Vice President JD Vance downplayed President Donald Trump’s dustup after CNN’s Kaitlan Collins asked a “tough question” on Tuesday.
Collins asked the president about survivors of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein who may feel they haven’t received justice yet, to which Trump said Collins is “the worst reporter,” and added that he doesn’t believe he’s seen Collins with “a smile on [Collins’] face.”
Vance said on Wednesday that Trump “just says what’s on his mind,” and “doesn’t care” how people react to what he says. The vice president also said Trump and Collins have “a decent relationship,” even though this is “unusual” because Collins is with CNN.
“But the president, she’s asking a question, [and] the president says, ‘Why don’t you ever smile?’ And it’s actually so perceptive,” Vance said on the Megyn Kelly Show. “Even if you’re asking a tough question, even if you take your job very seriously, why does it always have to be so antagonistic?”
Journalist Megyn Kelly said she “laughed” at people online accusing Trump of being sexist toward Collins, since Kelly “literally said the same thing” last year on her show. She added that Collins “never smiles,” to which Vance said people should “have some fun, in life, you can’t always take yourself too seriously — you’re gonna have a heart attack.”
The vice president also said journalists don’t behave this way “when the other guys are in power,” adding that there is “a political bias angle” to it. Vance added that more people would trust the media if press members would “express the range of emotions.”
“I’m not saying you have to agree with everything that me or President Trump do, but nobody is angry all the time, and when you come across as angry all the time, it’s just fake,” Vance said.
READ IN FULL: VICE PRESIDENT JD VANCE’S INTERVIEW WITH THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Vance continued to dodge questions on the possibility of running for president in 2028. However, he did say his wife and children will play “a huge factor” in determining this. He said his 8-year-old son “doesn’t like the cameras,” and the question comes down to whether he and his wife can keep his family “healthy.”
Vance and his wife, second lady Usha Vance, announced last month they are expecting their fourth child, a boy, this July.