CNN’s Scott Jennings Gets Brutal Receipt Dropped on Him in Clash Over Trump and Cops

CNN’s GOP analyst Scott Jennings got a familiar but brutal receipt dropped on him during a segment on President Donald Trump’s blockbuster press conference on crime in the capital.

Trump held a press conference Monday to announce the deployment of National Guard troops in Washington, DC — a move that critics have described as a stunt to distract from the uproar over deceased sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein. The president spoke and took questions for more than an hour, insisting that crime has gone up in DC even as data shows it has gone down.

On Monday night’s edition of CNN NewsNight, Seneca Project co-founder and Never-Trumper Tara Setmayer challenged the idea that Trump “backs the blue” with a little help from 2021 Scott Jennings:

SETMAYER: You know, I think it’s important that people understand something here about law enforcement officers and at every level, right? Like I mentioned in the last segment, I come from a police family and I bleed blue. And I was on this set for many years defending law enforcement officers during Ferguson and during other times where police officers were getting bad raps on certain things, explaining the complexities of the job.

And it really is something that I just cannot tolerate when Trump supporters are trying to sit here and act as though Donald Trump supports and backs the blue. No, he doesn’t. You look at what Donald Trump did and what MAGA has done to the police officers who defended our Capitol on January 6th. You want to talk about spitting in the face? Donald Trump spit in the face of every single one of those officers who took that oath to protect and serve on January 6th when he pardoned those insurrectionist bastards and who wanted to take down our Capitol and stop the free and fair, peaceful transfer of power.

So, how dare he say this now? It is the reincarnation of George Wallace, of Huey Long, of the disgusting policies of the past that have this strong man desire to use law and order and the fear and demagogue for people that Donald Trump is channeling right now. And so how dare people sit here and say that he backs the blue? He abdicated that, because you know what? He did not protect or defend the Constitution and he violated his oath of office.

You know, who said that? You did after January 6th. And that’s exactly what he continues to do right now with the way he is throwing around our military, our police, talking about moving us to other states. This is something people should be very concerned about.

Setmayer was referring to comments that Jennings made on January 6, 2021, when the Capitol riot was still going on — during which he suggested Trump was such a threat he might need to step down immediately:

Jennings did not respond to the jab until several minutes later, when anchor Abby Phillip called out his silence. But after Jennings responded, Setmayer jumped in to get the last word:

PHILLIP: Hold on a second. I want to give Scott a moment because he has not said a single thing. So, Scott, I mean, on this point, I mean, Tara spoke your words about Donald Trump on January 6th, you don’t have to turn on Donald Trump to say, and as you have said, that it’s not a good idea to pardon these folks, but it makes it harder for him to then come to the American people and say that this is about respect for police when he didn’t care whether they were respected on that day.

JENNINGS: Well, look. What happened to the cops that day was a disgrace. They didn’t deserve to be treated that way. They were defending the Capitol. I think what happens to D.C. police on a rolling basis — I think what happens to cops on the most violent cities in America on a rolling basis is a disgrace, as well.

I think what the President is responding to today is, what can I do today? D.C. is the only city I really have control of, so I’m going to try to give them some support. He’s getting a note of confidence from the D.C. police union. I suspect if they did things in other cities, other police unions in those cities would also offer some support.

And so, what I would simply say is that all you can do is hit the next shot. And the next shot right now, I think for a lot of Americans is what can be done today to reduce violent crime. And to make me feel safer in my neighborhood, I think he’s going to get a lot of political support for the idea that the federal government’s getting a little more muscular when it comes to cracking down on violent crime.

(CROSSTALK)

PHILLIP: All right, we have to leave it there.

(CROSSTALK)

TARA SETMAYER, CO-FOUNDER AND CEO, THE SENECA PROJECT: If he controls D.C., why didn’t he do it on January 6th?

PHILLIP: We have to leave it there.

SETMAYER: Why didn’t he do it on January 6th when he sat there and let them take over the Capitol? He had the opportunity, but he didn’t.

Watch above via CNN NewsNight.