What To Know
- Scott Jennings got heated while discussing Donald Trump’s allies-turned-critics during a CNN broadcast.
- He debated with John King about whether these public figures actually have influence over Trump voters.
Scott Jennings got into an explosive debate with John King over Donald Trump during an April 8 CNN broadcast. King brought up how several former Trump allies are now speaking out against him amid the war in Iran.
“You may not agree with all those voices, but there are a lot of Trump voters out of America who listen to them,” King told Jennings. “Maybe not all of them, but some listen to Tucker [Carlson], some listen to Megyn [Kelly], some listen to Joe Rogan, some still listen to Alex Jones. This is going to hurt [Trump].”
Jennings, CNN’s conservative political commentator disagreed. “We’re treating Alex Jones like a credible voice here? We’re treating Tucker Carlson like a credible voice here?” he wondered.
When King pointed out that “people across the country” who are Trump voters “do” consider these commentators to be credible, Jennings responded, “OK, let’s just say you’re right and some people listen to them. Who do you think they listen to more? Those people, or President Donald Trump? I know what the polling says and what my instincts tell me is that Donald Trump runs the party, he runs the country. Not the podcasters. They’re welcome to have opinions and I don’t begrudge anyone for having an opinion, and their opinion might be different than Donald Trump, but I know who has more influence over the Republican party and the conservative movement. And there’s no doubt about it and there really has been no doubt about it for the last 10 years. Their opinions are fine, but the person in charge right now, was in charge, is in charge, and will be in charge until he leaves office.”
Jennings also insisted that many Trump supporters have said the president in charge right now is exactly who they voted for. “They voted for a commander-in-chief to restore American strength on the world stage,” he continued. “They voted for a commander-in-chief to keep Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. They voted for a commander-in-chief who would do what the seven previous presidents would not do, and that’s deal with these people with a firm hand. I hear things, too.”
King brought up how former Trump supporters, such as Marjorie Taylor Greene and Candace Owens, have spoken out in favor of Trump’s removal via the 25th amendment. Jennings replied, “You think there’s a single average Republican voter out there, if you went out and knocked on their door tonight, and said, ‘Yes or no, should we let podcasters remove Donald Trump by the 25th amendment?’ You’d be thrown off of every porch in America!”
This led to some raised voices and back and forth at the table. King agreed that “the overwhelming majority of Trump voters will listen to Trump,” but noted, “Trump has benefited enormously from having an echo chamber, having allies that include all of those people. Part of his success has been because of that. They’ve brought in people who didn’t vote before. They’ve helped him. You’re shaking your head, but you’re one of them. You have a podcast now. It helps if people are echoing the president and saying he’s right.”
Jennings fired back, “I don’t deny the usefulness of having surrogates and allies, but I think you’re oversubscribing their importance and undersubscribing the importance of Trump himself. And frankly, I think the only reason we’re playing them on our air right now is because they’re useful to a narrative. We don’t consider these people to be credible any other time, until they’re attacking Donald Trump.”
That prompted King to furiously shake his head and make sure to clarify, “I’m being very careful about it because I don’t view Alex Jones as credible. I don’t view Tucker Carlson as credible. However, I do travel the country and talk to a lot of Trump voters who listen to these people. And I respect them and their choices and they do listen to them.”
