CNN panel erupts after commentator calls Biden angry, ornery: 'Give me a break!'
A clash broke out on CNN on Monday after political commentator Scott Jennings disputed the idea that Democrats were the uplifting party, calling President Biden "one of the angriest, orneriest presidents we've ever [had]."
During their live coverage at the Democratic National Convention on Monday, CNN played a clip of Harris on Sunday appearing to call her 2024 opponent a "coward." Harris contrasted her leadership style with former President Trump's, saying that the strength of a leader shouldn't be "based on who you beat down" but on "who you lift up."
Her comments came one day after Trump took his own swing at the VP, claiming she had gone "full communist" with her proposed "socialist price controls" plan to control the price of food and groceries.
"Trump is handing her this contrast on a silver platter, it seems," CNN host Abby Phillip reacted to the clip on Monday.
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Conservative commentator Scott Jennings pushed back on the idea that Democrats weren't just as guilty of using inflammatory rhetoric.
"Are you saying that there are people the Democratic Party doesn‘t beat down?" he asked in disbelief. "I mean, Joe Biden’s been one of the orneriest presidents we ever had. I mean, this is not an uplifting guy."
Former Biden White House communications director Kate Bedingfield chuckled afterward.
"Scott, c'mon. You’re saying that Donald Trump‘s rhetoric is comparable to Joe Biden‘s rhetoric? Give me a break," she scoffed.
Jennings doubled down, calling Biden one of the "orneriest, angriest" presidents before he was interrupted by Phillip and fellow CNN co-host Jim Acosta.
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"Trump is calling Kamala Harris a communist. You don’t actually believe — does anybody believe that?" Acosta asked Jennings.
"I mean, I don‘t think she’s a registered communist," Jennings responded. "I think her policies could be mixed up for countries that have tried it. It doesn't work out very well."
"Look, just like The Washington Post said the other day, if you don't want to be called a communist, maybe don't install their economic platform. I didn't write it," he responded.
Multiple liberal outlets and economists hammered Harris's economic proposal to institute a federal price-fixing plan for food and groceries if she's elected in November.
Bedingfield, however, claimed that Trump's "ugly attacks" on Harris wouldn't resonate with voters.
Phillip was also skeptical of Jennings' arguments.
"I have to say, Scott, honestly — you will be hard-pressed to tell voters who lived through four years of Donald Trump… I don't think there are a lot of voters who think he is angrier than Donald Trump," she said.
"You all may think he's some benevolent grandfather, but that's not the way a lot of people see it," Jennings said.