CNN Panel Devolves Into Chaos After Scott Jennings’ Outburst
Conservative panelist Scott Jennings prompted a discussion so heated on “CNN NewsNight” Wednesday that another panelist felt obliged to tell him his comments were offensive.
The topic at hand was the SAVE America Act, a new bill introduced by Republicans that would require voters to prove their U.S. citizenship when registering to vote and to show photo identification at the polls on Election Day. Its critics have argued that such ID requirements would be too burdensome, especially for women, Black Americans and people living in rural areas.
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One panelist, Democratic campaign adviser Alencia Johnson, said the GOP bill will make it “harder for people to vote in this country, and it’s going to disenfranchise Black voters.”
But Jennings, who recited polling that suggests most Americans support showing an ID to vote, claimed Johnson’s argument meant she was calling her fellow citizens “stupid.”
“Are you saying that Black voters are too dumb to know what’s good for them? I mean, it sounds pretty condescending,” Jennings said, causing the rest of the panelists to talk over each other.
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Host Abby Phillip repeatedly tried to point out that the SAVE America Act isn’t just about IDs, but “proof of citizenship,” and noted that the proposed bill could disenfranchise red-state voters, too ― only to be cut off by Jennings.
“You think they’re dumb, too. Don’t you?” he sneered, complaining that he’d heard the disenfranchisement argument “all week long.”
After more cross-talk, Phillip again argued that politicians should think about their constituents, only for Jennings to snap, “I think they’re smart enough to figure out how to register to vote, Abby.”
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Phillip then tried to lay out the facts. “Most Americans don’t have a passport. Many Americans don’t have access to their birth certificate,” she explained. “Many women, a majority of women who change their names for marriage, have to provide additional proof that they’ve changed their names in order to register to vote.”
Jennings continued to ignore the substance of Phillip’s argument and to accuse her and the other panelists of thinking voters are too dumb to figure out how to vote. Eventually, it prompted panelist Charles Blow to blurt out, “That is so offensive!”
You can watch part of the exchange below.
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