Scott Jennings Defends Trump’s Disastrous Fox News Interview, Insists Importing Workers ‘Makes America Stronger’

CNN senior political commentator Scott Jennings defended President Donald Trump’s disastrous Fox News interview on Tuesday after the president was hit with backlash from his own supporters for saying there was not enough talent in America.

Defending Trump’s remarks during a panel debate on CNN NewsNight, Jennings insisted, “He is supported by a great many people who see the value in highly specialized, talented people being able to come here.”

Host Abby Phillip replied, “He’s not really saying clearly what the policy ought to be, he’s just saying we don’t have talented people in the United States to do these jobs, which is not true.”

“Are you arguing that we shouldn’t have H-1Bs?” asked Jennings, to which Phillip responded, “No, I’m just saying what he’s saying, that we don’t have talented people, is just on its face untrue.”

Jennings then said, “I interpreted it as him saying there’s room for more talent. When I was listening to it, and I listened to it carefully, I was interpreting his answer as, ‘Look, we have needs and room for the most talented people we can get.'”

After former White House aide Keith Boykin shot back that Trump’s actual remarks “didn’t sound like what you just said,” Phillip added, “Yeah, I think that there is a huge gap between what you’re saying and what Trump actually said.”

Democratic strategist Madeline Summerville then weighed in, “This sucks for you guys because Trump has put you in a very difficult position, because as my colleagues have said here, if Joe Biden or any other Democrat would have said this, you’d be like, ‘That’s ridiculous!'”

She continued, “I think it’s quite difficult to defend somebody who puts you in a position of saying we should put somebody else besides America first, especially when he’s just given billions of dollars to bail out Argentina.”

“It’s quite easy for me to be perfectly comfortable with the president of the United States who is presiding over a broad coalition that does have disparate views,” replied Jennings. “Trump is in a difficult political position because his base is diversified here. Some hardliners, some moderates, and some people who want it more wide open. But they’re all part of his coalition, he’s trying to find a balance, but he’s trying to do what’s best for the United States. He clearly thinks there is some role for the H-1B program, but he has throttled it somewhat with this application fee.”

He concluded, “You can be America First and also recognize that there may be times you could import talent from other countries. That makes America stronger. We’ve done that for decades.”

Watch above via CNN.