Chris Cuomo blasted CNN's Scott Jennings on Wednesday, telling him that if he continued to use the term "illegals" to describe illegal immigrants, "somebody might beat [his] a**."
"You see this clip of Scott Jennings saying, 'How are you going to enforce it? How are you going to enforce me not saying the word illegals anymore? How are you going to do that?' Cuomo said in a mocking tone, before rolling the clip.
“What are you, a bully now? What are you, a tough guy?” Cuomo said. “Because you’re talking to this kid, who happens to be right, calling people ‘illegals.’ A long time ago, Republicans and Democrats switched to ‘undocumented.’ Why? Because it seemed inhuman. That’s why. They changed the vernacular, and you know it!"
"But that's not the point. The point is, how you gonna do it? What you gonna do?" he said, mocking Jennings again. “What are you, you’re a tough guy now? I thought you were supposed to be the simpering-but-open-to-conversation Trump defender. Of course I remember you, when yous aid he was like the worst thing in the world. But everything is convenience these days, right? It's getting you paid."
“But be careful. You wanna be a tough guy, there are plenty of tough guys out there,” Cuomo said. “You wanna see how somebody can make you stop saying ‘illegal’? And then what are you gonna do, sue, tough guy?”
”So if somebody beats your a** because you’re being rude and disrespectful and causing division in this country that’s causing distress and pain all over the streets and making people wanna hurt one another. If you really wanna be a part of that, as the expression goes, FAFO."
“Don’t be a tough guy.”
Be better!! #ice #raids #news #breaking #better pic.twitter.com/4bQi3rS70W
— Christopher C. Cuomo (@ChrisCuomo) January 21, 2026
The exchange followed a heated argument on CNN Monday, where Jennings clashed with gun-control activist Cameron Kasky after Kasky attempted to lecture him on the use of the term “illegals.” The confrontation quickly unraveled for Kasky.