During an interview Thursday with political analyst David Axelrod, CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins reflected on her career and spent a little time defending the work and preparation she put into the town hall discussion with former President Donald Trump, which just about everyone on the planet knows was absolutely shameful and ended up being an hour long infomercial for Trump.

Speaking with Axelrod on the latest episode of his podcast The Axe Files, she discussed her career and reflected on the town hall with Trump, Mediaite reports. And Axelrod spoke admiringly about Collins’ tenacity.

“I thought you hung in there in a remarkable way… I’m sure that you were not immune to the criticism that followed, and I was wondering about that. You’ve had this sort of meteoric career,” Axelrod commented, lauding her on her successful career.

“Now you see a really kind of unflattering coverage. How did you process that?” Axelrod asked her. “Had you ever had these — a setback like this? And I’m just wondering what it’s like to be you?”

“I don’t view it as a setback,” Collins responded. “I totally understand that there was a lot of criticism and thoughts on how it was handled and what it looked like. I think it’s important to hear from the Republican front-runner.”

Collins faced a wellspring of criticism in the aftermath of the town hall from some in the media and other observers who were split over her handling of Trump on stage. Critics did, however, agree Collins was put in a tough spot, considering that the audience was largely pro-Trump.

Axelrod decided to rephrase the question and asked Collins about being the focus of “national critiques.”

“I’m asking you as a human being. Was that tough to read some of that stuff?” he asked.

“I think that I did the best job that I could do,” Collins said. “I spent weeks preparing for that. I watched past town halls, past town halls, past debates. I did my homework. And I think that when you come out of something like that, you have to be prepared to — people are entitled to their own reaction to it. And we certainly saw that.”

Collins also reflects on her work when an event is done.

“My question for me at the end of the day is, do I think that I did the best job that I can do? And how do I feel about my performance in that? And I felt like I did the best job that I could do…I went into it fully prepared. I was prepared for what — how he was going to respond to that and what that was going to look like. And I think that was the best that I could do. And my job was to press him on those really important issues that he hasn’t been pressed on.”

I don’t envy Collins having to interview Trump. He’s a bully who’s only interested in softball questions and who clearly hates the press. And he’s made it okay for the intellectually stunted to dislike the press. Even his political rival, Ron DeSantis has taken this to a new level, sniping at a reporter who asked him why he wasn’t answering questions.

“People are coming up to me, talking to me. What are you talking about?” DeSantis snapped. “Are you blind? Are you blind?” To which Peoples responded, “No.”

“Okay, so people are coming up to me, talking to me whatever they want to talk to me about.”

This is why journalists must keep asking the tough questions, whether candidates like it or not. Because it’s our job to do that and the public has the right to know what a politician’s intentions are.

On #AxeFiles, @kaitlancollins of @CNN talks about her AL upbringing; her first page one byline on a Willie Nelson/Merle Haggard concert; covering the White House and, of course, Trump and that raucous Town Hall.
"He was exactly what I expected."
Full pod👉https://t.co/Z9NrYytNSv pic.twitter.com/4uK5EwDjfa

— David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) June 8, 2023

So for the snowflakes who don’t like this, well tough toodles.