RESOLVING THE LEDGER
This is one outlet's own report from The Hollywood Reporter — the article as it was filed. Other outlets are covering the same event; open the full story to compare every source side by side.
See the full story · 4 sources
Transgender advocate and actress Dylan Mulvaney has responded to President Donald Trump after the latter mocked both her and CNN's Kaitlan Collins during his speech at the rescheduled White House Correspondents' Dinner on Friday night.
At the event, which had been postponed from April after a gunman fired shots as the first dinner was under way, Trump gave a speech wherein he compared the two women after Collins accepted an award for her working covering the administration..
"I want to personally congratulate CNN's Kaitlan Collins on receiving her award," Trump said. "It was all about me. It's a fake — she shouldn't get the award, it was a fake. But I didn't mind. I said, 'Kaitlan, congratulations.' But it was fake, there's no question about it." Related Stories News President Trump Roasts Media at Rescheduled, Pared-Down White House Correspondents' Dinner News Spencer Pratt Tears Into Gavin Newsom, Rob Bonta Over Paramount Lawsuit in Lengthy Video Rant
After criticizing Collins for her facial expressions, Trump then compared her to Mulvaney, mentioning the 2023 controversy surrounding the latter's Bud Light commercial . Three years ago, Mulvaney made an ad for Bud Light that was met with criticism from conservatives who launched a boycott against the beer brand, leading to a decline in sales.
"I thought Kaitlan had really made it big with a major new sponsorship, but then I informed her that it wasn't her on the Bud Light can, it was Dylan Mulvaney," Trump said Friday. "Dylan Mulvaney cost Bud Light $35 billion in market cap. That was the worst commercial ever made by the way, for those few people who want to hear that. Most people don't care, but I would. I wouldn't want to hire Dylan any time soon."
For her part, Collins posted a series of photos on Instagram after the event that included a quote from Eleanor Roosevelt: "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent." She captioned the post: "he second best part of last night's White House Correspondents Dinner was receiving an award from my friend and mentor, @wolfblitzer. The first was reminding everyone why the First Amendment — and asking uncomfortable questions that people in power don't like — matters."
On Sunday morning, Trump doubled down on his comparison of the two women, posting a photo of Mulvaney from her Bud Light ad that had been edited to show Collins' face on Mulvaney's body.
Later that day, Mulvaney posted a nearly four-minute video on social media in which she noted that Trump had mentioned her four times on Friday night and she felt the need to respond. She started by congratulating Collins on her award and giving her praise.
"I would like to … tell her that I'm incredibly honored to be compared to her in any way, and I hope that she keeps doing all the great work," Mulvaney said.
Mulvaney continued: "Now, the president also brought up a video I did over three years ago, and mind you, I've been kind of flying under the radar, keeping up a pretty low profile, just like doing my little musicals, singing, dancing. And yet I am still his topic of conversation all these years later. And it seems to me that I might be like the one that got away for these men. Like, I am permanently burned into their retinas. I am microchipped into their minds."
Mulvaney noted that a few weeks ago, she might have been more upset about Trump's comments, but shared that she'd been "ghosted last month by a hookup who I really liked," which taught her something about how she wanted to be treated.
"What I realized from that experience was that I shouldn't want to be with someone who doesn't really want to be with me," she said. "So maybe I shouldn't want to be professionally supported by an administration that doesn't personally support me or so many others in this country. Food for thought. In fact, maybe being publicly mocked and criticized by this administration is actually like the greatest compliment of all, because it puts me in the company of some of like the most brilliant, empathetic people in our world today."
She continued: "But I do still wonder, like, why is it so important to them that I don't find success? Like, what is it that I have that they don't? Oh my God, freedom. I am free in a way that they will never have the privilege to experience, and they want to use their power to take away my freedom, but what they don't understand is that my freedom has like zero contingency on what they can provide for me because my freedom is fully dependent on the moment that I acknowledged my real authentic self and every day since. And sharing that with the world, it's just icing on the cake, but they don't want me to be able to share that because it would mean young people realizing that if someone like me can be themselves and find success and freedom, then they can find success and freedom for themselves too."
She wrapped up her video by encouraging viewers to support trans and non-binary people.
"And lastly, to the president, thank you for reminding me that I am more powerful than I even knew," she added.
AIPROPX is an independent multi-source news index — we track, compare, and connect coverage from across the web into one place you won't find anywhere else.