Scott Jennings Splits With Trump Over January 6: ‘It Was a Bad Day – It Should Never Happen Again’

CNN senior political commentator Scott Jennings split with President Donald Trump over his reaction to the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot on Tuesday, calling it “a bad day” that “should never happen again.”

Reacting on CNN’s The Source to the White House’s new January 6 website page – which accused Capitol Police of “deliberately escalating tensions” among “patriotic protesters,” who were “unfairly targeted” – host Kaitlan Collins asked, “That’s blaming the cops for what happened that day, is it not Scott?”

“Yeah, I mean, that’s how you could read it,” replied Jennings, who previously worked as an assistant to President George W. Bush:

Look, I have a point of view on this that’s somewhat different than the president’s and, look, I also don’t treat it like a national holiday like the Democrats do. It was a bad day, but I don’t look forward to memorializing it every year. It was a bad day, it should never happen again, the president has a point of view on it, he’s got a messaging point of view on it that he’s never backed away from, and the American people frankly adjudicated these questions in the 2024 election, and he’s the sitting president.

Jennings previously accused Trump of inciting an “insurrection” and “terrorism” with “his lies and conspiracy theories” in a January 6, 2021, op-ed for CNN.

“This is literally an insurrection,” wrote Jennings at the time. “The fact that the US military hasn’t secured the seat of our government already is a failure of leadership by the commander in chief.”

He continued, “President Donald Trump caused this insurrection with his lies and conspiracy theories about the election process being rigged against him. It was not stolen, but this madness was fomented by the President and his top advisers over the past several months.”

“I’m ashamed and embarrassed for our country, and for any Republican who fails to condemn this shameful behavior,” Jennings concluded.

Jennings went on to become one of Trump’s most vocal defenders at CNN, even appearing on-stage at a Trump rally in Michigan last year.

Last month, Trump promoted Jennings’ new book in a Truth Social post, urging his supporters to buy a copy.

Watch above via CNN.