THIS IS CNN: CNN WH Correspondent Deletes Tweet Supporting CEO Killer Luigi Mangione’s Defense Fund.
From our “What could she possibly have been thinking?” file, CNN White House Correspondent Kaitlan Collins posted a tweet linking to the defense fund for accused CEO murderer Luigi Mangione.
Maybe she believed she could justify it by claiming that everyone is entitled to a defense. That may be true, but isn’t that what public defenders are for?
After a massive backlash to the idiotic post, she deleted it. Almost like it never happened.
Almost.
At his Substack, Matt Margolis adds: CNN Anchor Promotes Legal Defense Fund of Cold-Blooded Killer.
This is CNN, folks—the so-called “most trusted name in news.” Yet, out of nowhere, CNN anchor and White House Correspondent Kaitlan Collins took to X to casually announce, “Luigi Mangione’s legal defense team launched a new website today,” complete with a direct link to the site. No context, no disclaimer—just a straight-up promotion for the legal fund of a man charged with assassinating UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson mere weeks before Christmas last year.
While Collins didn’t explicitly encourage her followers to donate, the implication was clear: by directing attention to the site, she was signaling support for Mangione’s cause and clearly assumed her followers would want to donate.
It probably wasn’t a bad assumption on her part. In December, the audience of NBC’s Saturday Night Live erupted in cheers at the mere mention of Luigi Mangione.
During the “Weekend Update” segment, anchor Colin Jost began discussing Mangione’s extradition to New York after his capture in Pennsylvania.
“Luigi Mangione dropped—” he started, only to be interrupted by cheers.
Jost flinched and glanced offstage, as if unsure whether he was being pranked. Unfortunately, he wasn’t.
Hot Air’s David Strom notes the connection between Mangione’s legal defense team and CNN:
Collins’ tweet was startling because, first of all, she is White House Correspondent and hence has nothing to do with covering the case; secondly, because it sure looked like a call to go to the site and perhaps donate; and third, one of Collins’ colleagues–a CNN analyst–will be a direct beneficiary because she is on the defense team.
Related: CNN Names Karen Friedman Agnifilo On-Air Legal Analyst.
—AdWeek, April 4th, 2023.