CNN’s Kaitlan Collins tried to run interference for the Left this week on The Source, insisting that “we don’t have a motive yet” for Charlie Kirk’s assassin. But Sen. Ted Cruz wasn’t having it, and the takedown that followed exposed the dishonest spin CNN has been running since day one.
During the tense exchange, Collins tried to stop Cruz mid-thought with her usual “fact-checker” routine. “We don’t have a motive yet,” she claimed. “We don’t know yet. We’re waiting. Obviously, we’ve heard what the governor’s had to say, what the FBI director said today,” Collins said.
Cruz, flabbergasted by the claim, immediately pushed back. “Of course, we know! But — come on, we don’t have a motive yet?” he replied. “Really? That's CNN's position?
When Collins claimed she was only referring to law enforcement, not stating it “directly,” Cruz wasn’t about to let her weasel out. “He just happened to fire the gun in celebration? You can’t tell the motive yet?” he said sarcastically. “Actually, they have. They’ve said that he was a left-wing activist who hated Charlie Kirk.”
At this point, Collins tried to protest. “Senator, with all due respect," she began. "I’m saying that law enforcement has not put a specific motive.”
Cruz retorted, “They have. That statement is false.” When Collins tried to talk over him, he cut her down again: “What you just said is false, Kaitlan. What you said is factually false. Law enforcement has laid it out. CNN should not be engaged in misinformation.”
Collins tried to wiggle out by saying they’d simply reported what prosecutors shared, but Cruz pinned her down again: “You just said law enforcement has not laid out a motive. That is objectively false. What you are saying is objectively false.”
Then Cruz went in for the kill, pointing out how CNN’s spin is actually fueling public confusion. “Have you seen the polling that shows the vast majority of Democrats believe this murderer is a Republican and a Trump supporter? Have you seen that polling?” he asked. Collins, of course, ignored the question and tried to move on, but Cruz wasn’t about to let her evade: “So, you’re not going to answer the question?”
Then Cruz pivoted to a broader point: “There has been an enormous amount — and CNN has been guilty of this — of both-sides-ism, of saying, 'Gosh, both sides are violent.' And understand, yes, there is some violence on both sides, but it is the left that overwhelmingly celebrates this. You look at Bluesky, and it is a cesspool of leftists celebrating the murder of Charlie Kirk.”
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Cruz continued, “You look at recent polling that shows over 50% of Democrats saying violence against Elon Musk is justified, violence against Donald Trump is justified. You look at Democrats, who do things like what Kamala Harris did, of giving money and urging people to give money to bail out violent rioters in Antifa riots. It is only one side that justifies this violence.”
At this point, Collins trotted out the usual examples that the left keeps citing as “right-wing violence.”
“I think people have raised that, because there have been other acts of political violence as well, when it comes to targeting Democrats,” she said. “I mean, we've seen that with a lawmaker who was killed in Minnesota, this summer, alongside her husband. We've seen it with the break-in at Nancy Pelosi's house.”
Collins, of course, was gaslighting here, and PJ Media debunked the claim that those were examples of right-wing violence already.
Cruz called her out for lying about those cases and reminded viewers of history: “If you look at murders carried out for political agendas, they are overwhelmingly on the left. Whether it is the assassination of Charlie Kirk, the two assassination attempts of Donald Trump, the assassination attempt on Brett Kavanaugh. Over and over and over again. Whether it was the congressional shooter who came to Washington to the baseball game and said, I want to find congressional Republicans to attack.”
Collins desperately tried to cite isolated incidents against Democrats, but Cruz shut her down again: “But it wasn’t by a Republican for a political agenda. And by the way, that lunatic should be prosecuted and go to jail. What I’m not doing is what leftists are doing. Leftists are celebrating that murder.”
By the end, Collins had no ground left to stand on. When Cruz pressed her on whether she agreed that thousands of leftists on Bluesky were openly celebrating Kirk’s assassination, Collins weakly responded, “Okay, Senator, I don’t think that anyone should celebrate someone’s murder.” She then tried to brush off the platform as “not representative.”
But Cruz got the final word: “It’s representative of leftists.”
You have to watch the full exchange:
WATCH:
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) September 17, 2025
CNN's Kaitlan Collins on the Charlie Kirk assassination: "We don't have a motive yet. We don't know yet. We're waiting..."
Sen. Ted Cruz: "Of course we know. Come one. 'We don't have a motive yet. We know we don't have a motive yet.' Really, that's CNN's position? He… pic.twitter.com/n2ERQpoa73
This exchange perfectly encapsulates what’s wrong with the legacy media. They want to pretend we “don’t know” the motive because admitting the truth destroys their narrative. But Ted Cruz wasn’t about to let Kaitlan Collins get away with rewriting reality. He stayed on offense, exposed her lies, and made it clear that the Left owns this political violence.
CNN’s Kaitlan Collins tried to whitewash Charlie Kirk’s assassin’s motive, but Ted Cruz slammed the spin hard. Don’t let the fake news fool you. PJ Media exposes what the mainstream hides. Join PJ Media VIP now with code FIGHT for 60% off and get ad-free access to fearless truth. Join us today.
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