‘Who’s In the Hospital?’ CNN’s Scott Jennings Pushes Back on Wolf Blitzer’s ‘Both Sides’ Argument

CNN’s Scott Jennings pointedly pushed back on Wolf Blitzer in the hours following the failed assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump after the CNN anchor blamed the shooting on “both sides.”

Trump was shot in the ear in the opening moments of hosting a political rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, but appears to be in remarkably good health despite the shooting. In wall-to-wall coverage of the sad and historic event, a CNN panel discussion turned tense when Jennings, a Republican strategist and conservative voice on CNN, blamed the shooting on “extreme” rhetoric about Trump.

“We have people in this country who are dedicated to telling half the country that if Donald Trump wins an election, the country will end. The Constitution will go away, and so on and so forth,” Jennings said. “What I want to hear from all elected officials is this kind of hyperbolic extremism has consequences, and it must end. Yes, we’re all shot in. Yes, political violence has no place. Where does it come from? It’s got to stop.”

Blitzer made sure to point out Trump’s rhetoric, pushing back on Jennings, saying, “But we’re also hearing from Trump very, very strong statements of condemnation of Biden, the worst president, the most dangerous president, and all of that. He’s speaking very, very strongly against President Biden.”

“Who’s in the hospital?” Jennings shot back.

Blitzer found common ground with Jennings, saying, “You say calm things down,” but followed with, “I agree both sides should use this.”

JENNINGS: The rhetoric around him over the last few weeks that if he wins an election, our country will end, our democracy will end. It’s the last election will ever have. These things have consequences. Okay. I don’t know what the motivations of the shooter are. I don’t know any of the details, but I know the rhetoric around Trump has grown extreme. Take a look. You mentioned some other violence. You didn’t mention the Supreme Court attempted murder of a Supreme Court justice or the congressional baseball game where Steve Scalise was nearly murdered. One a conservative, the other a Republican. But we have people in this country who are dedicated to telling half the country that if Donald Trump wins an election, the country will end. The Constitution will go away, and so on and so forth. What I want to hear from all elected officials is this kind of hyperbolic extremism has consequences, and it must end. Yes, we’re all shot in. Yes, political violence has no place. Where does it come from? It’s got to stop.

BLITZER: But we’re also hearing from Trump very, very strong statements of condemnation of Biden, the worst president, the most dangerous president and all of that. He’s speaking very, very strongly against President Biden.

JENNINGS: Who’s in the hospital?

BLITZER: Well, we do. This is his assassination attempt

JENNINGS: Look, I agree with you.

BLITZER: You say calm things down. I agree both sides should calm things…

JENNINGS: This moment is if there was if we. What other Wake-Up call could there be for everybody in this country right now? I’m I am, I am mortified. I mean, this will live on forever. These pictures we’re seeing today will be in the history books of our children and our grandchildren. And we’re living through a historical moment, and we have to recognize it for what it is. And we have to change.

BLITZER: You have to follow the rhetoric on both sides. We have to change because it’s really dangerous. And it foments what we’ve we’ve just seen over the past couple of hours or so. And it’s a really, really scary situation. You want to add a point that.

BASH:  You just said it will. Scott, your point is so well-taken that the escalation of rhetoric is something that if you just look back in history, it doesn’t take a lot to, to dig and find that people take cues from not just leaders, but from people around them. And, when, when violence happens, sometimes things are uncorked. And it is important for leaders across the board, as we are seeing today, to tamp things down.

Watch above via CNN.