Democratic strategist Karen Finney fired off on GOP pollster Frank Luntz during a late-night showdown on CNN.
The clash erupted on Laura Coates Live Wednesday night after Coates played a clip of Senate Majority Leader John Thune’s fiery floor speech earlier that day. In his remarks, Thune blasted Democrats for introducing legislation to fund SNAP benefits despite repeatedly voting against the GOP’s proposal to reopen the government.
“Let me just point out, if I might, that we are 29 days into a Democrat shutdown, and the senator from New Mexico was absolutely right: SNAP recipients shouldn’t go without food. People should be getting paid in this country,” Thune said, referring to Democratic lawmaker Ben Ray Luján, who is leading legislation to fund SNAP.
“And we’ve tried to do that 13 times,” Thune continued, growing in volume. “You (Democrats) voted no 13 times.” He added: “My aching back. You finally realize this thing has consequences.”
Finney laughed off Thune’s speech, writing if off as “a beautiful performance,” which drew an immediate reaction from Luntz. “It’s not a performance. I know him,” he shot back. The two began bickering—raising their voices and pointing fingers—until Luntz exclaimed, “Tell the truth!”
Finney fired right back: “Don’t you dare accuse me of lying!”
After several tense seconds, Coates stepped in. “Hold on a second, hold on a second—I hear you both,” she said. “I want to hear from all of you.”
By Thursday morning, Luntz had apologized for lashing out in a post on X.
I’ve known @JohnThune for 25 years. He is one of the nicest, calmest, most decent people ever to serve in the Senate. If he is upset or emotional, pay attention — it’s real.@FinneyK was wrong to accuse him of performance on the Senate floor. It’s not true, but I was wrong to… pic.twitter.com/ZfkxgVTGEO
— Frank Luntz (@FrankLuntz) October 30, 2025
“I’ve known John Thune for 25 years. He is one of the nicest, calmest, most decent people ever to serve in the Senate. If he is upset or emotional, pay attention—it’s real,” Luntz wrote in a post viewed 31,000 times.
“Finney was wrong to accuse him of performance on the Senate floor. It’s not true, but I was wrong to interrupt her. I apologized to her on the air and I apologize to her again now.”
Luntz added that he doesn’t intend to dehumanize or delegitimize opposing views.
“We need to treat people with dignity and respect, regardless of party or ideology. The Constitution and the country are too important to play petty political games.”
Finney has not commented on the altercation.
The post CNN Pundit Snaps at GOP Pollster in Finger-Pointing Meltdown appeared first on The Daily Beast.
