Conservative commentator Scott Jennings faced sharp criticism for his arguments during a heated CNN panel discussion about the role of political rhetoric in the assassination attempts on Donald Trump.
Jennings, a CNN contributor, has been arguing that intense rhetoric from Democrats, not those on both sides of the political divide, is to blame for the attempts on Trump’s life. He has slammed Democrats for portraying the former president as a threat to democracy. (Trump tried to overturn the 2020 election and has laid groundwork to also claim this year’s vote is rigged if he loses.)
On Monday, Jennings argued that messaging underpins Vice President Kamala Harris’ entire campaign.
“I mean, she repeats it herself. ‘Trump will be a dictator on Day 1,’” said Jennings, a former adviser to President George W. Bush. “I mean, this country fights dictators!”
“Didn’t he say that, though?” interrupted a fellow panelist, historian Tim Naftali.
“Those were his words!” noted Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen.
Jennings went on to suggest that Harris had said things like “he’ll be a dictator” and “there’ll be a bloodbath.”
Trump said in December that he planned to act like a dictator on “Day 1” of a potential second administration. Harris has told people about that claim during public appearances.
The Republican nominee also claimed in March, while discussing the auto industry, that “there’s going to be a bloodbath” if he’s not elected. His campaign later specified that he meant an “economic bloodbath.”
Harris said during last week’s debate that Trump promised “there will be a bloodbath” if he lost.
CNN host Abby Phillip fact-checked Jennings on air. She noted that Harris had “improperly and unfairly mischaracterized [Trump as] saying there would be a bloodbath if he were [not] elected.”
“However, she did not say that if Trump were elected, there would be a bloodbath,” she clarified.
After a suspected gunman was apprehended on Trump’s golf course in Florida on Sunday, the Republican blamed Harris and President Joe Biden, claiming “their rhetoric is causing me to be shot at.”
Jennings’ comment earned furious backlash on social media, where a clip of the exchange was viewed more than 1 million times.
Many respondents noted that Trump had in fact said that he wanted to be a dictator on Day 1. Others pointed to his constant stream of incendiary and dishonest rhetoric, and other examples of his authoritarian aspirations, and sarcastically wondered if it’s divisive of Harris to warn Americans about it.
“In essence, we shouldn’t repeat what Trump says and call Trump out on it because it’s so incendiary to do so. Got it,” said George Conway, a conservative attorney and outspoken Trump critic.
See some of the other critiques below.