CNN’s Abby Phillip Accuses Scott Jennings of ‘Denigrating’ a Whole ‘Religion’ With ‘Handmaid’s Tale’ Remark During Heated Debate

CNN host Abby Phillip accused the network’s MAGA pundit Scott Jennings of trying to “denigrate” a whole religion during a heated throwdown when he mocked Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan for dressing “like The Handmaid’s Tale” by wearing a hijab when visiting a mall.

The shutdown came as the NewsNight panel debated allegations of large-scale fraud involving some members of Minnesota’s Somali migrants on Monday, with Jennings complaining that Democrats were “catering” to the community by coming to their defense.

As a case in point, Jennings jabbed at Flanagan, a self-described Catholic, for having dressed in the headscarf last week, worn by some Muslim women for religious purposes, by invoking the dystopian fiction in which women are oppressed and abused under a theocratic regime.

“You’ve got to admit, though, the catering to the Somali community that goes on by the Democrats in Minnesota is a little weird, is it not? A small proportion of the population,” he said.

He continued: “They got the lieutenant governor up there dressed like The Handmaid’s Tale. I mean, why do they care?”

“That’s out of line,” other panelists began to protest as Jennings continued to try to make his point.

Phillip cut in: “Hold on a second, just a second, because I don’t think it would be acceptable for you to make a statement like that about Orthodox Jews in Brooklyn. Why on Earth is it acceptable to make a statement like that about people–”

Jennings began to push back: “It’s a white liberal women dressing–”

“Okay, I’m just saying,” the host said, “You’re denigrating religious practices of a group for no reason other than–”

The pundit continued to interrupt as he frustratedly pointed to Flanagan, but Phillip kept going: “I don’t care about her. You’re describing the type of dress as The Handmaid’s Tale, and you’re doing that to denigrate the religion of a group of people.”

Jennings continued: “I’m just pointing out–”

“It wouldn’t be acceptable if you did it with another group. So don’t – just don’t do it when it comes to Muslim people, that’s not OK,” the host concluded.

Watch above via CNN.