THUNDERDOME: Ana Navarro Gets Caught Lying for Biden, Gets ANNIHILATED

Jorge Bonilla
May 9th, 2025 11:19 AM

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On the most recent edition of the Thunderdome, also known as CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip, Senior CNN commentator Ana Navarro came on and nakedly shilled for former President Joe Biden, lying about his infamous “no daylight” remark to Kamala Harris upon endorsing her for the presidency. Navarro quickly found out that she wasn’t on ABC’s The View.

The panel discussion turned to the former president’s appearance, along with former First Lady Jill Biden, on The View (recapped here by our colleague Nick Fondacaro), and his unwillingness to acknowledge the real reasons why Vice President Kamala Harris lost the election. Navarro jumps in to spin for Biden, and gets immediately shut down:

ABBY PHILLIP: Why -- but why can't Joe Biden understand that? That it's -- that it was immigration, the economy. Why -- I mean, I thought that was -- hold on. I thought that was the most strike -- one of the most striking things was his unwillingness to even acknowledge that maybe some of the issues had to do with it, too.

ANA NAVARRO: No. If you watched the entire interview, he did acknowledge it, and he took responsibility. He said, look, I was in charge. So, yeah, the buck stops with me. I was, you know, it is my responsibility. I think part of what -- what happened between Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and -- and this entire election is that there's a lot of affection and loyalty between the two.

There was a lot of gossip for four years that they didn't like each other, that he was undercutting her, that she was unhappy. I think she couldn't distance him -- herself from him out of loyalty. And I think today what you heard from him was a lot of deference and affection towards his vice president, a role that he played.

SCOTT JENNINGS: Hold on. But let me -- let me ask you a question though. He said he wasn't surprised that she lost, but that he would have won the race. That's like saying, well, you know, I was a boat anchor on my vice president, so she drowned in this election, but the anchor itself would have floated? That's a crazy- that is crazy talk for him to say that.

NAVARRO: No, Scott, he -- he did not say that. He did not say --

BEN FERGUSON: He did.

(CROSSTALK)

JENNINGS: He literally said, I wasn't surprised --

FERGUSON: He said I would have won.

JENNINGS: I would have won. The idea that he believes to this day --

(CROSSTALK)

UNKNOWN: I don't -- I don't --

(CROSSTALK)

PHILLIP: He not only said that, he has said it repeatedly that he believes he would have won.

Under normal circumstances, Abby Phillip cutting in means a liberal is being rescued from being dismantled. In this case, Phillip cut it in order to fact-check Navarro, so egregious was her lie claiming that Biden did not repeatedly say he would’ve beaten President Donald Trump in the election.

Navarro didn’t get the hint. After a ridiculous swerve into race where she gave panelist Ben Ferguson a whole sermon on white privilege, Navarro gets caught lying by Scott Jennings- claiming that Biden never said “no daylight” to Harris.

JENNINGS: Watching him on The View today and watching some of the interviews he did over --

NAVARRO: Thank you for your viewership.

JENNINGS: Yeah, I saw it. It's rare for me, but I did -- I did watch it.

SELLERS: (UNINT)

JENNINGS: I will just say, watching him over the last few days reminded me that a whole bunch of people were telling us with a straight face that this man was capable of serving another four years as president. And that these appearances, coupled with what I understand is going to be the equivalent of a nuclear bomb dropped on the Democratic Party when Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson's book come out next week, I don't know that the Democrats have fully internalized what's about to happen to them between what he looks like today and what they're about to report. Get ready. Get ready.

PHILLIP: I am not -- I am not sure that Joe Biden, fully realizes even his own deficits in this moment, Ana. I think seriously, he seems to not, to -- I mean, you -- he was asked about it directly and he doesn't seem to get it at all, which is part of the problem.

NAVARRO: Well, look, Abby. I don't know many elected officials, in any party who willingly walk away from their elected office, right? I think it's hard for everybody. Look, I -- I think this was very hard for Joe Biden and I think he took responsibility for that. He did not say what you just said, Scott, that he said --

JENNINGS: What? What?

NAVARRO: You just said that he told --

JENNINGS: What did he not say?

NAVARRO: He -- you said that he told Kamala Harris that she could not have any distance from him.

JENNINGS: False. It's been reported. He told her point blank- he told her point blank, “no daylight.”

NAVARRO: It doesn't matter what he was-

JENNINGS: He told her point blank, “no daylight, kid.” “No daylight.”

NAVARRO: Okay, because reporting can never be wrong?

JENNINGS: Are you attacking the journalism around it? 

NAVARRO: You think reporting can never be wrong? 

JENNINGS: Are you attacking the journalism around it? If you want to be anti-journalism, I’ll be pro-journalism.

NAVARRO: You come in and you come out here and you attack reporting every night.

JENNINGS: I do not.

NAVARRO: We actually asked him the question directly.

JENNINGS: I'm -- I'm -- there's critical reporting about this guy.

NAVARRO: Okay.

JENNINGS: And he told her point blank --

NAVARRO: Well, we asked him --

JENNINGS: -- “no daylight.”

NAVARRO: -- we asked him directly today. Did you tell her that?

PHILLIP: All right, last --

(CROSSTALK)

JENNINGS: You think he's never told a lie?

NAVARRO: I don't think he tells many lies.

FERGUSON: He told a lie about his cognitive decline. I can tell you that much.

NAVARRO: I don't think he tells many lies. I don't think he's --

JENNINGS: LOL

FERGUSON: Come on!

NAVARRO: Wait. Wait. No. You know why you don't get to laugh like that? Because you support a guy who lies every freaking day and lies continuously.

JENNINGS: Because it’s tragic what you just said. Because it’s tragic. It's tragic what you just said. “I don’t think he tells many lies?”

NAVARRO: You support a guy who cannot -- who cannot acknowledge that he lost the 2020 election and that lies about it.

UNKNOWN: Yeah.

(CROSSTALK)

NAVARRO: I have no idea what's in Jake Tapper’s- have you read it? 

(CROSSTALK)

PHILLIP: We got to go guys. Thank you very much.

(CROSSTALK)

FERGUSON: -- a cover-up.

NAVARRO: Have you read it?

(CROSSTALK)

PHILLIP: Guys --

NAVARRO: Have you read it?

PHILLIP: We got to go. Thank you very much.

NAVARRO: Okay.

PHILLIP: We'll be right back.

Listen closely, and you'll hear Jennings warning about bombshell revelations in the Tapper/Thompson book. But will they be the equivalent of a WMD moment that will humiliate the media into rectifying itself? I'm not so sure.

To her credit, Phillip did not intervene here, leaving Navarro to fend for herself. When Navarro got caught lying (here’s the “no daylight” reporting from almost two months ago), she scrambled to deflect: first to the media, then to Trump. Devoid of arguments, she was quickly annihilated and Phillip mercifully let the clock run out on her. Navarro found out real quick that Thunderdome isn’t The View.

Click "expand" to view the full transcript of the aforementioned segment as aired on CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip on Thursday, May 8th, 2025:

ABBY PHILLIP: Tonight, pointing fingers. Joe Biden joined Ana and the women of The View today and gave his explanation for what went wrong in November.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARA HAINES: So, why do you think the vice president lost and were you surprised?

UNKNOWN: Oh.

JOE BIDEN, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I wasn't surprised, not because I didn't think the vice president was qualified person to be president. She is. She's qualified to be President of The United States of America. But I was surprised -- I -- I wasn't surprised because they went the route of the sexist route on the whole route. I mean, this is a woman. She's this. She's that. I mean, it really -- I -- I've never seen quite a -- a successful and a consistent campaign undercutting the notion that a woman couldn't leave the country and a woman of mixed race.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIP: I've seen some criticism of that, saying that it's not the full picture.

BAKARI SELLERS: I mean, I -- I think there is a lot to do with that. I mean, I think anybody who says that that has absolutely nothing to do with it is- is just not being intellectually honest. Was that the whole reason? To your point, is that the full picture? Of course not. That's not the full picture. I think that there were economic headwinds against a Democrat being President of the United States. I think that there were immigration headwinds against a Democrat being President of the United States. And I also think that there were people who felt as if- and if this is the most amazing stat that came out of the most recent election: Are you better off four years ago?

PHILLIP: Right.

SELLERS: Are you better off today than you were four years ago? And the overwhelming majority of people answered that question “no”.

PHILLIP: Yeah.

SELLERS: Kamala Harris was more than qualified to be President of the United States, and I'm not sure that any Democrat, and I say this again, would have beaten Donald Trump in that race.

PHILLIP: Why -- but why can't Joe Biden understand that? That it's -- that it was immigration, the economy. Why -- I mean, I thought that was -- hold on. I thought that was the most strike -- one of the most striking things was his unwillingness to even acknowledge that maybe some of the issues had to do with it, too.

ANA NAVARRO: No. If you watched the entire interview, he did acknowledge it, and he took responsibility. He said, look, I was in charge. So, yeah, the buck stops with me. I was, you know, it is my responsibility. I think part of what -- what happened between Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and -- and this entire election is that there's a lot of affection and loyalty between the two.

There was a lot of gossip for four years that they didn't like each other, that he was undercutting her, that she was unhappy. I think she couldn't distance him -- herself from him out of loyalty. And I think today what you heard from him was a lot of deference and affection towards his vice president, a role that he played.

SCOTT JENNINGS: Hold on. But let me -- let me ask you a question though. He said he wasn't surprised that she lost, but that he would have won the race. That's like saying, well, you know, I was a boat anchor on my vice president, so she drowned in this election, but the anchor itself would have floated? That's a crazy- that is crazy talk for him to say that.

NAVARRO: No, Scott, he -- he did not say that. He did not say --

FERGUSON: He did.

(CROSSTALK)

JENNINGS: He literally said, I wasn't surprised --

FERGUSON: He said I would have won.

JENNINGS: I would have won. The idea that he believes to this day --

(CROSSTALK)

UNKNOWN: I don't -- I don't --

(CROSSTALK)

PHILLIP: He not only said that, he has said it repeatedly that he believes he would have won.

(CROSSTALK)

FERGUSON: Let's go back to what he said about racism. Can we just take a moment and talk about a white guy saying that racism's why it shouldn't win, and also the same white guy, Joe Biden, says I would have won. Like, you were one and the same person here. Like, if you're going to blame racism, it's absurd. My point is, I didn't say she lost because racism is absurd. She lost because the country was in a disastrous place, and they blamed him and his politics. She had to defend.

NAVARRO: Can I tell you something?

(CROSSTALK)

NAVARRO: Can I tell you something? You, as white guy have the privilege of saying that racism and you as a white male -- okay. I am telling you right now, okay. And I am -- okay. Okay, Ben.

FERGUSON: I'm saying it's an incredibly ridiculous statement as a white guy --

(CROSSTALK)

NAVARRO: As a woman of color, I am telling you that it is incredibly ridiculous for you, with the privilege that being a white male gives you in this country, to say that there wasn't some element of racism.

FERGUSON: I think it was the policies. I think if you guys stick --

(CROSSTALK)

UNKNOWN: One second, Ben.

FERGUSON: Hold on. If you stick with this plan, which is every time we lose an election, racism has to be involved.

SELLERS: That's not what I just said. I literally gave you a full picture.

PHILLIP: Yeah, I mean, he didn't say that.

(CROSSTALK)

FERGUSON: That's what Joe Biden said.

SELLERS: Full picture. And what I'm also saying is that yes, I believe Joe Biden saying he'd win the election is delusional, right? So I said that because I also said there is a certain point. But let me also explain with the equal level of delusion. You do understand that black folk, particularly black women, have to run twice as fast as you do to achieve the same goal. And if you do not understand

FERGUSON: I disagree with that. 

SELLERS: You can.

FERGUSON: I disagree with that.

SELLERS: You can, and I'm just telling you that that is the experience whether or not you're in politics or the business world or education.

(CROSSTALK)

FERGUSON: So, let me ask you this.

PHILLIP: Hold on, hold on, Ben.

(CROSSTALK)

FERGUSON: -- Joe Biden from candidacy. If what you're saying is true, then he would have won overwhelmingly.

PHILLIP: Bakari --

SELLERS: That's not what I just said.

(CROSSTALK)

PHILLIP: Let me -- let me just actually ask you something because --

SELLERS: That's not what I just --

(CROSSTALK)

UNKNOWN: You're not making any sense.

(CROSSTALK)

FERGUSON: You -- you just said that it's twice as hard for African- Americans to win.

PHILLIP: Just a second. Given what you just said, if you believe that it would have been twice as hard for Kamala Harris to win, isn't it even more important for Joe Biden to have given her ability to --

SELLERS: I don't- I don't think that's a question. But that -- that's not a -- that's not a question. And Ana brought up a good point because --

NAVARRO: No.

SELLERS: Out of all -- all the people -- I'd say this is a good question. I said out of all the people that are sitting around this table, I was actually a part of those discussions. And the person who did not want to distance himself because of loyalty, although she might not have had the loyalty given back from some of the women, particularly who were around Joe Biden, was Kamala Harris. (CROSSTALK)

PHILLIP: Yeah, but -- but did Joe Biden say --

(CROSSTALK)

SELLERS: She did have it from Joe Biden. Correct. That's actually a fact.

PHILLIP: But did Joe Biden ever say to her, you need to do --

JENNINGS: Yes, that's right.

PHILLLIP: Exactly what you need to do to win this election.

SELLERS: No.

JENNINGS: You're totally right.

PHILLIP: You need to --

SELLERS: No.

PHILLIP: -- pursue a policy that is --

SELLERS: No. And by the way --

PHILLIP: -- what you need. So that's -- that's the answer, right?

(CROSSTALK)

SELLERS: I cannot I cannot let this go. I cannot let this go on this show in front of millions of Americans who will watch this whether or not it's on Snapchat, TikTok or Twitter. The point still remains when we're talking about the issue of race and gender in this country that everyone is not on equal playing fields. That the fact that, yes, we have a black woman, whether or not she is in academia, whether or not she's in business or in politics.

(CROSSTALK)

SELLERS: The field is not equal. She's actually the best candidate for governor of the- of the state of Georgia or whatever else she wants to do.

(CROSSTALK)

FERGUSON: If she's so good and it's only an issue of what you're saying?

(CROSSTALK)

SELLERS: California. What did I say?

PHILLIP: Georgia.

SELLERS: Okay. Sorry.

PHILLIP: All right, Scott. Hold on, Ben. Scott, go ahead.

JENNINGS: Can I ask you one other sort of forward looking issue? Watching him on The View today and watching some of the interviews he did over --

NAVARRO: Thank you for your viewership.

JENNINGS: Yeah, I saw it. It's rare for me, but I did -- I did watch it.

SELLERS: (UNINT)

JENNINGS: I will just say, watching him over the last few days reminded me that a whole bunch of people were telling us with a straight face that this man was capable of serving another four years as president. And that these appearances, coupled with what I understand is going to be the equivalent of a nuclear bomb dropped on the Democratic Party when Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson's book come out next week, I don't know that the Democrats have fully internalized what's about to happen to them between what he looks like today and what they're about to report. Get ready. Get ready.

PHILLIP: I am not -- I am not sure that Joe Biden, fully realizes even his own deficits in this moment, Ana. I think seriously, he seems to not, to -- I mean, you -- he was asked about it directly and he doesn't seem to get it at all, which is part of the problem.

NAVARRO: Well, look, Abby. I don't know many elected officials, in any party who willingly walk away from their elected office, right? I think it's hard for everybody. Look, I -- I think this was very hard for Joe Biden and I think he took responsibility for that. He did not say what you just said, Scott, that he said --

JENNINGS: What? What?

NAVARRO: You just said that he told --

JENNINGS: What did he not say?

NAVARRO: He -- you said that he told Kamala Harris that she could not have any distance from him.

JENNINGS: False. It's been reported. He told her point blank- he told her point blank, “no daylight.”

NAVARRO: It doesn't matter what he was-

JENNINGS: He told her point blank, “no daylight, kid.” “No daylight.”

NAVARRO: Okay, because reporting can never be wrong?

JENNINGS: Are you attacking the journalism around it? 

NAVARRO: You think reporting can never be wrong? 

JENNINGS: Are you attacking the journalism around it? If you want to be anti-journalism, I’ll be pro-journalism.

NAVARRO: You come in and you come out here and you attack reporting every night.

JENNINGS: I do not.

NAVARRO: We actually asked him the question directly.

JENNINGS: I'm -- I'm -- there's critical reporting about this guy.

NAVARRO: Okay.

JENNINGS: And he told her point blank --

NAVARRO: Well, we asked him --

JENNINGS: -- “no daylight.”

NAVARRO: -- we asked him directly today. Did you tell her that?

PHILLIP: All right, last --

(CROSSTALK)

JENNINGS: You think he's never told a lie?

NAVARRO: I don't think he tells many lies.

FERGUSON: He told a lie about his cognitive decline. I can tell you that much.

NAVARRO: I don't think he tells many lies. I don't think he's --

JENNINGS: LOL

FERGUSON: Come on!

NAVARRO: Wait. Wait. No. You know why you don't get to laugh like that? Because you support a guy who lies every freaking day and lies continuously.

JENNINGS: Because it’s tragic what you just said. Because it’s tragic. It's tragic what you just said. “I don’t think he tells many lies?”

NAVARRO: You support a guy who cannot -- who cannot acknowledge that he lost the 2020 election and that lies about it.

UNKNOWN: Yeah.

(CROSSTALK)

NAVARRO: I have no idea what's in Jake Tapper’s- have you read it? 

(CROSSTALK)

PHILLIP: We got to go guys. Thank you very much.

(CROSSTALK)

FERGUSON: -- a cover-up.

NAVARRO: Have you read it?

(CROSSTALK)

PHILLIP: Guys --

NAVARRO: Have you read it?

PHILLIP: We got to go. Thank you very much.

NAVARRO: Okay.

PHILLIP: We'll be right back.

 

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