Kaitlan Collins is an American journalist working for CNN, and she is currently the chief White House correspondent for the news outlet.
Collins left The Daily Caller to join CNN in 2017, becoming one of the youngest White House correspondents the network has ever hired. She was recently in the news after a back and forth with US President Joe Biden in a press conference.
During the Donald Trump administration, Collins travelled with him to over a dozen countries to cover and break stories. She’s also broken several stories in her coverage of the Trump White House, as well as major staff departures and consequential policy decisions.
Kaitlan Collins has had numerous career achievements, such as getting featured in Forbes 30 Under 30: Media in 2019 and being on the Mediaite list of the 50 Most Influential People in News Media in consecutive years, since 2019 to date.
Top 10 facts about Kaitlan Collins
- Kaitlan Collins was born on 7 April 1992 and is currently 29 years old in 2021.
- She got her elementary education in Prattville, Alabama, and she was the second oldest of four children.
- Collins graduated from the University of Alabama in May 2014 with a Bachelor of arts degree in Political Science and Journalism after changing her mind from studying Chemistry.
- She grew up in an apolitical family, claiming she never heard her parents strongly opining on a political opponent while growing up.
- Earlier during her career, she worked as a freelance writer and blogger.
- Kaitlan Collins is also part of a female fraternity group, the Alpha Phi sorority.
- She is a very private person and keeps details of her personal life away from the media.
- She was once barred from press events for asking Trump a series of questions about Vladimir Putin and Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen.
- At a President Joe Biden press conference, CNN White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins got under his skin with feet sweeping questions.
- Kaitlan Collins is not married and has no kids yet.
Related: Who is CNN journalist Jim Acosta’s wife, Sharon Mobley Stow? See biography and facts
Early life, family, and education
Kaitlan Collins was born on 7 April 1992 to American parents. She grew up in Prattville, Alabama, and she is Caucasian. Collins is the second child, and she has three siblings. Her father’s name is Jeff Collins, who worked as a mortgage banker. We only found a photo of her with her brothers and father. Not much is known of her mother.
Many other details about the Collins family is scarcely known as Kaitlan prefers to keep them private. We found that she attended Prattville High School, where she graduated from in the 2000s, before enrolling at the University of Alabama to study Chemistry.
Kaitlan Collins once revealed her family was apolitical, and their upbringing was such that her parents never went to vote nor spoke strongly about a political issue.
Hence, she wanted to study Chemistry because her older sister was doing the same thing, but that wasn’t really her calling. Collins later switched to journalism, and she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in the course (political science and journalism) back in May 2014.
She is part of a female fraternity group, the Alpha Phi sorority. Upon graduating from the university, Collins quickly started as a freelancer. She would write for blogs and even moved to Washington.
She joined the news website The Daily Caller in 2014, and worked as an entertainment reporter. After three years of working with the media house she was promoted to the position of a correspondent.
Career
Kaitlan Collins started her career in journalism as a freelance writer and blogger shortly after her university education.
She had initially wanted to study chemistry like her sister but she opted for journalism instead, and she graduated in May 2014 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and Journalism.
Working as a freelance writer for blogs got her a spot on The Daily Caller, a news website where she worked and an entertainment reporter back in 2014.
After three years working with the news outfit and covering the 2016 presidential campaign, Collins was offered a role as the White House correspondent at The Daily Caller in 2017 and this promotion was the beginning of better things to come in her career. She quickly began covering the Trump administration after assuming her new position.
In 2017, CNN, the multinational news-based television channel known for its dramatic live coverage of breaking news, recruited Kaitlan Collins. She became one of the youngest ever White House correspondents for the media house.
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CNN reporters
CNN is one of the biggest and most relevant news agencies in the world and as such parades a hot of top reporters, anchors, and hosts.
You can find the profiles of these reporters HERE.
As a top news outfit correspondent, Kaitlan Collins has made it her prerogative to ask the tough and difficult questions, which sometimes got her blacklisted.
According to Wikipedia, back in 2018, Collins asked Trump a series of questions about Vladimir Putin and Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen while attending a photo op at the oval office. Trump, however, ignored Collins’ questions.
And that afternoon, Kaitlan was not allowed to attend the Trump administration press conference in the White House Rose Garden. Senior White House officials also allegedly told her that her questions were ‘inappropriate for that venue.’
CNN later claimed that it was ‘retaliatory’ to ban Collins, adding that it is ‘not indicative of an open and free press.’
The White House Correspondents Association rallied behind Collins, calling the ban ‘wholly inappropriate, wrong-headed, and weak.’
The president of Fox News, Jay Wallace, also showed support for her by issuing a statement saying that his organization ‘[stood] in strong solidarity with CNN for the right to full access for our journalists as part of a free and unfettered press.’
The fearless Kaitlan Collins also got in the news yet again in November 2020 after the press secretary of the White House then, Kayleigh McEnany, refused to take questions from Collins, saying she doesn’t call on activists.
Also, Kaitlan Collins got promoted to CNN’s chief White House correspondent for the incoming Biden administration on 11 January 2021, and she got under the skin of President Biden as well in no time.
Biden press conference
During president Biden’s press conference following his Geneva summit with Vladimir Putin, Collins’ question about his confidence that Putin would change his behaviour when he continues to deny cyber attacks and persecution of political opposition was challenged by President Joe Biden who said it was a mischaracterization of his comments. This happened on 16 June 2021, you can see a BBC video report of the incident below:
President Biden would later issue an apology publicly to the correspondent, Kaitlan Collins, before boarding the Air Force one. He walked over to a group of reporters on the tarmac and said that he owed Collins an apology. Meanwhile, she later said that no apology was necessary.
Personal life and family
Kaitlan Collins was one of four children and the second eldest child. She was born on 7 April 1992 and is 29 years old as of 2021. Her relationship with her family is not often spoken about as Kaitlan is a very private person.
Her father, Jeff Collins, is a mortgage banker who settled in Prattville, Alabama where Kaitlan and her siblings grew up. Collins also has a sister who studied chemistry and she is an aunt.
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Kaitlan Collins Twitter
Kaitlan Collins is a social media savvy person and is very active on Twitter as well as on Instagram.
She has over 1.1 million followers on Twitter and you can find her @kaitlancollins. Over on Instagram, she has 217k followers. Her IG profile is @kaitlancollins as well.
Is Kaitlan Collins married?
Kaitlan Collins is not married but, she has been rumoured to be dating her long-term partner Will Douglas, who owns Crimson Care Pharmacy Group. The pair are rumoured to have been together since 2015.
Pictures of them are all over Will’s Instagram profile but nothing regarding them can be found on Collins’ profile. It is also unknown if they are still together as pictures of them together have been scarce recently.
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Net worth
For someone who was listed in Forbes 30 Under 30, you can tell that she earns quite a handsome amount. Her estimated salary is around $100,000 – $140,000 per annum and according to Legit.ng, as of 2020 Kaitlan Collins had an estimated net worth of $1.5 million.
Also, being the chief white house correspondent, she might be getting other bonuses and packages.
Conclusion
Despite growing up in an apolitical family, Kaitlan Collins has built a life and career for herself by involving in politics. It all started when she dropped out of studying chemistry as her sister did to major in Political Science and Journalism.
Her journey has since taken her from just a freelance writer and blogger to one of the highest pinnacles of journalism, CNN’s chief white house correspondent.
It all began from the Daily Caller, a news website where she worked and an entertainment reporter back in 2014. She was promoted to the role of their white house correspondent at the Daily Caller in 2017, but shortly after being invited to make several appearances on CNN, she decided to switch, and she got interviewed for the job.
She became one of the youngest ever White House correspondents for the media house, and have built a stellar career for herself during president Trump’s administration and travelled to over a dozen countries covering the president.
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Fearless. True testament to who a reporter should be.
Interesting