Scott Jennings is hardly a raging Trump fan. He's a Bushie, having served as a special assistant to W, and is a quintessentially traditional Republican.
But CNN couldn't risk letting Jennings have a level playing field in his discussion of Kenosha and related issues with South Carolina Democrat Bakari Sellers on today's New Day. And so, the show decided to triple-team Jennings. As you'll see from the video, co-host Alisyn Camerota repeatedly interrupted to shush Jennings, echo Sellers' talking points, and challenge Jennings with anti-Trump views of her own.
You'll hear Camerota intervene to bolster the Democrat argument and silence Jennings. Does it sound like the CNN host has picked a side?
CAMEROTA: Yeah. How about that, Scott?
SELLERS: Not turn yourself into a pretzel with talking points.
CAMEROTA: Okay. How about that, Scott, about the president not condemning Kyle Rittenhouse, who's charged with shooting two protesters, and killing them?
Here's some of the back-and-forth interruptions:
SCOTT JENNINGS: I'm left wondering, what am I supposed to believe? On the one hand, he says, do I look like I have a soft spot for radicals? And on the other hand, his running mate, Kamala Harris, has tweeted out links asking people to bail them out of jail, the people who have committed violence. And in fact, several staffers on the Biden campaign have done just that!
ALISYN CAMEROTA: Bakari, you want to weigh in there?
SELLERTS: Yeah, I mean, I don't know. Scott woke up this morning and got coffee and is deciding to spin stuff that doesn't make any sense. Look, there is a clear difference between rioters and --
JENNINGS: What do you mean it doesn't make sense? Did it happen or it didn't. It either happened or it didn't.
SELLERS: But I'm actually explaining it to you. There's a clear difference between peaceful protesters --
JENNINGS: Oh thank you: thank you so much [chuckles.]
CAMEROTA: Hold on, Scott. Hold on.
Co-host John Berman let Camerota carry the load in countering Jennings, but weighed in to end the segment by lecturing: "I don't think Donald Trump cares about the right or wrong here."
CNN's triple-teaming of a Republican was sponsored in part by Liberty Mutual. Contact Liberty Mutual at the Conservatives Fight Back link to let them know what you think about CNN's unbalanced approach.
Here's the transcript.
CNN
New Day
9/1/20
7:02 am EDTBAKARI SELLERS: Yeah. I think that the president had to thread a needle -- excuse me, the vice-president had to thread a needle yesterday, and he executed that perfectly . . . What we see this morning and what we'll see today is basically an arsonist going to his fire.
. . .SCOTT JENNINGS: I'm left wondering, what am I supposed to believe? On the one hand, he says, do I look like I have a soft spot for radicals? And on the other hand, his running mate, Kamala Harris, has tweeted out links asking people to bail them out of jail, the people who have committed violence. And in fact, several staffers on the Biden campaign have done just that!
ALISYN CAMEROTA: Bakari, you want to weigh in there?
SELLERTS: Yeah, I mean, I don't know. Scott woke up this morning and got coffee and is deciding to spin stuff that doesn't make any sense. Look, there is a clear difference between rioters and --
JENNINGS: What do you mean it doesn't make sense? Did it happen or it didn't. It either happened or it didn't.
SELLERS: But I'm actually explaining it to you. There's a clear difference between peaceful protesters --
JENNINGS: Oh thank you: thank you so much [chuckles.]
CAMEROTA: Hold on, Scott. Hold on.
. . .
SELLERS: The person who carries the Republican mantle cannot disavow the actions of Kyle Rittenhouse. He cannot talk about the fact that Jacob Blake should not be paralyzed today. So, let's talk about that. Let's have a real conversation.
CAMEROTA: Yeah. How about that, Scott?
SELLERS: Not turn yourself into a pretzel with talking points.
CAMEROTA: Okay. How about that, Scott, about the president not condemning Kyle Rittenhouse, who's charged with shooting two protesters, and killing them?
. . .
JENNINGS: Bakari, if you are going to talk about the Blake case and you're going to talk about Rittenhouse, and you're going to talk about all of your talking points, the things that you're stuck on a feedback loop on, you have to admit, there are nuances to these cases that you're not willing to talk about . . The police were called to protect a female sexual assault victim from Blake in the first place. No one wants to talk about it, but it actually happened. There's a lot more nuances to tragedy --
CAMEROTA: Well, I mean --
JENNINGS: There's much more nuances to this than you're allowing for.
SELLERS: Alisyn, if I may. Let me be clear, because a lot of times you want to muddy the waters and you want to sully a victim. And I will not allow that this morning. What I will say, though --
JENNINGS: And I'm not going to allow you to sully the sexual assault victim. She deserves information, too. She deserves a voice, too!
SELLERS: You know, the most amazing part about this conversation is she deserves a voice. Whatever, whatever detail you're talking about. But the simple fact is, the simple fact is this, [Jennings chuckles] that Jacob Blake did not deserve to have lethal force -- and you can laugh at it if you want to. I'm sick and tired of people coming in and spinning that -- You've asked for Joe Biden to condemn it. He has.
CAMEROTA: Yeah.
SELLERS: There is a clear difference between violence and protesters, and we've condemned it, and the president keeps throwing gasoline on the fire.
CAMEROTA: I mean, Scott, I hear you. I hear what you're saying. I know you want to say that Jacob Blake wasn't a perfect person. I don't think that anybody's depicted him as that. But, but a warrant, even for a sexual assault case, is not a death penalty case.
. . .
JENNINGS: I also don't like that we're glossing over the fact that the police were called there to protect a woman who had a sexual assault case to catch Jacob Blake. This wasn't random. They weren't just driving by.
CAMEROTA: Yes, of course. I don't think anybody is glossing over that, but it doesn't have to end with seven shots in the back, after three minutes.
. . .JOHN BERMAN: And I will say this in closing, that I don't think Donald Trump cares about the right or wrong here. He doesn't care which one of you got more points in this discussion. All he cares about is that the discussion is happening. He wins by pulling the focus to this and not coronavirus. And to an extent, you can see the success that he has had.
