CNN Panel Explodes Over Trump’s Planned Election Speech: ‘Are We Really Going to Do This Again?”

CNN’s NewsNight panel erupted after Democratic strategist Ashley Allison and conservative commentator Joe Borelli argued over whether President Donald Trump’s upcoming address on election security would revive debunked claims about the 2020 election.

The confrontation unfolded Wednesday night when host Abby Phillip opened the discussion by airing a montage of Trump repeatedly describing the 2020 election as “rigged” during speeches and campaign rallies over several years before asking whether the president was poised to revisit those allegations in a primetime address scheduled for Thursday.

“Joe, are we really going to do this again?” Phillip asked after Borelli suggested the panel was unfairly assuming Trump would repeat false election claims.

Borelli instead pointed to past concerns over Russian interference in the 2016 election and argued that public confidence in elections had deteriorated. Citing a recent Marist poll, he said confidence had reached its lowest level since the survey began.

“I wonder why,” Phillip responded.

Phillip then pressed Borelli on whether Trump, who has continued to dispute his 2020 defeat, would use the presidential platform to revisit election conspiracies.

“The president said he has never lost an election that he thought was free and fair,” Phillip said, before asking: “So I’m asking you, is he really going to use his megaphone as president of the United States, maybe even prime time, to rehash crazy election conspiracies about 2020?”

Borelli countered that critics were condemning a speech that had not yet been delivered.

“Why are we presupposing what the DOJ, what the president, what the White House is saying is false?” he asked.

The exchange escalated when Allison interrupted, arguing that there was no basis for assuming Trump would produce new evidence to support his longstanding claims.

“I’m prejudging” because “people have looked and they have found nothing,” she said, adding: “We’re actually reading facts.”

Borelli insisted, “You have no idea what he’s going to say.”

Allison shot back, “He told us!”

When Borelli repeated that critics had already made up their minds, Allison raised her voice: “No! Oh my God.”

“Can you hear?” she added.

“What evidence is he going to present about the election that he lost in 2020?” Phillip pressed.

CNN contributor Scott Jennings attempted to strike a more cautious note, arguing that the speech should not be dismissed before it was delivered. He said there had been speculation investigators may have uncovered evidence of foreign attempts to interfere in the 2020 election, while stressing he did not know whether any such efforts had affected the outcome.

“If he has allegations and evidence, don’t you want to know it? Aren’t you curious as a journalist?” Jennings asked.

Phillip responded by citing reporting from The Washington Post that Trump’s address was being shaped with input from acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte and John Solomon, the former conservative journalist temporarily working with the administration on reviewing government records.

“These conspiracies? To be clear, there was no evidence in 2020. There’s no evidence today,” Phillip said, referencing Trump’s efforts to challenge the election result in Georgia.

The debate grew more tense after Allison questioned whether Jennings was casting doubt on the legitimacy of the 2020 election.

“I hope right now, in this moment, you are not actually questioning the results of the 2020 election, because that is really dangerous,” she said.

Jennings rejected the suggestion.

“I said nothing of the sort,” he replied, before reiterating that if credible new evidence emerged, journalists should examine it.

“Grave allegations require equally grave evidence. That is what I’m looking for on Thursday. You all should all be looking,” Jennings said.

“I think you’ll be disappointed,” Allison answered.

As the discussion neared its end, Phillip maintained that repeated legal challenges to the 2020 election had failed to produce evidence sufficient to overturn the result.

“Every case they’ve brought on this has been tossed out. They have never provided any evidence of any wrongdoing in the 2020 election, significant enough to change the outcome of the election,” she said.

Watch above via CNN.

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