‘Can We Not?’ Kaitlan Collins Accuses Scott Jennings of Whitewashing Trump’s Boycott of Biden Inauguration

A CNN panel discussion about notable absences from President-elect Donald Trump’s upcoming inauguration ended with Kaitlan Collins accusing Scott Jennings of trying to bait her.

On Thursday, it was reported that Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi will skip the inauguration on Monday. Former First Lady Michelle Obama will also forgo the event.

“I think we can’t be too precious about this,” Karen Finney said. “I mean, considering Donald Trump didn’t go four years ago after an insurrection where he tried to overturn the election.”

Finney noticed that Jennings, a Republican strategist, was displeased with her rehashing of the facts.

“And I know you’re rolling your eyes, but it actually did happen,” she went on. “I feel like the norms have been kind of busted. And I think what’s more important, Hakeem Jeffries will be there and every Democrat has been very clear. Trump won the election. They support the peaceful transfer of power. They’re doing their jobs to make sure that that happens. So yeah, I don’t think in this era we should be so precious about that.”

Collins turned to Jennings for his take, which led to this exchange:

COLLINS: Scott, are we being precious about this?

JENNINGS: No. I think people should go where they want to go and do what they want to do. I don’t really care all that much. I will say this. Following this election, this is the first election in my adult professional career that both parties seem to have accepted the outcome of the election. There doesn’t seem to be any dispute thankfully this time about who won and the clear result.

I think we’re off the slippery slope. That’s my view. I hope these little slights don’t alter that, but I feel like we are about to go into a couple of years. I’m just going to try to will it into existence of political peace. We haven’t had peace in a long time. And I think that’s what the American people said when they voted for this unified Republican government.

COLLINS: Can we not? I’m not taking the bait on that.

FINNEY: Yeah.

JENNINGS: Bait?!

COLLINS: Because I’m not getting into a comparison with Trump skipping it. I’m not taking it.

Trump did not attend President Joe Biden’s inauguration in 2021 after Trump spent weeks trying to overturn the election, which he falsely claimed was rigged against him. Biden will attend the inauguration on Monday.