CNN commentator Scott Jennings questioned the wisdom of Donald Trump’s decision to bar the network from the White House during Monday night’s broadcast.
Guest host Sara Sidner challenged Jennings only minutes into the program, asking him to address the administration’s ban.
She asked whether he ‘support[s]’ the President’s decision to exclude CNN, Politico, and MS NOW, while joking that Jennings’ ‘name is up for running for the next press secretary.’
Jennings, 48, said the order was ‘unlikely to prevail in court’—his first point, he explained.
‘B, it seems to me the net result of this has been – he has less reach. I mean, his message is not going to get out as much,’ said the former George W. Bush aide.
‘If this sort of becomes the way it is, he will be seen and heard by fewer people – which I think is actually a net negative, since he’s his own best spokesperson and his own best press secretary.’
Jennings’ ‘number three’ point was that Trump’s public clashes with journalists in the Oval Office ultimately work in the President’s favor.
‘And so if you take them out, you lose that a little bit.’
Scott Jennings, 48, effectively auditioned for the White House press secretary role on Monday’s CNN NewsNight while subtly questioning the logic of Donald Trump’s media ban
Trump, 80, barred CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House in a Friday Truth Social post. All three outlets said they would sue in response
Jennings ultimately predicted that the order, announced in a Friday Truth Social post, ‘is unlikely to stick.’
He also warned that the move ‘may be a little self-defeating.’
‘If you consider that you want the President to be heard and seen more, like I do.’
‘This seems to be working against that. So, we’ll see what happens.’
The diplomatic criticism prompted a smile from Washington Post foreign policy columnist Josh Rogin.
Rogin then pressed Jennings directly: ‘So, if you’re press secretary, you’re not going to do that? Is that what you’re pledging here right now?’
The conservative commentator replied that he would not respond to a ‘hypothetical.’
FIND OUT MORE: Scott Jennings Reveals If He Supports Trump’s Media Ban
‘Oh, let me – can I add one more thing?’ he said as the discussion began to move on.
‘I actually think there’s a difference between, truthfully, CNN and Politico and MS NOW,’ Jennings said during his notably restrained argument
‘I actually think there’s a difference between, truthfully, CNN and Politico and MS NOW.’
‘You watch MS NOW for ten minutes, it’s like total alternate reality. I actually think there’s a difference.’
Progressive panelist Ashley Allison quickly responded that ‘some’ people would make the same criticism of Fox News.
‘Yes, Obama, he said that about Fox News,’ Jennings replied, referring to the then-president’s unsuccessful effort in 2009 to block one of the network’s stars, Major Garrett, from a multipool interview.
Other networks objected, and Garrett was ultimately included. He now works for CBS.
‘But he didn’t kick them out, did he?’ Allison countered.
Sidner, filling in for Abby Phillip, pressed Jennings again, asking whether he ‘support[ed] the President’s ban on the press.’
‘Because – I mean, you work here at CNN,’ she continued. ‘Do you think the journalists here are reporting fake news?’
Jennings said he ‘sometimes strongly disagrees with’ the way his colleagues ‘frame’ stories. ‘But, no, I think we need to cover the news here,’ he added.
‘And I think we still can cover the news, but I consider this to be a news outlet.’
‘I consider Politico to be a news outlet. MS is a different story, in my view.’
All three organizations have said they are suing the administration in federal court, alleging violations of the First Amendment.
A Politico report published in August claimed that Jennings sent clips of his recent on-air defenses of Natalie Harp to the White House as he sought to replace outgoing Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
Leavitt, 29, said earlier this month that she was leaving the White House to spend more time with her family. The position remains vacant.
