CNN liberals Kate Bedingfield and Ashley Allison, both former Biden campaign officials from 2020, were left stammering and bewildered during Sunday’s State of the Union (the CNN show with host Jake Tapper) when Republican commentator Scott Jennings and former Senator Scott Brown (R-MA) ran circles around them and schooled them on President Biden’s border disaster.
Things got interesting after Allison bloviated about how “Democrats get up and try and show a story of how we can move this country forward” while Republicans were being “disingenuous.”
“Well, I'm surprised to hear you say that it's wrong to mislead the American people and not have much to say about Joe Biden's State of the Union,” Jennings shot back, noting that Biden was more apologetic about calling the man who killed Georgia college student Laken Riley an “illegal” than he was about calling her “Lincoln’:
I'm not as worried about SNL as I am worried about what Biden told NBC when he apologized for calling the murderer of Laken Riley “illegal.” He had it right in the speech, and then he got bullied by his left flank into changing it: ‘Well, it's undocumented.’ And then, even more outrageous, he said: I'm not going to insult people like that, because they built the country.
This TRIGGERED Bedingfield, who immediately started shouting at Jennings about how “He did not apologize!” Jennings embarrassed her by pointing out that the killer was “very documented” as a dangerous criminal (Click “expand”):
BEDINGFIELD: I mean, that is just -- that is ludicrous framing! He did not apologize.
JENNINGS: Why did he change it?
BEDINGFIELD: He did not apologize to the...
JENNINGS: Why does he insist on speaking...
BEDINGFIELD: Because, for a...
JENNINGS: He -- the White House is putting out -- the White House is putting out press releases calling illegal aliens “newcomers.” Now he's saying, ‘Well, I shouldn't have said ‘illegal.’ It's -- he's really documented.’” And you know why? Because he is documented to have murdered someone, to have broken our laws, to have been in this country -- he's very documented.
Bedingfield began to lecture Jennings about how “language matters” and how “our economy is humming, which it is, by the way, is because...” Jennings expertly referenced Biden’s own words on illegal immigrant criminals by interjecting to add: “Because of murderers coming across the border?”
The two liberals were less than amused with being upstaged (Click “expand”):
ALLISON: No, Scott!
BEDINGFIELD: And he wasn't -- but, Scott, this is disingenuous, okay? This is disingenuous!
ALLISON: Yes.
JENNINGS: I'm sorry...
BEDINGFIELD: And you know it. He was not apologizing to the murderer.
JENNINGS: Okay.
BEDINGFIELD: He stood up at the State of the Union and said, this is horrible, it is horrific what happened. And he, frankly, bested Marjorie Taylor Greene...
JENNINGS: Then he walked it back.
After Tapper stepped in to give Brown some air to speak, the former Senator noted that while Biden was “talking about Snickers bars and Doritos. He should have been talking about the number one issue, which is immigration, number two issue, which is the economy. And those things are not being addressed.”
The liberals fell back to the already played-out talking point that Republicans walked away from a border deal (of course, there was no explanation about why it took until an election year for Democrats to attempt anything with the border). And as Allison was pontificating about how illegal immigrants were coming here “fleeing persecution,” Brown interrupted to demand they “follow the laws” and come in legally.
It was Allison’s turn to be TRIGGERED, as she started ridiculously shouting at Brown about how there were supposedly no immigration laws in place and that Republicans needed to pass some. Brown pointed out the truth that there were laws already on the books that could be utilized (Click “expand”):
BROWN: Listen, then follow the laws. Follow the laws. Put the laws that are in place.
ALLISON: But you have to have the actual...But you have to pass laws! You have to pass laws to follow them!
BROWN: Listen, no, you don't need to pass the laws. You have plenty of laws in place right now.
ALLISON: No!
BROWN: Just do it legally. Listen, I was there. I was there. And I worked on this issue.
ALLISON: Well, then why don't the Republicans pass the law?
BROWN: And it's not working under this administration. And it's the number one issue. And he's completely ignoring it.
“We, under President Trump, we had an enormous amount of people coming here through the legal process. You're talking about a president right now who has not done his job when it comes to illegal immigration,” Brown pointed out.
Before shifting the topic, Tapper said that he loved “the passion at the table today.” “It’s early,” Brown quipped. “Especially with daily savings,” Tapper added.
The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:
CNN’s State of the Union
March 10, 2024
9:43:35 a.m. Eastern(…)
ASHLEY ALLISON: And I think it was a tell that this is what the election cycle is going to be, that Democrats get up and try and show a story of how we can move this country forward, and you have people who show up after who give a response, whether it be Katie Britt or Donald Trump, that is not filled with truths and is disingenuous.
SCOTT JENNINGS: Well, I'm surprised to hear you say that it's wrong to mislead the American people and not have much to say about Joe Biden's State of the Union. I mean, people are more worried about Katie Britt's thing than some of the things Joe Biden said, including yesterday on NBC. I'm not as worried about SNL as I am worried about what Biden told NBC...
TAPPER: What did he say?
JENNINGS: ... when he apologized for calling the murderer of Laken Riley “illegal.” He had it right in the speech, and then he got bullied by his left flank into changing it: ‘Well, it's undocumented.’ And then, even more outrageous, he said: I'm not going to insult people like that, because they built the country.
TAPPER: Let's put up -- I will come to you in a second. Let's put up the video, so people know what Scott's talking about. Oh, we don't have the video. OK, I'm sorry. But, yes, he did say -- he did correct himself to say...
KATE BEDINGFIELD: He did not apologize! I mean, that is just -- that is ludicrous framing! He did not apologize.
JENNINGS: Why did he change it?
BEDINGFIELD: He did not apologize to the...
JENNINGS: Why does he insist on speaking...
BEDINGFIELD: Because, for a...
JENNINGS: He -- the White House is putting out -- the White House is putting out press releases calling illegal aliens “newcomers.” Now he's saying, ‘Well, I shouldn't have said ‘illegal.’ It's -- he's really documented.’” And you know why? Because he is documented to have murdered someone, to have broken our laws, to have been in this country -- he's very documented.
BEDINGFIELD: Because language matters. Language is important.
JENNINGS: Yes.
BEDINGFIELD: And Joe Biden is trying to build a coalition of people to get elected president -- reelected president of the United States. He is trying to bring in a community of people who care about that kind of language.
And, in Donald Trump, you have somebody who uses language to divide, to sow hate, to make people feel unwelcome. Yes, this -- our country is a melting pot. And a big piece of why our economy is humming, which it is, by the way, is because...
[Crosstalk]
JENNINGS: Because of murderers coming across the border?
ALLISON: No, Scott.
BEDINGFIELD: And he wasn't -- but, Scott, this is disingenuous, okay? This is disingenuous.
ALLISON: Yes.
JENNINGS: I'm sorry...
BEDINGFIELD: And you know it. He was not apologizing to the murderer.
JENNINGS: Okay.
BEDINGFIELD: He stood up at the State of the Union and said, this is horrible, it is horrific what happened. And he, frankly, bested Marjorie Taylor Greene...
JENNINGS: Then he walked it back.
BEDINGFIELD: ... in a very childish effort to try to get -- to try to trap Biden on the issue. That’s just disingenuous.
TAPPER: Ambassador Scott Brown, former Senator Scott Brown, what did you make of the State of the Union address? What did you make of the response?
FMR. SEN. SCOTT BROWN (R-MA): Well, first of all, he needed to do well. People were looking at two things, number one, to see if he could get through the speech and doing it without making any mistakes, and I thought he did that.
But they were also looking for some very big answers on the issues that matter. Immigration, as you can see, what's happening right here, it's a volatile issue. And the president had an opportunity to keep in place President Trump's policies, and he chose not to. And now he's blaming the Senate and Congress about a bill.
Listen, it's all rhetoric. He has the -- as Obama had done, had a phone and a pen to actually resolve these issues immediately, and he should have done it before. By the time his administration's over, we have 10 million now. We could have 15 to 20 people here illegally. They are illegals. And it's -- just walk through D.C. Go to any city and see what's happening where minorities in Boston, in Roxbury, are being displaced from people who are here illegally. And it's wrong.
And I thought the speech, quite frankly, he's talking about Snickers bars and Doritos. He should have been talking about the number one issue, which is immigration, number two issue, which is the economy. And those things are not being addressed.
BEDINGFIELD: Well – Well, they – they were. I mean, I guess two things I would say to that. First is, if the issue is so significant and important, why is it Republicans who walked away from an incredibly effective bill?
BROWN: Listen, a bill -- you know as well as I do, being up there, that a bill is -- it's rhetoric. He should have done something for the last three years, and he hasn't done anything on it. And he won't use his pen, like President Obama did.
ALLISON: Wait a minute. That's not true, though.
JENNINGS: But wait. He did. He did use his pen to cancel Trump's work.
ALLISON: No, no, no, no, no. The first bill that the Biden administration -- one of the first bills the Biden administration presented was a bill on immigration. He...
[Crosstalk]
ALLISON: Let me just finish this for a second.
He changed the Trump policy because this country, perhaps with the exception of me, was made off of immigrants that got to selectively choose to come to this country and build it. I'm sure most of you have an immigrant story in your family. And that is what these individuals are doing. They are coming to this country fleeing persecution, seeking safety –
BROWN: Listen, then follow the laws. Follow the laws. Put the laws that are in place.
ALLISON: But you have to have the actual...But you have to pass laws! You have to pass laws to follow them!
BROWN: Listen, no, you don't need to pass the laws. You have plenty of laws in place right now.
ALLISON: No!
BROWN: Just do it legally. Listen, I was there. I was there. And I worked on this issue.
ALLISON: Well, then why don't the Republicans pass the law?
BROWN: And it's not working under this administration. And it's the number one issue. And he's completely ignoring it.
[Crosstalk]
BEDINGFIELD: Can I say one substantive thing?
TAPPER: Yeah, Kate.
BEDINGFIELD: Can I just say one substantive thing, which is that there are limits to what a president can do via executive order.
BROWN: President Obama did it. President Trump did it.
JENNINGS: There weren't any limits on day one.
BEDINGFEILD: And – and – and --
JENNINGS: Where were the limits on day one?
BEDINGFIELD: And President Trump's executive orders were overturned by the courts. And that is the same concern that the Biden administration has. The Biden administration has tried to pursue bipartisan, effective immigration laws that would actually withstand court scrutiny. And the fact...
[Crosstalk]
ALLISON: Why did they walk away from that bill?
BEDINGFIELD: ... to have walked away from that.
ALLISON: Because your party is being led by Donald Trump, who talks about people who are coming seeking persecution -- from seeking persecution in their country, he calls them poisoning the blood. He calls them vermin. He creates hate and chaos.
There was a bill on the floor that could have been passed. And your party said no. And why is that? Because you don't want to have the melting pot of America? These...
BROWN: Listen, that's false rhetoric.
BEDINGFIELD: Because you want to have the issue to campaign on.
ALLISON: A senator just said it.
BROWN: We are an amazingly inclusive country.
BEDINGFIELD: Donald Trump also said it.
BROWN: We, under President Trump, we had an enormous amount of people coming here through the legal process. You're talking about a president right now who has not done his job when it comes to illegal immigration. It's not me talking. You look at every border state throughout the country. Every state is being dramatically affected by his terrible policies affecting our economy, our kids. You name it, it's upside down. Just walk through D.C. You can't even do it anymore.
BEDINGFIELD: Senator Lankford, the lead Republican...
BROWN: Yeah, listen, I love the guy. He's great, but I disagree with him. I disagree with him.
BEDINGFIELD: ... just said on this show that Republicans walked away because they wanted the issue for the campaign.
BROWN: I disagree with him.
BEDINGFIELD: That's just a fact.
JENNINGS: Kate. Kate. Do you think everything Joe Biden has done on immigration to this point has him in good stead with the American people or not?
BEDINGFIELD: I think that he is an incredibly aggressive position moving into the rest of this campaign, because Republicans have thrown up their hands and said, we don't want solutions -
ALLISON: That's right.
BEDINGFIELD: - we want politics. The American people don’t want that.
BROWN: We just want him to secure the border.
TAPPER: So, one quick thing I want to bring up -- and I love this -- the passion at the table today.
[Laughter]
TAPPER: No, I do.
BROWN: It's early.
TAPPER: But there is one -- especially with daily savings.
ALLISON: Right?
[Laughter]
(…)
