Conservative CNN analyst Scott Jennings was strangely silent and had his words come back to bite him in a clash on “CNN NewNight with Abby Phillip” Monday night during a panel discussion over President Donald Trump’s order sending the National Guard into the nation’s Capital to crack down on crime.
Trump made the announcement Monday that he was deploying the National Guard to Washington, D.C., and that the federal government would also seize control of the Washington Metropolitan Police Department.
“We’re taking our capital back,” Trump said Monday as he announced the takeover. “We’re taking it back.”
“I’m announcing a historic action to rescue our nation’s capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam and squalor and worse,” Trump said. “This is Liberation Day in D.C., and we’re going to take our capital back.”
Crime is actually down in Washington, according to the latest statistics.
Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser called the moves “unsettling and unprecedented,” according to USA Today.
Tempers flared on CNN NewsNight during a discussion of Trump’s orders, which critics contend are an effort to distract from the ongoing Jeffrey Epstein scandal engulfing Trump and his administration.
Seneca Project co-founder and never-Trumper Tara Setmayer engaged in a heated conversation over Trump’s alleged plans to take over police departments in major U.S. cities.
Setmayer comes from a police family. She challenged the idea that Trump “backs the blue” with his order to seize control of D.C. policing and, oddly, even got a little help from right-wing pundit Jennings.
“It really is something that I just cannot tolerate when Trump supporters are trying to sit here and act as though Donald Trump supports and backs the blue. No, he doesn’t,” Setmayer said.
Setmayer pointed to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol, where Trump supporters injured officers and tried to prevent former President Joe Biden from assuming office. She also criticized how, on Trump’s first day in office in his second term, he pardoned every single rioter convicted of crimes, including those convicted of assaulting police officers.
“You look at what Donald Trump did and what MAGA has done to the police officers who defended our Capitol on January 6th. You want to talk about spitting in the face? Donald Trump spit in the face of every single one of those officers who took that oath to protect and serve on January 6th when he pardoned those insurrectionist bastards and who wanted to take down our Capitol and stop the free and fair, peaceful transfer of power,” Setmayer pointed out.
Setmayer turned to Jennings.
“How dare people sit here and say that he backs the blue? He abdicated that, because, you know what? He did not protect or defend the Constitution and he violated his oath of office,” she pointed out.
“You know, who said that? You did after January 6th. And that’s exactly what he continues to do right now with the way he is throwing around our military, our police, talking about moving us to other states. This is something people should be very concerned about,” she added.
Setmayer likely was referring to Jennings’ CNN interview as the insurrection was underway, when he suggested Trump was a threat and might need to leave office immediately.
Jennings did not respond until host Abby Phillip asked him to comment on Setmayer’s remarks because Trump said sending the National Guard into Washington was about “respect” for police. Phillip said it makes it hard to say seizing control of Washington’s police department is about “respect” for the police when Trump didn’t care about officers on January 6.
“Well, look. What happened to the cops that day was a disgrace. They didn’t deserve to be treated that way. They were defending the Capitol,” Jennings said.
“I think what the President is responding to today is, what can I do today? D.C. is the only city I really have control of, so I’m going to try to give them some support. He’s getting a note of confidence from the D.C. police union. I suspect if they did things in other cities, other police unions in those cities would also offer some support,” Jennings added.
Setmayer shot back: “If he controls D.C., why didn’t he do it on January 6th?”
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