Ana Navarro delivered a withering rebuke to a CNN panelist during a heated debate about the newly renamed “Gulf of America.”
The name of the body of water is one of the many contentious issues of the still fledgling MAGA 2.0, with President Donald Trump insisting on its new name and even blocking Associated Press reporters from recent White House events over the news organization’s continuing use of Gulf of Mexico.
On CNN’s NewsNight with Abby Phillip on Wednesday evening, the issue pitted The View’s Ana Navarro against 23-year-old Republican journalist and model Emily Austin. The scrap kicked off when Navarro, 53, said Trump giving the AP the boot was tantamount to “bullying” publications into toeing the party line.
CNN media analyst Brian Stelter pointed out that Navarro seemed to be suggesting that news organizations band together in protest and snub the White House briefings.
“Band together, because, I mean, listen, if the bully manages to bully one, he‘s not going to stop at one,” Navarro said.
Austin then accused of Navarro being “hysterical.”
“I don’t think this is as emotional as you’re making it out to be. You know, take away the hysteria for a moment. First off, Trump doesn’t need...” Austin began, before Navarro cut back in.
“Who’s being hysterical?!” she said, adding: “You obviously don’t know what a hysterical Ana Navarro is like.” The veteran journalist smiled with satisfaction and sipped her drink.
Austin, ignoring the rebuke, said she thinks news organizations should bow to Trump’s executive order, especially if they are based in the U.S.
“But right now they‘re covering U.S. politics. So if he makes an executive order, they should respect that. And if they don‘t, being there is not a right. It‘s a privilege,” she said.
Navarro, clearly buoyed by the success of her earlier quip, then raised her voice over a frenzy of chatter and shouted: “It should be called ‘The Gulf of Whatever the Hell He Wants!’”
Shen then dived back in on Austin’s earlier comment and called it “disrespectful,” saying: “I would really rather you not refer to me as ‘hysterical’ for expressing an opinion. I think that‘s incredibly disrespectful. I don‘t do it to you.”
Earlier in the segment, Stelter had said that after Trump ordered a ban on AP reporters, he still allowed its photographers in. “He wants the pictures, but not the words,” he said.
