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Scott Jennings Has Zero Patience for the Pass That Late-Night Hosts Gave Biden

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  November 12, 2024 5:00 PM

Scott Jennings has done a fitting job of putting his fellow panelists on CNN in their place when the need arises, and he's even offered them some post-election analysis as to why Democrats lost so terribly last week. During Monday night's episode of "CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip," Jennings wasn't holding back from letting late-night show hosts have it.

With the exception of how Bill Maher "gets it," Jennings pointed out how "these people have become pathetic" and have "stopped being comedians and they started be becoming political activists." He had particularly harsh words for Jimmy Kimmel, who cried during his show last week, and doubled down on those pathetic reactions on subsequent shows that week as well. The week before that, Kimmel also notably called for Trump supporters to vote late, a move which has landed people in jail before. 

After making clear how "pathetic" Kimmel was for "literally crying," Jennings pointed out that "and so, my question is, if you're going to have a late-night comedy show, at some point people might expect it to be funny and not just a constant political screed against one party." Jennings also shared his concern as to if such a tactic will even survive for much longer. "And you know, I don't know that this activism for four more years is sustainable. If you're going to market something as comedy but the actual product is nothing more than sort of low brow political activism," he continued.

Touré, who had already been reacting to Jennings' points through his facial expressions, argued that those late-night comedians "represent the way a lot of people feel," as he further encouraged the fearmongering. "So it will actually be interesting if the Trump folks could actually make us feel like we're not going to take away your rights and that doesn't make sense," he pointed out, despite how the Trump team has done that, especially with abortion bans and Project 2025. "You think it doesn't make sense. A lot of people think that actually makes sense. That is the way a lot of people see it," Touré continued.

Phillip also jumped in to argue that "that is their audience" when it comes to these late-night hosts, prompting Jennings to ask, "is that their mission to be activists and not comedians?" Touré again defended such tactics, arguing, "generally, a serious, a real comedian will have a serious moment in an hour-long set where I'm talking to you as a human-human and then come in with a joke" and that "comedians are absolutely have the right to say serious real things about the world."

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Jennings and Touré really got into it when the former pointed out that "during the Biden years, there was nobody that provided more comedy fodder possible than Joe Biden," as the latter interrupted to claim "he was made fun of."

The conversation got further heated as Jennings and Touré debated as to if Biden was "made fun of," which the latter claimed he was, though Jennings reminded "he was absolutely not, he was left alone" and that also Vice President Kamala Harris "was left alone."

"They got nothing. They didn't get 10 percent of what they deserved. Unbelievable," Jennings argued, prompting Touré to claim about Biden that "he's too old" and "he doesn't understand," which has been another concerning attribute about the sitting president. "I mean, come on," Jennings scoffed.

"Saturday Night Live" on NBC didn't even really start makin fun of Biden with Dana Carvey until recent weeks, as Jennings also pointed out. 

It's also worth reminding that not only was Biden not made fun of, but the Biden-Harris White House bent over backwards to defend Biden and even gaslight about the moments he was him, with White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and Democrats' allies in the mainstream media claiming that video footage of Biden's concerning moments were "cheap fakes."

The segment also discussed the failures of late-night shows, with Josh Barro offering that "I think people are a little bit bored of Donald Trump in both directions," which includes a lower "level of sustained interest" of what Trump is up to. "And I think it's not just a problem for news. I think it is a problem for the late-night shows. You know, if the late-night shows were broadly of interest to people who can't stand Donald Trump, their ratings would be a lot higher than they are right now," he continued, also mentioning that "people are exhausted."

The conversation devolved further thanks to leftist guests, though, as former Democratic Rep. Mondaire Jones claimed that Trump has said "he wants to terminate the Constitution and be a dictator on day one" and has "tried to overturn the last presidential election," repeating lines Harris tried to use throughout her campaign. Jennings shut down such points from Jones as well. 

Although Phillip ended the segment before they could discuss what late-night programs are doing well, Jennings was able to hint that it's those on the right, in response to Phillip saying she'd "be curious" about a "right-wing comic." 

As it turns out, Fox News' "Gutfeld!" has bested all other late-night programs, and has been doing so for some time now.