CNN’s Kaitlan Collins pressed White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Wednesday about comments President Trump made last month that Collins said “undermined” Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.
Gabbard joined Leavitt for the White House press briefing on Wednesday and spoke to reporters about her office’s latest document drop alleging Obama administration officials misled the public about intelligence surrounding Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Collins asked Gabbard to respond to those who say “that you’re only releasing these documents now to improve your standing with the president after he said that your intelligence assessments were wrong.”
Leavitt later responded on Gabbard’s behalf and pushed back on the premise of Collins’s question.
“Who is saying that? That she would release this to try to boost her standing with the president? Who has said that?” Leavitt asked Collins.
“The president has publicly undermined her when it came to Iran,” Collins responded. “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.”
The journalist was referring to a moment last month when the president was asked about his intelligence community assessment that there was no evidence that Iran was close to building a nuclear weapon, which was at odds with the president’s own view.
“My intelligence community is wrong,” Trump said at the time. About Gabbard, he added: “She’s wrong.”
But Leavitt denied the president ever lacked faith in Gabbard and pointed the finger at the press for suggesting otherwise.
“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. 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,” the press secretary added.
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