CNN’s Katilan Collins fact-checked Rep. Jasmin Crockett on-air after the congresswoman claimed that President Donald Trump’s $300 million White House ballroom is the No. 1 issue on his mind.
The two were chatting during Crockett’s appearance on “The Source” on Monday when Collins asked Crockett if “this will be the week that Congress comes to an agreement” to end the government shutdown, to which Crockett said, “I have no idea.”
Crockett then opened her comments by condemning Trump’s travels to Japan in the midst of the government work stoppage.
“The president has time to do everything but what he needs to focus on,” Crockett said. “In fact, we heard the press secretary say his main priority is the ballroom — the ballroom that no one asked for. The ballroom that requires him to destroy historic pieces of the White House. And so it doesn’t seem like he’s interested [in the shutdown].”
Crockett’s statement about what White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said were not entirely squared: While Leavitt did say that Trump’s “main priority” is the ballroom, that was in response to inquiries about if Trump has “any other renovations or significant kind of projects” he’s been thinking of pursuing.
After Crockett’s remarks, Collins corrected the politician’s statements.
“Yeah, and that context of the comment from Karoline Leavitt, she was asked if the president was working on any other renovations when it came to the White House, and she was saying his focus was the ballroom,” Collins said.
On Oct. 23, Leavitt shared that she has no knowledge of any other construction or destruction plans Trump may have.
“Not to my knowledge, no,” Leavitt said. “But he’s a builder at heart, clearly. And so his heart and his mind is always churning about how to improve things here on the White House grounds. But at this moment in time, of course, the ballroom is really the president’s main priority.”
