10 Photos of CNN's Kristen Holmes After White House Launches Personal Attack

Kristen Holmes carried on with her reporting duties on Tuesday night despite having been publicly berated by US President Donald Trump at a press event the previous day. The 80-year-old head of state lashed out at the CNN correspondent on 17 August, dismissing her questions with repeated interruptions and accusations: 'Quiet! You're very disrespectful. You're a loud, boisterous person. You're fake news. Be quiet.'

Trump became visibly incensed when Holmes, 40, asked if North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un asked the US to 'scale back' US military exercises with South Korea. The President had moments earlier bragged about having a 'very good relationship' with the dictator. Holmes attempted to continue her question but Trump cut her off: 'Be quiet! Be quiet! Be quiet! You're a fake reporter and you report fake news.'

Who Is Kristen Holmes?

Holmes is CNN's senior White House correspondent. She received her Bachelor of Science degree from the Medill School at Northwestern University and later completed a Master's degree at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism.

She is married to Noah Gray, the chief of communications for the District of Columbia Fire and Emergency Medical Services on 7 September 2019 in Nantucket, Massachusetts. The pair met at CNN's Washington bureau, where Holmes was the on-air correspondent and Gray worked as the White House and political producer.

They have two children: Five-year-old Eliot and one-year-old Eleanor Ricky. Before joining CNN, Holmes was a corps member of Teach for America in Chicago, teaching third- and fifth-graders at the Chicago International Charter School Longwood.

The press event where Holmes was singled out had been organised to honour teenage lifeguard Ryder Williams, who rescued a 10-year-old boy at a beach in California. At one point, Trump yelled: 'Quiet—you're very disrespectful in front of his young man.' The interruption shifted focus from the ceremony to the President's confrontation with the press.

CNN Defends Its Correspondent

CNN released a statement following the on-air incident: 'Kristen Holmes is one of the most respected and accomplished journalists covering the White House. This afternoon, she did her job and asked the President of the United States a tough, relevant, and newsworthy question on behalf of the American people.'

It continued: 'Public officials are free to challenge reporting they disagree with, but personal attacks on journalists for asking questions are beneath the office and inconsistent with the principles of a free press. We stand firmly behind Kristen and reject these attacks in the strongest possible terms.'

Holmes Keeps Reporting

Despite the confrontation, it was business as usual for Holmes Tuesday night, filing stories that evening. She reported: 'Trump told top administration envoys to halt their conversations with Iran, according to (a) US official. Additionally, White House officials have recently communicated to political allies that they're shifting their strategy—from "hammer Iran ASAP" to "strangle them" over time, according to (a) source familiar with (the) matter.'

Two hours later, she reported about Trump aide Natalie Harp: 'Meet Natalie Harp, the aide so close to Trump she once rode in an SUV trunk to accompany him. As the motorcade idled outside his Trump Tower residence, staffers confronted a more immediate problem: There wasn't room for Harp, the hyper-loyal aide whose devotion to Trump had quickly entrenched her within his orbit.'