During a fiery briefing on Monday in the Brady Room, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt took on Kaitlan Collins after the CNN reporter suggested that President Donald Trump was wrong to send the National Guard to Portland, Oregon.
“Who are the officials who you can point to that have said, ‘We need the national guard,’ because I spoke to the police chief last week, and he said that the president’s claims just don’t match up with what is going on on the ground?” Collins asked in a follow-up to numerous questions on the topic.
“I would encourage you as a reporter to go on the ground and to take a look at it for yourself because there’s been many members of the press, not press in this room, but independent journalists, some of whom we’ll be inviting to the White House very soon to share their stories because they have been in the middle of these riots and they have witnessed the anarchy that is taking place night after night,” Leavitt snapped back, referring to the recent attack on Nick Sortor, a conservative reporter.
“It’s on video. You should play it on your show,” she continued.
“You have a great opportunity in primetime on CNN to show your audience, but you’re probably talking to partisan Democrat officials who are opposed to everything this president does. You should also ask the people who live in Portland. We’ve actually heard from many members of the community who have said that this is complete civil disobedience.”
“It’s a mess. It’s been loud. It’s been troubling for neighbors in the community who are just trying to live peacefully.”
“These people are not there to peacefully protest. They are there to cause mayhem and havoc.”
Karoline Leavitt rips into CNN's Kaitlan Collins for taking the position that the National Guard isn't needed in Portland.
“I'd encourage you as a reporter to go on the ground and take a look yourself… you're probably talking to partisan Democrat officials…” pic.twitter.com/LruZQI2pBB
— Media Research Center (@theMRC) October 6, 2025
The U.S. Justice Department opened an investigation into the Portland Police Bureau’s “questionable” practice surrounding weeks of sustained attacks and violent rioting targeting federal buildings and agents in the city.
The news was announced just hours after conservative journalist Nick Sortor was arrested by Portland Police after he was surrounded by a mob of far-left rioters, some of whom damaged his equipment and ultimately assaulted him. Despite the circumstances of the attack, Sortor was taken into custody and charged with disorderly conduct.
Just a day before, on-the-ground reporter Katie Daviscourt — who has consistently documented far-left and Antifa violence in Portland, Seattle and other cities — was assaulted with a metal pole. The incident was captured on camera, although the perpetrator was not arrested, despite an officer being just feet away.
The Portland Police Bureau confirmed that one of its “dialogue liaison officers,” sworn officers tasked with “hold[ing] a safe space” for protesters, lost track of the suspect. The DLO followed the woman, who was described as a white female with a large septum nose piercing wearing a black mask and carrying a backpack, trying to talk to her to “hear her side of the story,” according to a news release from the department.
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