Things got somewhat entertaining on CNN when longtime anchor Kaitlan Collins got into an angry tirade of an argument with GOP analyst and frequent CNN guest Scott Jennings over an argument he was having with Democratic strategist Alencia Johnson, shouting at him for using a bit of hyperbole when slamming her claims about Elon.
That shouting match came on the night of Wednesday, March 5 during that evening’s broadcast of “The Source.” The heated argument between Collins, Johnson, and Jennings was precipitated by the cuts made by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), with Johnson attacking DOGE and Jennings ridiculing her claims with a bit of hyperbole.
Starting things, Johnson claimed that the hand-wringing from the left about the bureaucrats being fired by DOGE is justified rather than just being a “sob story,” as they are protecting “the health of this country.” She said, “That can’t be a talking point that these are sob stories. These are, again, people’s livelihoods, and also the health of this country, right?”
Continuing, she insisted that we would have diseases like Ebola in the US without the bureaucrats that Elon is firing, saying, “They have — some of these mistakes that people keep talking about are gutting our agencies that are taking care of, I don’t know, paying attention to the bird flu, Ebola, these things that actually can have detrimental impacts on the American people.”
Jennings, poking an immediate hole in her talking point about the supposed Ebola threat that justifies wasteful federal spending, asked, “We have Ebola in the United States?” We do not, for reference. Dodging the question, Johnson told Jennings that the bureaucrats are making the world safer, refusing to say whether we actually have an Ebola problem. Doing so, she said, “Well, we are helping the world be a safer place as well, Scott. And we know that.”
Jennings, in response, noted that the bird flu claim is similarly ridiculous, as the supposedly effective bureaucratic response to that consisted of killing all the chickens, an argument made by the Trump Administration, telling her, “I mean, on the bird flu, we did — Biden slaughtered all the chickens. I don’t know if there’s any left to kill.”
Johnson freaked out and tried to denigrate his argument instead of trying to claim it was wrong, saying, “Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness. Come on.” Kaitlin Collins then tried interjecting, saying, “On that note–” Johnson, snapping at Jennings despite Collins’ interruption, said, “Come on, Scott. I mean you–”
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Using the left’s language against Johnson, Jennings described the potentially unnecessary chicken culling as “a bloodbath,” telling her, “It was a bloodbath. You all love that word.” Angrily, she snapped at him, “You can laugh about this. But these are things that people are actually scared about. I mean, measles is coming back. There’s so many things that are happening that our federal government makes sure–”
Jennings then roasted her with a clever bit of hyperbole, saying, “You’re saying Elon Musk caused the measles?” Angrily, she responded, “I am saying what is happening in this government, right now, with Donald Trump appointing–” Interrupting, he asked again, “You’re saying Donald Trump caused the measles?”
Furious, she snapped that cutting out waste and fraud is somehow making Americans less safe. She snapped, “I am saying that what is happening in this federal government, under Donald Trump, allow Elon Musk, and allow all these people that he appointed, to run this government like this, is actually making us unsafe, for the American people.”
Collins, trying to wrap things up, said, “Thank you both, for being here.” Jennings, wrapping things up with a bit more mockery, said, “Elon caused the measles. You heard it here first.” That is what caused the shouting. Yelling at him, Johson shouted, “Not what I said!” Also yelling, and clearly taking a side in the debate, Collins shouted at Jennings as well, yelling, “Not what she said!”
Watch them here:
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video