Scott Jennings Flat-Out Rejects CNN Host’s Question About Trump Remark in Kirk Eulogy
CNN contributor Scott Jennings flat-out rejected host John Berman’s question about President Donald Trump’s crack about hating his political opponents during his Sunday eulogy for conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
The memorial event in Arizona, which saw tens of thousands of supporters gathered to mourn Kirk, who was assassinated on September 10, at a campus speaking event in Utah.
“He did not hate his opponents, he wanted the best for them,” Trump said during his address on Sunday, before adding with a laugh: “That’s where I disagreed with Charlie. I hate my opponents, and I don’t want the best for them, I’m sorry.” His remarks came after Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, said she forgave her husband’s suspected killer.
Jennings, one of the network’s only pro-Trump contributors, appeared on the panel early Monday to reflect on the event when Berman began to discuss the president’s remarks as “discordant.”
When asked, Jennings refused to engage in that line of commentary: “Yeah. Look. I’m not going to criticize the president. His friend died and he gave the eulogy. And he, you know, he did it in the way that Donald Trump would do it.”
He continued: “He made some very beautiful remarks. He made some jokes that only Donald Trump can make. And, you know, he did it in a way that, frankly, I expected him to do it. And I think the crowd responded to it. I think what you saw on the stage yesterday, from Trump to Erika Kirk to all the other speakers – and I thought it was extremely well done and very powerful – was a reflection of the range of emotions that Republicans and conservatives and Christians have felt since Charlie was assassinated.”
Jennings drew focus back to Erika Kirk’s words as “the most powerful witness to the Christian message” and “to the gospel of Jesus Christ.”
“Although I think it’s natural for us to try to analyze the politics of this or to nitpick the political actors, to me, yesterday’s event was as much a faith event and a spiritual awakening for the country as it was anything. And so how it affects the midterms or, you know, how it affects Donald Trump the political person, I don’t know. But I know how it affected Scott Jennings the Christian,” he added.
Watch above via CNN.
