CNN Pundit Brings Segment to Screeching, Awkward Halt by Suggesting She Call Mitch McConnell on Air

CNN commentator Karen Finney capped off a segment on Thursday’s episode of The Source with an awkward comment about phoning Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY).

McConnell, 84, has been hospitalized since June 14th after a fall at his home, according to a statement the senator’s office issued nearly a month after the incident occurred. The silence surrounding McConnell’s hospitalization had led some social media users to believe he is actually dead. Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear (D) has called on McConnell to prove he can serve in the Senate or resign.

Toward the end of Thursday’s segment, host Kaitlan Collins, Finney, and CNN commentator Scott Jennings, Collins asked the Republican strategist if he had spoken with his friend lately. On July 7, Jennings said he spoke with McConnell via phone for nearly 20 minutes, but did not say why the senator was in the hospital. Three days later, Jennings called on McConnell’s office to release a statement, which it did more than two weeks later.

“Scott, can I ask you, because you actually were invoked the other night on the show about your former boss, Senator Mitch McConnell,” Collins said. “Have you spoken to him recently on the phone?”

“Uh, no, I haven’t spoken to him,” Jennings stated. “I talked to him early on. And I’m in touch with his office, but I haven’t spoken to him recently.”

Finney, a Democratic strategist, held up her phone and asked whether they should call McConnell on air.

“We could– should we– do we want to FaceTime him?” Finney said. “No? Ok.”

After a few seconds of awkward silence, Collins said, “Ok, on that note, Scott Jennings, Karen Finney, thank you both for being here.”

During a CNN segment on July 7,  just hours after Jennings said he spoke to the senator, host Kasie Hunt challenged Jennings to call McConnell on air, a challenge Jennings declined. And during a CNN segment on Tuesday, Beshear dared Jennings to do the same.

Watch above via CNN.

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