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Scott Jennings Calls Out CNN Panel Desperately Trying to Explain Away Biden's 'Garbage' Remarks

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  October 30, 2024 1:45 PM

As Townhall has been covering, President Joe Biden referred to Trump supporters as "garbage" on Tuesday, which the White House and Democratic allies in the mainstream media have been desperately trying to cover up. That attempt was on full display during a CNN panel discussion that same night, though conservative contributor Scott Jennings shut that down, as he also asked the key questions as to why the president is even on the campaign trail at all. 

Host Abby Phillip noted how Biden was "trying to clarify all of this," via a late night post shared to his X account on Tuesday. Franklin Leonard of the Black List referred to Biden's remarks as "a nothing burger," with Bakari Sellers, another CNN commentator, noting that "I couldn't agree more." 

As Phillip and the panel tried to discuss the value of Biden on the campaign trail for Vice President Kamala Harris, whose "garbage" remarks overshadowed her speech, Leonard further sought to downplay concerns over the president's remarks. "Joe Biden has never been a big arena speaker. He's never been the most fluid speaker. And, by the way, as someone who had a stutter growing up, it's very obvious to me that there's an apostrophe at the end of supporters there. He was referring to the garbage spewed by supporters, not simply the supporters themselves," he offered.

Phillip, in response to Leonard pointing out the different uses for Biden and the Obamas on the campaign trail, offered that "you could make the argument that they would be fine if Joe Biden wasn't anywhere near a microphone between now and next Tuesday."

That's when Jennings came into the discussion to call out the "disdain" that Biden and other Democrats have for half of the country. 

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"Let me just accept the most charitable framing of this, which you just gave," Jennings said, speaking about Leonard's point. "Why is he sitting in front of a laptop at the exact same moment Kamala Harris is out on his backyard trying to give the closing argument to her campaign? What in the world is he doing?" 

Not only was Leonard's framing a "charitable" one, but it's one that Jennings wasn't buying. "Now, I don't accept your framing of it personally, because I actually do believe he, Harris, the Democratic Party, and most of their campaign do believe that half the country is garbage. They've also said people who go to Trump rallies are Nazis. And so it's pretty apparent the disdain with which they hold half of the country in."

The camera showed to a horrified look from Leonard taking great umbrage with such a point as Phillip and the rest of the panelists clamored to speak over each other to try. They can't argue with Jennings' point in good faith, though, as Harris and her running mate, Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN), have doubled down on referring to Trump supporters as Nazis for daring to attend a rally at Madison Square Garden on Sunday.

"No, but you don't just get to say that," whined Leigh McGowan, the host of "PoliticsGirl," as if she were the one in control of what the other panelists were able to say. 

"But as a tactical matter today," Jennings asked when he was finally able to get a word in edgewise to finish his point, "why in the world Is Joe Biden giving remarks at the same time?"

While the panelists still tried to clamor over each other, Leonard did concede "I'll give you that" in response to Jennings' point about Biden out on the campaign trail to make a mess of the situation for Harris one week from Election Day.

Such a frantic response from Phillip and the other panelists is hardly surprising. CNN hosts and leftist panelists have truly shown how hypersensitive they are after Ryan Girdusky was removed from a panel on Monday night after he quipped to fellow panelist Mehdi Hasan, "I hope your beeper doesn't go off," for which he apologized. Hassan had been painting Girdusky and other Trump supporters as Nazis, but was not reprimanded in any way for his inflammatory remarks. 

In fact, host Abby Phillip has bent over backwards to make clear she hopes Hassan returns on the show.