A CNN panel got extremely heated on Wednesday night as Republican strategist Scott Jennings was asked if he believed Donald Trump’s debate comments about Haitians eating pets were rooted in racism.
Jennings, a contributor to the network and former special assistant to George W. Bush, was pressed about the issue on NewsNight With Abby Phillip after the former president and other GOP figures boosted the claim about cats, dogs, and geese being consumed in Springfield, Ohio. Local authorities say there’s no evidence to support the outlandish rumors.
“I do think it’s a legitimate conversation to have about the societal public safety health impacts any time cities or communities get drastically changed because of our immigration system,” Jennings said. “Whether that’s in Springfield, whether that’s on the border with Mexico, whether that’s New York City, which has had issues. So I don’t think that’s an illegitimate conversation to have.”
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The “real question,” Jennings went on to say, is whether those conversations are had “flippantly” or “seriously.”
Ana Navarro chimed in to point out that Trump wasn’t being “sarcastic” or “hyperbolic” when he spoke about Springfield in the debate. “He was amplifying a conspiracy theory that I think you would agree puts a target on the backs of Haitian immigrants and that it is based on racism,” she said. “Would you agree on that?”
Jennings didn’t say anything in response, instead looking down at the table. The awkward silence was punctured only by panelist Nina Turner adding: “Anti-Black racism, to be more pointed.”
“Do you think that if there were 20,000 Scandinavians that had been sent to Springfield, they—your people would be saying that they’re eating cats and dogs and geese?” Navarro continued.
Raising both his hands, Jennings said: “Look, I’m not gonna answer for him, for his memes, or anything else.”
“But I’m asking you,” Navarro pressed, “Do you think that conspiracy is based on racism? I mean, it’s an easy answer—yes or no?”
“I’m not going to answer,” Jennings said. “I don’t know. I don’t know!”
“That was a long pause, Scott,” host Abby Phillip pointed out.
“Because I don’t know the answer,” a flustered Jennings replied. “And I’m not going to sit here and answer for somebody. I don’t talk to Donald Trump about what the motivations are, and I don’t answer to you either!”
He then dodged a question from Phillip asking what his own answer was to Navarro’s question.
“The bottom line is immigration is a top-two issue in this election,” Jennings said. “It must be discussed, and we’re either going to go down a rabbit hole here which is not the real issue, or we’re going to talk about the real issues, in which communities, cities, whatever, are dealing with real societal and policy impacts.”
Navarro was unimpressed.
“The reason we are going down the rabbit hole is because the man you support is making us go down that rabbit hole,” she said. “The reason we’re not talking about the legitimate issues you have brought up is because he is claiming with no facts that Haitian migrants are eating pets! And that is a dangerous conspiracy theory to be spreading to America.”
