CNN’s resident conservative pundit Scott Jennings struggled for a response when he was confronted with receipts on Donald Trump’s record with cops.
Jennings only held his hand to his chin as Seneca Project co-founder Tara Setmayer slammed MAGA’s belief that the president “backs the blue” on Monday’s News Night With Abby Phillip. The panelists were discussing Trump’s announcement that he’s taking control of D.C.’s police for 30 days, citing a public safety emergency. The president also announced he’d and deploy up to 800 National Guard troops in the city.
Jennings had to be cued for a response after Setmayer challenged Trump’s history when it comes to supporting law enforcement.
“When Trump supporters are trying to sit here and act as though Donald Trump supports and backs the blue—no he doesn’t,” Setmayer said on the panel.
“You look at what Donald Trump did and what MAGA has done to the police officers who defended our Capitol on January 6. You want to talk about spitting in the face?” she continued. “Donald Trump spit in the face of every single one of those officers who took that oath to protect and serve on January 6, when he pardoned those insurrectionists who wanted to take down our Capitol and stop the free and fair, peaceful transfer of power.”
She concluded, pointing at Jennings, “He did not protect or defend the Constitution and he violated his oath of office. You know who said that? You did.”
Jennings, who recently penned the upcoming Trump book A Revolution of Common Sense: How Donald Trump Stormed Washington and Fought for Western Civilization and received a substantial pay bump after the 2024 election to appear on CNN to sing the president’s praises, had no response. He had indeed declared that Trump had “violated” his oath during a CNN appearance with Anderson Cooper on Jan. 6, 2021 and suggested Trump should step down.
When Jennings didn’t defend himself or Trump in the moment, Phillip turned the conversation to another panelist for a response, who argued that Trump supports the police because “everywhere he goes, law enforcement wants to take a picture with him.”
Several minutes later, as Jennings remained mum throughout the back and forth, Phillip prodded, “I want to give Scott a moment because he has not said a single thing.”
Jennings reiterated that “what happened to the cops” on Jan 6 “was a disgrace. They didn’t deserve to be treated that way,” but defended Trump’s D.C. National Guard deployment.
According to Jennings, the move shows the president was thinking, “‘What can I do today? D.C. is the only city I really have control of, so I’m going to try to give them some support.’” As for Trump’s pardons on Jan. 6, he said, “All you can do is hit the next shot.”
Setmayer jumped in as Phillip wrapped up the panel, “If he controls D.C., why didn’t he do it on January 6th?”
The post Scott Jennings Stunned into Silence by Brutal Trump Receipts appeared first on The Daily Beast.
