THUNDERDOME RECAP: Ana Navarro Crosses a Red Line

Jorge Bonilla
May 1st, 2025 2:57 AM

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A wild episode of The Thunderdome, more commonly known as CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip, featured multiple heated exchanges of ideas. Most importantly, it saw bitter The View panelist Ana Navarro cross a bright red line.

After the obligatory opening segment on the GDP report with concomitant recession hype, the discussion shifted to reports of the Tesla board allegedly opening a search for a new CEO to replace Elon Musk. Scott Jennings, fresh from expressing his desire to acquire farmland during a Michigan Trump rally, recalled a Cabinet secretary (Bessent, if I had to guess but what do I know) citing the development of IT as the biggest DOGE development. This absolutely triggered former Fox & Friends co-host Gretchen Carlson: 

GRETCHEN CARLSON: Most Americans would agree that they want to get rid of fraud and waste. And now you're saying that the greatest accomplishment of DOGE…

SCOTT JENNINGS: No, It’s an accomplishment.

CARLSON: …is that they- that- they’ve solved IT problems?

JENNINGS: And I talked- and I spoke to another cabinet secretary yesterday who said this has been a, quote, “wonderful accelerant.”

CARLSON: So what? 

JENNINGS: This continues the program continues.

CARLSON: Politicians say whatever they say, to be able to put on a good face.

JENNINGS: Why are you so angry?

CARLSON: I'm not angry. I’m- I’m frustrated.

JENNINGS: You look enraged. I don't understand.

CARLSON: I’m frustrated like most Americans, because we want to know where the cuts are.

ABBY PHILLIP: Gretchen. Gretchen. Let me just let me just hit pause here. I mean, look. People get worked up at this table, yourself included, all the time. Let's not call people angry when they're simply making a point.

JENNINGS: But she's very upset.

PHILLIP: I just have to say that because. Because I think.

CARLSON: No. I’m frustrated. Because you’re blaming it on IT.

PHILLIP: Let's deal with- let’s deal with the…

JENNINGS: I’m not blaming anything. I'm saying it was a good byproduct of what they did.

PHILLIP: Scott and Gretchen, just give me one second, OK? Let’s deal with the issues at hand. We don’t have to, you know, say you’re angry or, you know, this. She’s just making a point. Okay?

CARLSON: Thank you. 

If you’re keeping score, that’s a ref stoppage and a scolding from Abby Phillip- as often happens when a liberal is on the ropes. Something that happens way too often. This closed out the segment and had Phillip teasing the next, on immigration. Most interestingly, her reference of MS-13 gangbanger Kilmar Abrego García as “that man that was mistakenly deported to El Salvador.” Interesting choice to drop the “Maryland”.

The immigration segment fell along familiar lines, with the panel liberals advocating for Abrego, and with conservatives arguing in favor of strong border security. Here, Jennings shone:

JENNINGS: Several things. Number one, the children that you mentioned were not deported. They went with their mothers. Their mothers requested that the children come with them. So their mothers were deported because they were illegal aliens.

ANA NAVARRO: And they didn't get due process.

(CROSSTALK)

JENNINGS: And so, and so they went so- so, so there's really two choices here. Split the family or keep the family together. The U.S. government's policy here was to let the mothers decide. The mothers decided to take the children. That's number one on the Garcia case. Effectively what you all are arguing for, passionately, and what Democrats are passionately arguing for is for the President of the United States to re-import a dangerous member of a transnational terrorist organization who has clear affiliations with a gang that commits heinous atrocities. That is not what he was elected to do. And whether you bring him back here or not, I'm just going to explain to you the politics of this through telling you what the Speaker of the House(SIC), Hakeem Jeffries, did today, which is that he told his members, “please, for the love of God, stop going to El Salvador and dying on this hill. The politics of this could not be worse for the left and worse for Democrats, because the president knows he was elected to protect us from MS-3. And that is what they are doing.

ANA NAVARRO: Yeah, but none of the things you just said have been proven.

JENNINGS: But what do you say about the tattoos?

NAVARRO: I say that what trump said yesterday was an absolute lie.

(CROSSTALK)

NAVARRO: Are you saying the MS-13 that Donald Trump claims are legitimate tattoos on this guy are true? Are you saying the photoshop is true?

JENNINGS: Are you- are you a tattoo truther? I mean, I don’t understand.

NAVARRO: Wait, are you a photoshop denier? 

RAUL REYES: You're getting away from the issue.

PHILLIP: Hold on. Yeah, we are getting away from the issue. Scott. The- the- the picture of his knuckles does not say MS 13- 

JENNINGS: The symbols. 

PHILLIP: Okay. Yeah. Let me just explain to people what we’re talking about here.

NAVARRO: That has not been proven either. Scott. None of the things you have said.

(CROSSTALK)

NAVARRO: They have not said so in court.

PHILLIP: So let me just explain to people what we're talking about here. There are symbols on his knuckles. None of them say MS-13. However, this administration has decided that they symbolize something related to MS-13, which is disputed by a lot of people including gang--

(CROSSTALK) 

PHILLIP: I am going to move on. I’m going to move on. Because this is not a conversation about the tattoos.

Navarro and Jennings were going back and forth about the exchange on tattoos between President Trump and ABC’s Terry Moran, and whether the superimposed MS-13 on a photo of “Maryland Dad’s” hand is legitimate. Abby Phillip went in with another stoppage and wrapped the discussion up.

Still on immigration, Shermichael SIngleton tries to explain how “Maryland Dad” was found to be a gangbanger, but not being able to get in a word edgewise. He let Phillip have it.

SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON: Can I…?

PHILLIP: No no no no no. Hold up.

SINGLETON: Why do we always have to play this game of interrupting people when they're talking?

PHILLIP: OK. But you're saying…

SINGLETON: What’s the point of me being on the show, if I can never finish my freaking point? 

PHILLIP: Okay…

SINGLETON: This is getting really annoying, Abby. 

PHILLIP: Hold on. 

SINGLETON: Everyone else has made their statements. I have yet to say anything.

PHILLIP: Hold on a second. Okay?

SINGLETON: I mean, Jesus.

PHILLIP: Hold on a second.

NAVARRO: So angry. As Scott was saying. Ha ha ha.

SINGLETON: Because I have a point of view to make here as well.

PHILLIP: Everybody, hang on just one second. Shermichael, let me- let me ask you a question. The question is, has the government presented evidence in court that Abrego Garcia is a member of MS-13?

SINGLETON: And my response…

PHILLIP: ANd the answer is no. That has not happened in court. But it doesn't mean that they have not made those claims publicly. It doesn't mean that those claims are not. In police reports. It doesn't mean that they're not in police reports. 

SINGLETON: In 2019,

PHILLIP: They're just not statements that were made in a court case.

SINGLETON: In 2019, the immigration judge at the time believed the Prince Georges County gang unit and the evidence that they presented before that judge at the time that Mr. Garcia did indeed belong to a gang. This is not my opinion. You can- people can Google this crap. They can Google this. CBS reported on this. If a judge believes it in 2019, is it now all of a sudden not true?

REYES: Judge granted him a withholding of removal.

SINGLETON: I acknowledge that fact. I acknowledge that fact.

PHILLIP: Which is a different issue. Hold on, hold on, hold on.

SINGLETON: But- but the point remains that a judge found the evidence to be credible that Mr. Garcia did indeed belong to a gang. So now all of a sudden, we're not not going to believe judges?

PHILLIP: Okay. The judge found-

SINGLETON: We can't have it both ways.

PHILLIP: I don't- I don't want to go too far down this rabbit hole, but my- my only point is that the government has not presented beyond the the the police report. They have not presented the evidence to prove that he belonged to this gang.

SINGLETON: So the police reports are not considered evidence before a court of law? Do judges not- do judges not consider police reports? What are we saying?

PHILLIP: Shermichael, what is- what was the- what was the original…

(CROSSTALK)

PHILLIP: It is relevant…

PHILLIP: Hold on. I actually want Shermichael to finish the point. 

SHERMICHAEL: It absolutely is relevant to the argument from the administration, which is that Mr. Garcia belonged to a gang, as one of the reasons of deporting him out of the country. You guys are sitting here saying there’s no truth to this, there’s no facts to this. That’s not true.

Credit to Singleton for quickly recovering after speaking up over the constant interruptions. And we learn that the reason for those interruptions is so Phillip can speak over Singleton and try to shut down any talk of evidence of Abrego Garcia being a gangbanger.

It was at this point shortly thereafter that Navarro reset her “days without cheapshotting Marco Rubio” counter to zero. What ensued afterwards was absolutely wild, as Singleton and Navarro get into a shouting match over which ethnic group had it worse:

SINGLETON: We do not have unlimited resources…

PHILLIP: I think a lot of Americans…

SINGLETON: to take care of other people. 

NAVARRO: There’s a hell of a lot of people, other than the Black people who were brought here as slaves, who came to this country illegally. There are a lot of different-

SINGLETON: They are not the same as Black people who were brought here against our will. 

NAVARRO: That’s exactly what I just said. I said there is a lot of people...

SINGLETON: They decided to walk their butt across the border. There's a big difference. 

NAVARRO: …OTHER than Black people.

SINGLETON: There is a big difference. There is a big difference, Ana.

NAVARRO: That’s exactly what I just said. That’s exactly what I just said, Shermichael.

SINGLETON: There’s a big difference.

PHILLIP: Shermichael and Ana...

NAVARRO: We’re gonna act indignant. That's exactly what I just said.

SINGLETON: It’s not about acting indignant.

NAVARRO: You just heard me say “other than the Black people who came as slaves.”

SINGLETON: You are- you are acting as though you have the moral high ground here.

NAVARRO: There are a lot of people, from many countries, that came here illegally.

PHILLIP: Shermichael, I think you actually misheard what she- think you misheard what she said.

NAVARRO: No, he purposely misheard it.

PHILLIP: She- she said…

SINGLETON: I purposely misheard. So now you're in my brain?

PHILLIP: Shermichael, listen to me for just a second.

SINGLETON: Is that where we're going?

PHILLIP: Shermichael, listen to me for a second.

NAVARRO: You think I would say- I, who have advocated for black people…

PHILLIP: Ana, please stop.

NAVARRO:.. my entire life and say something like that?

SINGLETON: Because you've advocated for black people. Great. Congratulations. Last time I checked, I'm black. You're not.

PHILLIP: Okay, Shermichael.

NAVARRO: That's right. I'm Latino, and my people are being racially profiled. And unfairly treated.

SINGLETON: And do I have to remind you of the history of my people? If you want to go there?

PHILLIP: Shermichael…

SINGLETON: Do you really want to go there? 

(CROSSTALK)

PHILLIP:  We’re going to go to break. Raul Reyes, thank you for joining us. Everybody else hang tight. We’ll be right back.

By the time that Phillip realized the segment got away from her, it was too late. Navarro and Singleton were already at each other’s throats. The thing is, and upon review of the transcript, Navarro was right in that she said “other than” Black people and Phillip was right in that Singleton misheard Navarro. 

It was dumb for Navarro to compare the risks and perils inherent to illegal immigration to the outright horrors of chattel slavery. But Navarro took it a step further by mocking Shermichael’s (misplaced) outrage, and then by suggesting that Shermichael intentionally misheard her- imputing ill will, and doing so the entire time with a condescending tone. The segment spiraled out of control and Phillip ended up throwing the towel and going to break. The whole thing could have been avoided had Navarro just shut up when Phillip said “Ana, please stop.”

By the way, I have to question the kind of standard that throws Girdusky off the set for making the pager joke to Mehdi Hassan, but allows Navarro to remain and probably return after that sordid exchange. As I explained on X, with regard to Navarro's reaction:

The show ended with light bonding in mockery of Tampon Tim Walz, but the earlier avoidable fireworks hung thick in the air. Thunderdome, indeed.

 

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