Here Are the Top 5 Cable TV News Brawls of 2025

Saying 2025 was a roller coaster year for news sounds a bit like describing how water is wet at this point.

From President Donald Trump kicking off his second administration (and wasting no time adding his name and designs all over Washington, D.C.) to the tragic killing of Charlie Kirk and Rob Reiner, there has been no shortage of hot-button issues and news for cable news pundits.

Some debates get heated. Some words lead to apologies. Some conversations just need to end. Let’s take a look at a bit of all of those.

Here is a look at the top five cable news brawls on 2025.

5. It’s Miller Time

CNN’s Abby Phillip and podcaster and former White House official Katie Miller threw down in late November on CNN NewsNight and Miller at one point straight up asked Phillip whether she believes her husband, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, is a Nazi.

The discussion was centered around white nationalist Nick Fuentes being interviewed by Tucker Carlson. Miller equated platforming Fuentes to Phillip speaking with liberal podcaster Jennifer Welch, who referred to Stephen Miller as a “Jewish Nazi.”

“[Tucker] didn’t push back, the same way you didn’t say push back when someone called someone in my family a Nazi. It’s not different, Abby,” Miller said during the bitter exchange.

The two went back and forth in the heated segment before Miller finally asked Phillip if she thought her husband was a Nazi.

“You are making a comparison of two things that are not in any way the same,” Phillip argued.

4. Mika’s Morning Throwdown

Mika Brzezinski and Trump border czar Tom Homan threw down and woke up the world on the morning of September 9 on Morning Joe.

Brzezinski and Homan got heated as Brzezinski questioned the tactics of mass deportations being carried out by ICE. After asking Homan to define a “criminal,” Brzezinski accused Homan of maneuvering his way out of commenting on specific cases of illegal immigrants detained who have broken no laws besides being in the country illegally.

“I don’t know the specifics of that case,” Homan said.

“That seems to be the answer for any case that has happened that you don’t want to talk about,” Brzezinski shot back.

The argument got even more heated as things went on, with Homan asking at one point whether Brzezinski wanted an answer at all.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I have to look at facts of the case. However, I will say this. If they’re in the country illegally, that is not okay. And people think illegal immigration is a victimless crime, and it’s not,” he finally said.

Things got testy again when Brzezinski argued people are being “disappeared.”

“Well, here’s the rhetoric again, right?” Homan said. “You just [said] disappeared. That is a ridiculous thing to say!”

“Why?” a fiery Brzezinski shot back.

“Because ICE is doing the same thing we’ve done for decades,” Homan said. “But because of the last four years, ICE wasn’t allowed to enforce the law. ICE was told to sit back, and you can’t arrest an illegal alien for simply being here legally. You got to wait until they commit a serious crime and get convicted of that crime.”

3. Scott and Bothered

CNN’s Scott Jennings has probably engaged in more verbal duels on cable news this year than anyone. The conservative commentator is never one to back down from a fight and in a June panel debate, Jennings dared colleagues to accuse him of being a Holocaust denier.

The discussion centered around Secretary of Education Linda McMahon testifying at a House hearing. When asked if hiring a Holocaust denier would an impermissible “litmus test,” she replied, “I believe there should be diversity of viewpoints relative to teachings and opinions on campuses.”

Jennings and host Abby Phillip tussled immediately. Jennings accused some on the panel of being so outraged they were calling McMahon a “Holocaust denier.”

“Everybody, everybody stop! Everybody stop for a second. Excuse me, Scott. Nobody accused her of being a holocaust denier,” Phillip said as she tried controlling the panel.

Jennings blasted the question to McMahon as “disingenuous,” while Phillip accused him of “dodging” on the question of whether schools should be able to refuse teachers who deny facts.

“I do believe in facts, and I also believe that that member of Congress was creating a disingenuous, ridiculous question designed for this ‘gotcha’ moment right here,” Jennings said.

“OK. It is very telling that you are not able or willing to even entertain an answer. You could answer —” Phillip said before Jennings jumped back in.

“I gave you an answer,” he said.

2. A Real Gut-Punch

Like Jennings, Jessica Tarlov often finds herself up against multiple panelists on Fox News. The Five is the home of plenty of lively debates, but one got especially tense following the September assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

While Gutfeld was arguing that political violence is mostly aimed at Republicans today, Tarlov brought up former Minnesota Speaker Melissa Hortman (D), who was killed along with her husband in June.

“What is interesting here is, why is only this happening on the left and not the right?” Gutfeld asked. “That’s all we need to know.”

“What about Melissa Hortman?” Tarlov asked.

“You wanna talk about Melissa Hortman? Did you know her name before it happened? None of us did,” Gutfeld said.

Tarlov dismissed the point as irrelevant, leading her co-host to lose it over the “both sides” argument.

“We don’t care about your ‘both sides’ argument. That sh*t is dead,” he said.

Once things had cooled down, Gutfeld offered an apology for the profanity and to Tarlov as well.

“I am not mad at Greg,” Tarlov assured viewers.

1. Lau and Disorder

In an April interview with Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ), Laura Ingraham had to warn her guest to “take a breath” as the debate grew heated.

Ingraham questioned the motives of Democrats “caring about due process for illegal aliens” during an argument about the deportation of illegal immigrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was accidentally shipped off to Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) mega-prison in Tecoluca, El Salvador for a time.

“Laura, you and I can disagree on, you know, this individual in particular. I’m not here to really advocate for one person. That needs to happen in court,” Ansari said.

“You went to El Salvador, what are you talking about? You went to El Salvador!” Ingraham shot back. “Now you are saying it’s not about him? Of course it’s about him. You went to El Salvador for a political stunt and now you are saying it’s not about him.”

The two ended up talking over each other in an intense debate for several minutes before Ingraham hit the pause button.

“Just wait. Take a breath!” she said.

Honorable Mention: Stephen A.’s Got No Time for D.C. 

Stephen A. Smith has become almost equal parts political pundit/sports pundit as of late, but he seems to enjoy the politics part a lot less.

In October, Smith got heated with members of Congress during a NewsNation town hall he took part in, along with Bill O’Reilly and Chris Cuomo, and actually walked off the stage. Smith technically avoided a brawl, but the surprising moment deserves an honorable mention.

Smith told Reps. Jim Jordan (R-OH), Ro Khanna (D-CA), and Madeleine Dean (D-PA) that they “don’t understand how ticked off we truly are.”

“A government shutdown is going on right now. A man has to work on DoorDash when he’s really an air traffic controller that we applauded and we’re up here talking about how much some money is going to cost, and the only person that don’t have a check coming is him. You know what I’m gonna do? I’m gonna take a break,” Smith said before walking off stage.