Kaitlan Collins Says Trump’s Dylan Mulvaney Joke Absolutely Bombed

After President Donald Trump compared Kaitlan Collins to Dylan Mulvaney, the CNN anchor has responded, all while keeping it classy in the face of what was, frankly, playground bully behavior.

The journalist appeared on Monday’s episode of The Daily Show, during which host Jon Stewart asked her about Trump’s comments about her at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner this past Friday.

“I’ve always felt this, regardless of who’s the president […] it’s really not about me, and I don’t want it to be about my reaction,” Collins said. “If you let it become about that, then it becomes a back-and-forth between the two of us.” She added that “in those moments when he is insulting me, he is criticizing me … it’s important to put the reminder back on the work, on the question, and on the non-answers that we get.”

Collins did throw just a little shade though, as a treat. While she said that she was “not surprised when he insulted me,” she noted, “What was most surprising to me is that the room was filled with a lot of his staffers, his cabinet, his allies, Republicans in Congress. It was so quiet in the room during the president’s remarks.”

The President criticized Collins at length during his speech at last Friday’s rescheduled White House Correspondents’ Dinner, during which she received the Award for Excellence in Presidential News Coverage under Deadline Pressure in the broadcast category. In addition to the usual “fake news” comments, Trump also, of course, had to do a Classic Misogyny and comment on the journalist’s appearance. “She’s a young, attractive woman. She never smiles,” he said. “You have a nice position, you’re at CNN fake news, you should be a happy person. So smile, Kaitlan, just smile.”

Trump then went a step further and joked, “I thought Kaitlan had really made it big with a major new sponsorship, but then I informed her that it wasn’t her on the Bud Light can, it was Dylan Mulvaney.”

He was referring to the trans actress and influencer, who was the subject of a widespread right-wing hate campaign after collaborating with Bud Light on a single video in 2023. After that joke flopped at the dinner, the President took to social media on Sunday night to share an edited image of Collins as Mulvaney, Bud Light in hand. (Yes, really.)

Bravo to Collins for aptly recognizing that sometimes, the best response is no response at all.

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