Rep. Chris Collins defended President Donald Trump for his latest controversial tweets, telling CNN's "New Day" on Monday that "The president does have a sense of humor. Rocket man was, I thought poking at Kim Jong Un in a, frankly, in a pretty funny way. I think to get under his skin."
Collins, a New York Republican, said whenever Trump's "tweeting, he's talking straight to his base. They enjoy it and, you know, he's delivering a message."
When asked if he thought the tweets sent an appropriate message to the international community coming just as Trump is preparing to attend the opening of the United Nations General Assembly this week, Collins said that most of the diplomats at the UN "are pretty stuffy. They're all hung up on protocol, on who shakes whose hand first and what line do you stand in. One thing about President Trump: he doesn't stand on protocol at all ... He's just a fun guy, he really is, if anyone would get to know him."
Collins added that Trump uses Twitter to speak directly like people do as they are having a cup of coffee.
"New Day" host Alisyn Camerota, however, asked Collins specifically if he thought Trump's retweet of a spoof video of him hitting a golf ball that then hits Hillary Clinton in the back and makes her fall down was funny.
Collins said that he personally does not retweet items, even if he thinks they are funny, because he knows not everyone has the same sense of humor and would suggest that everyone do the same, but he declined to directly criticize the president.
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