'Get out from behind the desk!' Fed-up Kristi Noem dares CNN anchor to join ride-along

Kristi Noem, the Homeland Security secretary, challenged a prominent CNN anchor to "get out from behind the desk" and join her team on a ride-along following her comments calling Portland, Oregon, safe.

Noem was in town to tour the city’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility amid ongoing protests and intensifying tensions over the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration crackdown.

CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins has pushed back on the Trump administration's claims that the city is under siege from criminals and in need of National Guard intervention.

"I spoke to the police chief of Portland last week, he said that the president's claims just don't match up with what's happening on the ground," Collins told White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt during a recent news conference.

"I would encourage you as a reporter to go on the ground and to take a look for yourself," Leavitt shot back, baselessly adding that "independent journalists" have "witnessed the anarchy" consuming the city "night after night."

During Noem's trip to the city, she made a similar call after right-wing podcaster Benny Johnson asked for her response to Collins' comments.

"I disagree. We should've invited her to come along today. She would've been able to see the individuals we're getting off the streets," Noem said.

"Is that an open invitation to CNN to come along on the next one?" asked Johnson.

"Absolutely. We will talk to her and see what we can do to convince her to come out in the real world. Get out from behind the desk and actually walk in the shoes of our law enforcement. That would be fantastic. Maybe that's how we fix the fake news in this country," she replied.

Separately during her trip, Noem ripped a shouting protester trolling her in a chicken suit, telling a right-wing influencer, "He could do better."