CNN’s Kaitlan Collins Torpedoes Scott Jennings Over Trump’s Jan. 6 Propaganda Site: ‘What Are You Talking About, Scott?’

CNN anchor and senior White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins torpedoed Scott Jennings over his take on President Donald Trump’s new January 6 propaganda website, knocking down several of his arguments and wondering aloud how her colleague Abby Phillip “does this every night.”

The Trump administration chose Tuesday  — the 5th anniversary of the January 6 attack on the Capitol — to unveil the site. It sparked immediate and widespread outrage over the stunning falsehoods, omissions, and concoctions.

On Tuesday night’s edition of CNN’s The Source with Kaitlan Collins, Collins and David Axelrod joined Jennings to talk about the anniversary.

While Jennings maintained the attack was bad, he took several shots at downplaying its significance and spreading political blame. Collins poked holes in several of his points, and bristled when he said that “you all treat it like a national holiday”:

JENNINGS: Over 20 — over a quarter of the century, we got onto a bad path, and there were people in both parties who did make it a point to say the election wasn’t legitimate. My point is simply this. In 2024, we had an election. The votes were counted. We had a legitimate result. Both parties accepted it. And we had a peaceful transition of power. And that is unequivocally a good thing.

COLLINS: Can I make two points?

AXELROD: Yes, no, I agree with that. And I’m proud that–

COLLINS: Can I make two points though on that–

AXELROD: –a Democratic administration–

COLLINS: But Axe, on that–

AXELROD: –observed that.

COLLINS: On that front, I mean two points, which is one, that Kamala Harris was the one who certified Donald Trump’s victory without any issue that day, which is what he is saying still to this day, Mike Pence did wrong. He’s saying Mike Pence didn’t speak up.

But on your claiming, Democrats who say Russia stole the election in 2016. Joe Biden didn’t put up a website, on the federal government website, saying that Russia stole the election, that Donald Trump wasn’t legitimately elected in 2016.

JENNINGS: So? Virtually every elected Democrat in the country — if you walked into a Democratic dinner tonight–

COLLINS: But I’m saying if the federal government put up–

JENNINGS: –and said, Trump won fair and square? You’d be thrown out on your rear end. And you know it. He don’t have to put — they don’t have to put up a website. The message went out.

COLLINS: But what if someone says that a restaurant is different than what the federal government puts up on a doc (ph) of taxpayer-funded website film?

JENNINGS: Look, feel free to disagree with the President’s messaging on this.

My only point to you, Axe, was this. We were on a path for a very long time where people, lots of people, and people in both parties, just couldn’t find it in their heart to accept the results of elections. We did, in 2024.

I guess, over the last 25 years of being in politics, I kind of always wanted there to be a moment, where we could all basically agree, the election was fair, the votes were counted, and we had a legitimate winner. We have that now.

And now, we go back and treat this like it’s a national holiday for some people.

AXELROD: Well–

JENNINGS: I don’t personally agree with that. We have to move on from this at some point.

AXELROD: Well, that’s a message that you should convey to the President, because he’s the guy who keeps repeating again and again, even in occasions where it doesn’t make sense, that that election in 2020 — and he’s still looking for justification for it, so he won’t let this issue die.

Every other president has respected the decision, the will of the American people. Every vice president has certified the election, whether they were on the winning side or the losing side. That’s how it should work.

The problem here is with the President of the United States. And you were — you were right to criticize him when you did. And you should continue to urge him to put it behind him, so that we can get that — that we can move forward.

JENNINGS: Well, my point to you would be that the vast majority of Americans looked at these issues at the moment. They had the feelings they had. Some were strongly critical of it. Some didn’t care as much, but whatever. Then they re-litigated this in the 2024 election.

AXELROD: That–

JENNINGS: And they returned Trump to the White House.

AXELROD: Yes.

JENNINGS: And Democrats–

AXELROD: Yes.

JENNINGS: –want to return to this all the time and treat it like a national holiday.

AXELROD: No.

JENNINGS: And most of the country has moved on from this.

AXELROD: Yes.

JENNINGS: And they don’t want to revisit it, because most people, I think, Axe, probably thought it was a bad day, a dark day, and they would rather not–

AXELROD: There are–

JENNINGS: –relive one of our worst days.

AXELROD: There are — there are 330 million Americans. Most Americans don’t want to relive this day. They certainly want to put it behind us. They certainly agree with both of us that we should never do it again.

One of those 330 million is the President of the United States. He can’t put it behind him. He continues to seek retribution against people who said that he had lost the election. He’s forgiven you, but he hasn’t a lot of other people. And I think he is the guy who is responsible. When Donald Trump says, That’s over, I’m looking forward? Then I think we’ll make some progress.

JENNINGS: You–

COLLINS: Yes, you just see, also looking back to those messages that flooded Mark Meadows’ phone that day, you see the influence everyone knows Trump has on these people.

JENNINGS: I know. But everybody looked at this — again, you made all these arguments.

AXELROD: People made — people–

JENNINGS: All year–

AXELROD: Nobody forgave Donald Trump for that.

JENNINGS: –in 2024.

AXELROD: Nobody forgave him for that. There were people who decided that their livelihood and some other issues that were most — more motivating were more important than that to them, and they voted that way. That doesn’t mean that he gets a pass.

COLLINS: Scott though, can I say, if your point is that we should just move on? Don’t you think they just shouldn’t put the website up today? I mean, this has been a huge part of it–

(CROSSTALK)

JENNINGS: Sure. If you all will stop treating it like a national holiday, I’ll ask them to take the website down.

COLLINS: Do you think I treat it like a national — what are you talking about, Scott?

JENNINGS: I’m — I’m–

COLLINS: Don’t say, You all. Well, hold on. But don’t say, You all, Scott.

JENNINGS: Look–

AXELROD: I was working today.

JENNINGS: This — this is a major storyline–

COLLINS: Yes, OK.

JENNINGS: –every year for media, and for Democrats. I don’t hear Republicans out holding vigils and making a huge deal out of it today or most of these days. I’m just — my point is this. We’re either going to move on from it or we’re not. And I’m ready to–

AXELROD: Yes–

JENNINGS: You know, that’s what I chose to do, that’s what millions of people chose to do, when they voted in 2024.

AXELROD: But not the President, not the White House.

COLLINS: David Axelrod. Scott Jennings.

I don’t know how Abby does this every night. I kind of give a shoutout to Abby.

JENNINGS: What’s that supposed to mean?

AXELROD: This is the–

COLLINS: The panel. The debate.

Watch above via CNN’s The Source with Kaitlan Collins.