In a humiliating on-air exchange, a CNN anchor lost her cool after getting called out after erroneously saying that Elon Musk’s work with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is a conflict of interest, a comment that the anchor was unable to back up when questioned by Scott Jennings, her conservative co-host.
For context, in a roundtable segment aired on February 26, 2025, in which CNN NewsNight anchors Abby Phillip and Scott Jennings, along with several guests, weighed in on the ethics of Elon Musk’s role as an advisor to President Trump and head of DOGE, with Phillip alleging that Musk’s involvement with DOGE could win the Tesla and SpaceX head contracts, creating a conflict of interest.
Beginning her statement, Phillip described Musk’s work with DOGE as “an obvious conflict of interest,” to which Jennings replied in defense of Musk, saying, “He’s not making the grand decisions.” Unwilling to back down, Phillip replied, “How do you know he’s not making the grand decisions? He’s over at the FAA saying he’s got his hands in everything in the government, and his company gets a contract.”
Responding to Phillip, Jennings pushed back, describing her statement about Musk as “a major allegation” and putting his co-host on blast for making wild accusations about Musk. He continued, “You’re alleging that [Musk] is in a government office writing grants to himself.”
Phillip continued without presenting any further evidence to back up her claims, scolding Jennings for questioning her faulty logic. She responded to her co-host, “Scott, this ‘wild allegation’ talk, that’s not warranted. Ethics laws exist. They apply to everyone. Elon doesn’t have to write the check for himself. His presence is a problem. It’s not an allegation.”
Near the end of the segment, Jennings held his ground, reiterating to Philip, “You just alleged that he has a conflict,” to which Phillip pushed back, “He’s not supposed to oversee where he profits.” Unwilling to give in to Phillip’s faulty premise, Jennings clarified, “Musk is not overseeing the FAA. There’s a Transportation [Secretary]…are you alleging he’s overseeing the FAA?”
Phillip had no response to Jennings, and the leftist host forcibly ended the conversation without providing any evidence to substantiate her claims. When the clip was shared on X, it quickly went viral, with conservatives showing their support for Jennings. One user, Matt Van Swol, wrote, “Yikes. She completely got owned.”
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More X users chimed in to roast Phillip and praise Jennings. One commenter wrote, “Scott is an absolute savage! 
” with another adding, “She tested positive for EDS (AKA Elon Derangement Syndrome). Another commenter added, “Why hasn’t CNN gone out of business yet? Why haven’t CNN hosts been charged with hate crimes yet?”
Watch Scott Jennings demolish Abby Phillip on CNN:
Featured image credit: screenshot from embedded video