Certain CNN panellists seemed to think Scott Jennings was moonlighting as a comedian as he delved into President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet picks.
Trump announced a new slate of nominees this week, adding allies from his former administration and Fox News contributors to his inner circle.
When Jennings, however, suggested that Trump had chosen aides from a vast range of the political spectrum, he was met with poorly-suppressed laughter.
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“I think Trump is not getting enough credit here for building an ideologically diverse cabinet,” Jennings said on State of the Union on Sunday.
The political strategist added: “I mean, you’ve got everybody from Russ Vought, who‘s very conservative, all the way over to the pick for Labor Secretary, is a supporter of the PRO Act.”
At this point, both pro-GOP Shermichael Singleton and former Kamala Harris aide Jamal Simmons couldn’t stop their mouths from twitching.
Jennings continued: “And somehow, Randi Weingarten is happy about it.”
Host Dana Bash was the next to fall, letting out a laugh as Jennings carried on making his point.
Not to be deterred, he said: “I mean, what he has done is - you know, which makes me squeamish, to be candid. And so, what he has done, though, is put together an ideologically diverse group of people to sit in a room and help run the government.
“And that‘s kind of how he won! His coalition was kind of ideologically diverse that elected him.”
Singleton then took over the conversation, and hinted that - whether ideologically diverse or not - Americans had to be ready to accept Trump’s cabinet.
“When you win elections, you have a mandate whether you like it or not. The election is over, you guys,” he said.
“The Heritage Foundation, AEI, the Hoover Institution have always supplied and recommended names for Republican administrations. This is nothing new. It will not be nothing new beyond Donald Trump. It‘s just a lot of democratic hoopla.”
Karen Finney ended the discussion of Trump’s picks on an ominous note, suggesting that in his upcoming term we’d see a different presidency.
“Look, I am for... I want the full Trump. I want it all out there. I want the country to see what Trump is all about. I want them to experience it,” she said.