Conservative strategist Scott Jennings got more than he bargained for from CNN’s Kaitlin Collins and Ashley Allison, the former national coalitions director for the Biden campaign in 2020.
Jennings appeared on “The Source” on Monday, where Collins asked him about President Donald Trump’s decision to stump for Republicans ahead of the midterms and two recently released political ads paid for with federal tax money. Jennings noted that the ads are part of Trump’s strategy to churn turnout among Republican voters, but his attempt to deflect concerns about the ads, which he described as “public service announcements,” fell flat.
“I think a reasonable person could look at these and be mad about it, and I think a reasonable person could look at it and say, ‘Well, other presidents have also run PSA’s,’” Jennings said. “If I had offered any advice on it, it would have been [that a] PSA is fine. I probably wouldn’t have cut and pasted material from a previous campaign ad, which I’ve read that they may have done.”
Over the last week, Trump has released two overtly political ads with a disclaimer that they were “paid for by the U.S. Government.” Sources told CNN on Monday that Trump played a “leading role” in creating the ads, which the White House communications office produced.
Legal experts said on Monday that the ads clearly violate federal law.
“A PSA I think most people would think of is boil your water, or there’s a tornado coming, or you need to prepare for this. What is this public service announcement in that ad that you, Scott?” Collins asked.
Allison laughed at the question and claimed the ad was telling viewers to “vote for Republicans.”
Jennings pivoted to talking about Trump’s attempts to defend America from “communism” as the public service message behind the ad, a claim that Collins and Allison pounced on.
“But that came as he had the red carpet rolled out for a communist leader,” Collins said, referring to the recent visit of China’s Xi Jinping.
Allison reminded Jennings that Trump kicking out the press and spending taxpayer funds on personal aggrandizement are examples of actions that communist leaders would take.
“Using taxpayer dollars for a political ad, kicking the press out because you don’t like the coverage. Those are more communist like behaviors than calling just calling people communists,” she said.
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