“Lonely Scott” Jennings upset a Monday CNN NewsNight panel that included former 2012 Romney Campaign boss Stuart Stevens, by attacking the idea that Republicans need to put aside everything they’ve ever believed in, in order to defeat Donald Trump.
On January 6, Jennings claimed that just, “because that happened does not mean I or Katie or any other Republican has to give up on every single value that we've ever had, whether it has to do with taxes or the Court or any other policy. You're asking Republicans to turn over the government to absolute radical liberals over one day and I'm not prepared to do it because I believe policy choices. I believe they matter to the future of the country.”
Fortunately for Jennings, he was not “Lonely Scott” on this panel, and after some crosstalk, former Ted Cruz advisor Katie Frost added, “Are we going to get the 2019 Kamala Harris, who came out of California and had all these liberal positions that she wanted to ban fracking, that she supported the Green New Deal. And now, we're hearing from advisors and mixed things. ‘Oh, maybe she doesn't. Maybe doesn't.’ Are we going to have 2019 Kamala Harris from California? Or are we going to have a new Kamala Harris who wants to win swing states and the positions better?”
Stevens claimed, “Either one is better than Donald Trump,” and after yet more crosstalk, Stevens recalled, “I can remember being on the bus with you, with Romney. And this is something that really stuck with me. And one of the aides who worked for you had misspelled something in a press release. And you very, very nicely, you weren't mean, you said, 'this is someone running for the presidency of the United States to sit in the Oval Office. We have to be at that level and treat it with that respect.'”
He further wondered, “How do you say that? And then you get Donald Trump, a sexual predator, a criminal, someone who we know is just a horrible human being who doesn't believe in what we believe in. rule of law, and how all this policy stuff? They're not going to remember what the tax rate was or what, you know, this is basically, it is a character test, Scott.”
Jennings responded by pointing out it isn’t just tax policy at stake in November, “It's more than that. It's more than what the tax rate is. Profound policy implications and decisions are coming from the next administration. I firmly believe that if the Democrats win and if they somehow keep control of the Senate, which I don't think is likely, but is possible, they will eliminate the filibuster. And they will change this country in a way that we can never recover. That is important to me.”
With the filibuster gone comes concerns not just about 2019 Harris, but Supreme Court packing, which the panel fought about earlier.
Jennings further told Stevens, “Now, listen I don't begrudge your viewpoint, but you cannot begrudge a Republican for wondering, 'hey, maybe it's not a great idea for us to drive off the left side of the road so far we can never find our way back.'”
Here is a transcript for the August 26 show:
CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip
8/26/2024
10:37 PM ET
SCOTT JENNINGS: Because that happened does not mean I or Katie or any other Republican has to give up on every single value that we've ever had, whether it has to do with taxes or the Court or any other policy. You're asking Republicans to turn over the government to absolute radical liberals over one day and I'm not prepared to do it because I believe policy choices—
STUART STEVENS: No, you listen, Scott. Listen.
JENNINGS: -- I believe they matter to the future of the country.
KATIE FROST: And one policy is: are you endorsing -- if you endorse Kamala Harris.
CARI CHAMPION: I'll tell you what you are endorsing if you endorse Donald Trump.
FROST: Let me finish, real quick, please, we still fully don't know -- are we going to get the 2019 Kamala Harris, who came out of California and had all these liberal positions that she wanted to ban fracking, that she supported the Green New Deal. And now, we're hearing from advisors and mixed things. “Oh, maybe she doesn't. Maybe doesn't.”
Are we going to have 2019 Kamala Harris from California? Or are we going to have a new Kamala Harris who wants to win swing states and the positions better?
STEVENS: Either one is better than Donald Trump—
CHAMPION: 2019 Kamala is better than Trump on any given day.
STEVENS: -- If you believe, Scott, listen, listen.
PHILLIP: All right, let me let Stewart get his point.
STEVENS: I can remember being on the bus with you, with Romney. And this is something that really stuck with me. And one of the aides who worked for you had misspelled something in a press release. And you very, very nicely, you weren't mean, you said, “this is someone running for the presidency of the United States to sit in the Oval Office. We have to be at that level and treat it with that respect.”
How do you say that? And then you get Donald Trump, a sexual predator, a criminal, someone who we know is just a horrible human being who doesn't believe in what we believe in, rule of law, and how all this policy stuff? They're not going to remember what the tax rate was or what, you know, this is basically, it is a character test, Scott.
JENNINGS: It's more than that. It's more than what the tax rate is. Profound policy implications and decisions are coming from the next administration. I firmly believe that if the Democrats win and if they somehow keep control of the Senate, which I don't think is likely, but is possible, they will eliminate the filibuster. And they will change this country in a way that we can never recover. That is important to me.
ALLISON: And what does that look like?
JENNINGS: Now, listen I don't begrudge your viewpoint, but you cannot begrudge a Republican for wondering, “hey, maybe it's not a great idea for us to drive off the left side of the road so far we can never find our way back.”
