CNN’ post-debate panel blew up at Bush White House alum Scott Jennings, when he mentioned that under Tim Walz, born-alive survivors of botched abortions were left to die. Their reaction to Jennings’ data was equal parts rage and mockery. But they were unable to refute him.
Watch as the panel loses their minds (click “expand” to view transcript):
FIREWORKS: Pro-choice CNN panelists Alyssa Farah Griffin, David Axelrod, and Ashley Allison EXPLODE when @ScottJenningsKY fact-checks them on Minnesota's abortion law:
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) October 2, 2024
"[T]his thing in Minnesota. There were eight deaths among infants who survived abortion attempts during Tim… pic.twitter.com/a6sKdtkoOB
DAVID AXELROD: Give him credit for solicitude…the policies. maybe not.
SCOTT JENNINGS: Look,I just had- this thing in Minnesota. There were eight deaths among infants who survived abortion attempts during Tim Walz’s tenure as governor. It happened, they don't want to talk about the fact that it happened, but there were children…
ALYSSA FARA-GRIFFIN: What’s the sources? I’m seeing that…
AXELROD: Let me ask you a question since you've deeply researched this, what were the condition of these- of these- of these of these babies when they were born?
JENNINGS: Why can't we…why can’t we all just…
AXELROD: What was the participation of the family? You think…you think…you think…you think…
JENNINGS: They tried to abort the babies and they survived the abortion and they died.
AXELROD: And you think that families casually tossed them aside?
JENNINGS: No, I think Walz casually tossed the truth about it aside.
AXELROD: Tell me what their condition was, Scott. Could they have survived? Was it a case of families not wanting children to suffer who were- when they were told that they are doomed? Is that- you know, that seems important to me.
ASHLEY ALLISON: Yes. And that is the reality of the case. But you know what? Here’s what I will say: keep talking about that because when you all talk about abortion like this, it is when women and that gender gap continues to divide, not in your favor. Because women, it is disrespectful to pretend like women are making choices about abortion that is the intent to just let a baby die at nine months.
JENNINGS: Well.
ALLISON: Let me finish it here. And it is dishonest for JD Vance to go up there and try and push that narrative. And that is what I'm saying when I said he presented well, but his policies and what he was saying was not truthful. It just wasn't. And that is why the overwhelming American people since Roe has been overturned, you guys are not winning. You are not winning and if you run on this issue, you will not win in November.
JENNINGS: They're not running on this issue.
ALLISON: They’re lying on this issue.
JENNINGS: They’re running- they're running on. It's up to the states and they're running on Donald Trump's moderate position of some reasonable restrictions. Rape, incest, and life of the mother: IVF support, that’s very moderate.
ELLIOTT: They’re lying. They’re lying.
AXELROD: Here- Here, can I say something about this? You are- one of your frequent go-to points is Kamala Harris said this in 2019, that's her position. Donald Trump said women should be punished if they had an abortion. Why shouldn’t we hold him to that? You talk about his moderate position. His moderate position has been adopted over the course of this campaign for purposes of this campaign, after he put the justices on the Supreme Court who overturned Roe, who've created a crisis for women who live in 20 states in this country.
JENNINGS: His position is moderate, and it is in line with what I think most Americans want…
AXELROD: Do you believe him when he said- when he said that women should be-
JENNINGS: I think Harris and Walz have proven they cannot discuss even a single restriction that they want.
AXELROD: Do you believe when he said women should be punished, did you believe that?
JENNINGS: I don't believe, and no Republican wants women to be punished.
AXELROD: Do you believe…but he said it. Do you believe him when he said it?
GRIFFIN: And at the time it was roundly criticized by other Republicans.
AXELROD: Did you believe him when he said it?
JENNINGS: I can tell you what Republicans believe, which is…
AXELROD: I'm just asking you what Trump believes.
JENNINGS: I'm telling you what he's running on right now.
AXELROD: I know what he's running on right now. I know what he's running on right now.
ELLIOTT: (CROSSTALK) he’s running on it to win. He’s not running on it because it’s what he actually believes.
JENNINGS: If I didn't- if I couldn't articulate a single restriction, I would attack Trump.
ELLIOTT: This is what Kamala Harris and Tim Walz believes- is that it's none of your business what women do with their body and so stay out of our doctors offices and stay out of our bedroom.
JENNINGS: Well, I guess I'll have to speak up for the babies, they’re not here to speak for themselves. Lord, have mercy.
ANDERSON COOPER: Let's check back in with Jake in DC. Jake.
JAKE TAPPER: Anderson. Lord, have mercy.
The born-alive survivors left to die are a matter of record, as was reported by John Solomon, should Axelrod and Griffin be inclined to do such things as basic research:
In summer 2022 as Tim Walz was steaming toward reelection as Minnesota governor, his state health agency published a required abortion-statistics report with little fanfare. In it, though, was a secret that is certain to catapult to national prominence now that Walz has been selected to be Democrat Kamala Harris’s running mate.
In Walz’s state and on his watch, five infants were "born alive" in 2021 during failed abortions, and none was provided life-saving care though two got “comfort care,” the Minnesota Department of Health reported on July 1, 2022.
Three other infants were "born alive" during abortions in 2019, Walz’s first year as governor, and they too perished without life-saving care, according to a July 1, 2020 report from the same state agency.
Minnesota was the rare state to require such born-alive abortions to be publicly reported, creating a powerful statistic for pro-life and anti-abortion forces to draw upon.
The report goes on to list which babies received care. Only one such baby was born with the fatal abnormalities mentioned by Axelrod.
The left may not like to have Trump or Vance mention it in debates, but the indisputable fact is that this thing happened. So much so, that Walz changed the reporting requirements so now we don’t know whether any abortion survivors received any care, if at all.
The protestations of the panel and the mockeries of Jake Tapper notwithstanding, Scott Jennings very powerfully defended Life. As he put it: someone has to speak up for the babies.
Lord, have mercy.
