CNN’s NewsNight descended into a nasty brawl littered with personal insults after Republican strategist Scott Jennings bristled at a reminder of his past condemnation of Donald Trump’s handling of the January 6 Capitol riot.
The panel was debating Trump’s move to deploy the National Guard to Washington, D.C., citing “out-of-control” crime and his authority to take over the Metropolitan Police for 30 days during an emergency.
Jennings, a Mitch McConnell adviser, called it necessary to restore safety.
Democratic operative Julie Roginsky countered by pointing out that Trump refused to call in the Guard as rioters stormed the Capitol in 2021—something Jennings himself slammed at the time. “I guess I’m old enough, Scott, to remember when you were appalled… on January 6 when he wouldn’t—” she began, before Jennings cut in.
“What are you thirsty for? Some kind of relevance out here?” Jennings snapped later, after Roginsky accused him of downplaying the danger that day.
“I know you’re thirsty for that seat,” Roginsky fired back, referring to Jennings’ rumored interest in McConnell’s soon-to-be-vacant Senate slot.
The Wednesday exchange spiraled, with host Abby Phillip repeatedly trying to get Jennings to let Roginsky finish. When she finally got the floor, Roginsky argued that Trump’s current law-and-order posture is a political “power grab” in a city “that has had a 30-year low in violence.”
“On January 6, [Trump] could have deployed the National Guard. He chose not to… He didn’t give a damn,” she said, accusing Jennings of knowing it then but defending Trump now.
Jennings did, in fact, blast Trump’s inaction after the riot. In a CNN op-ed titled “Trump caused this insurrection and every Republican must condemn it”, he wrote, “These are domestic terrorists, and they ought to be treated like any other terrorist uprising with the full force and fury of the U.S. government.”
On Wednesday, though, Jennings dismissed Roginsky’s criticism as “a stupid argument” and accused her of taking “potshots.” Roginsky insisted her point was about consistency, that Trump ignored a real emergency on January 6 but is now sending in troops over an incident she mocked as “somebody named Big Balls [getting] beat up.”
Despite her efforts, Jennings was obviously happy with his performance. He retweeted an X post that said he “obliterated” the “irrelevant” Roginsky.
Writing on X after the melee, Roginsky repeated her claim that Jennings is “thirsty” for a Senate seat. “To clarify: I elect Democrats for a living. Unlike my counterpart tonight, I don’t debase myself every night for a living because I am thirsty for a senate seat that will go to someone else anyway,” she said.
McConnell, 83, has announced he won’t run for re-election in 2026, fueling speculation about Jennings’ political ambitions.
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