standing in front of you who are exposing lies, deep corruption and keeping the country safe. The White House should pull her credentials.”
During the briefing, Gabbard introduced a new trove of declassified documents meant to support President Donald Trump’s long-standing accusation that former President Barack Obama and his top officials committed “treason” by manipulating intelligence related to Russia’s involvement in the 2016 election.
Collins pressed Gabbard, suggesting political motivation behind the timing of the release and referencing past Trump criticisms of Gabbard’s intelligence assessments — particularly as they relate to Iran’s nuclear program.
Trump dismissed Gabbard’s assertion earlier this year that the Iranian government was not pursuing nuclear weapons.
The president ordered the bombing of Iranian nuclear facilities.
“What would you say to people who believe that you’re only releasing these documents now to improve your standing with the president after he said that your intelligence assessments were wrong?” Collins asked.
Leavitt swiftly interjected and Gabbard rejected the premise of the question.
“First, I want to correct something that you stated, which was citing the Senate Intelligence Committee’s report as being one and the same. I think you said the intelligence community,” Gabbard said.
“The Senate Intelligence Committee has a very different function than the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The evidence and the intelligence that has been declassified and released is irrefutable. I’m going to let Caroline speak to Secretary Rubio.”
Leavitt expanded on that point, criticizing the previous intelligence narrative and defending the administration.
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“The only people who are suggesting that the director of national intelligence would release evidence to try to boost her standing with the president are the people in this room who constantly try to sow distrust and chaos amongst the president’s cabinet. And it is not working,” Leavitt said.
“I am with the President of the United States every day,” she added. “He has the utmost confidence in Director Gabbard. He always has. He continues to, and that is true of his entire cabinet, who is all working as one team to deliver on the promises this president made.”
Collins stood her ground and doubled down. “Who has said that? Well, the president has publicly undermined her when it came to Iran. He said she was wrong. He told me that she didn’t know what she was talking about. That was on Air Force One, on camera,” Collins said.
McCain was not impressed, quickly responding online with a harsh rebuke.
The former co-host of “The View” and daughter of the late Sen. John McCain has in recent years gone from a vocal critic of Gabbard to an ally.
At the center of the exchange was a years-long dispute over Russian interference in the 2016 election and the origins of the collusion narrative.
During the briefing, Collins asked Gabbard: “Are you saying that [Marco Rubio] is wrong in that statement that he made then?” referring to a 2017 report signed by Rubio and other Senate Republicans stating that while no collusion was found, Russia had meddled in the election.
Leavitt responded: “We found irrefutable evidence of Russian meddling, which the director of national intelligence just confirmed for all of you that Russia was trying to sow distrust and chaos.”
“But what’s the outrage in this… is the fact that the intelligence community was concocting this narrative that the president colluded with the Russians… all of these lies that were never true.”
She continued by referencing the discredited Steele dossier: “The president’s son was holding secret meetings with the Russian, all of these lies… It was cooked up and paid for by the Clinton campaign.”
The Post has sought comment from CNN.
Collins’ confrontational questioning style has repeatedly drawn pushback from Trump officials.
In April, she pressed Trump in the Oval Office over the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia despite a Supreme Court order, prompting Trump to accuse her of lacking credibility and dismiss CNN as biased.
Trump has frequently interrupted or excluded Collins from events, including a widely criticized incident in 2018 where she was barred from covering a White House press event after pressing on Russia-related questions.
The adversarial dynamic has extended beyond the Oval Office.
During a CNN town hall in New Hampshire, Collins’ aggressive questioning led Trump to call her a “nasty person.”
