‘That’s Not America First!’ CNN Table Falls Into Chaos Over Conservative Guest’s Iran War Defense

 

A CNN table fell into chaotic crosstalk as National Review’s Noah Rothman mounted a defense for the ongoing Iran conflict and argued polling could show more support than people think.

On CNN’s Table for Five, Rothman said polling may show the war is unpopular, but people still do not want Iran to possess a nuclear weapon and they do not support the leadership regime.

“You can over read the poll numbers, which say that the Iranian war is unpopular, but if you ask in those very same polls, in those same polls you ask what the American people want. These are 80-20 propositions. The Iranian government should not have a nuclear weapon. The Iranian regime should collapse,” he said.

Abby Phillip pushed back, saying he was reading too much into the polls.

“It is definitely possible for Americans to say we don’t want Iran to have a nuclear weapon and to also say we’d don’t think that the best way to make that happen is war,” she said.

“But that’s wrong, let me tell you why it’s wrong,” Rothman responded.

“Maybe you think they’re wrong, but that’s what the American people think,” Phillip countered.

The two then debated past deals with Iran with Rothman arguing there were not enough guardrails put on Iran in the past and “uranium-enriching centrifuges.”

CNN commentator Bakari Sellers jumped in to argue Americans do not support “boots on the ground” and fear that will be the eventual outcome if peace negotiations crumble.

“Do you think the American public is willing to risk the lives of our men and women with boots on the ground when we have surging cost of electricity, gas, fertilizer, et cetera? And that’s why when you brought up the polls, I was like, yeah, it sounds okay,” Sellers said before Rothman jumped back in.

“I think it just displays a remarkable lack of faith in the American people that they wouldn’t support a project to liberate Iran and extirpate this 50-year threat,” Rothman said.

The table then descended into brief chaos as Phillip and the rest of the panelists pushed back on Rothman’s statement.

“That’s not America first!” Sellers said, noting rising costs for gas and other goods amid the crisis.

“It’s not guess work. We’ve asked the American public and they have said no,” Phillip said.

“I thought we were America first,” Sellers continued.

“Guys, we don’t have to guess on this,” Phillip added.

“We’re clearly America last,” author Reshma Saujani said amid the noise.

“There is polling!” former DNC spokesperson Xochitl Hinojosa added on the point that Americans do not support the war overall.

“I’m not the one underestimating the American people’s desire to liberate the Iranian people,” Rothman countered to the table.

“I don’t think you know the American people,” Hinojosa said.

“It’s not a guess whether or not they support it. They don’t,” Phillip said, teasing the next segment as the debate continued.

Polling has shown an overall disapproval for the Iran war. The Washington Post reported last month that the conflict’s public support had become as unpopular as the Vietnam and Iraq wars.

Trump has said the United States is close to a deal multiple times, but he’s lashed out at Iranian leadership, calling them “dishonorable people” after details of a supposed potential deal were released by Iranian state media.

“The terms that Iran leaked out to the Fake News have NOTHING to do with the terms that were agreed to, in writing. What they said, including their weak and pathetic statement on having a deal, bears no relation to the truth. Very dishonorable people to deal with. With them, there is no such thing as dealing in good faith. AMAZING! Also, their totally rebuffed Drone attack last night against Indian Ships leaving the Hormuz Strait is TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE. They better get their act together, and FAST!” he wrote on Truth Social.

Watch above via CNN.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!

Tags:

Zachary Leeman covered pop culture and politics at outlets such as Breitbart, LifeZette, BizPac Review, HollywoodinToto, and others. He is the author of the novel Nigh. He joined Mediaite in 2022.