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3 months ago
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A conservative political analyst said Donald Trump made a huge mess by questioning Kamala Harris 's race Wednesday.
Scott Jennings appeared on CNN NewsNight when host Abby Phillip pressed him about the strategy behind Trump claiming that the vice president just 'happened to turn Black' a few years ago.
'He did crap the bed today,' the pundit and political strategist said, before offering an applicable metaphor. 'The only question is whether he's gonna roll around in it or get up and change the sheets.'
Trump started the trash talk earlier in the day when he questioned whether his rival was Indian or black, in what amounted to an off-the-rails interview at the National Association of Black Journalists.
The comments spurred responses from the White House, countless media personalities, and Harris herself - and was thus a featured talking point on Wednesday's CNN NewsNight.
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Conservative political analyst Scott Jennings - political director for President George W. Bush's 2000 Kentucky campaign - on Wednesday claimed Donald Trump shot himself in the foot by questioning Kamala Harris's race
On the CNN program, Phillip started by asking Jennings whether he believes Trump's remarks were part of a premeditated strategy.
'I don't know if I agree with that,' Jennings replied.
'Look, first of all, I think he deserves some points for showing up at this thing and giving it a go,' he said.
'Where's Kamala Harris today? Not there,' he continued, citing her failure to show up to the anticipated event remotely as many believed she would.
'But, that having been said, he did crap the bed today. The only question is whether he's gonna roll around in it or get up and change the sheets.'
Phillips, visibly intrigued, proceeded to ask for more insight.
'My advice would be, get up and change your sheets, and do what your campaign is doing,' Jennings answered in turn.
'The campaign knows how to prosecute the case, ok?
'They're on the air with it - to the tune of millions of dollars on her policy record,' he continued. 'That's what they should be doing.'
Earlier in the day, Trump raised eyebrows when he questioned whether his rival was Indian or black in an off-the-rails interview at the National Association of Black Journalists in Chicago
The comments spurred responses from the White House, countless media personalities, and Harris herself - and was thus a featured talking point
The Vice President, on Wednesday, appeared to agree, when she 'the American people deserve better,' in a speech at the Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Inc.'s 60th International Biennial Boulé in Houston.
There, she urged the African-American sorority to 'fight' because 'there is so much at stake.'
'This afternoon Donald Trump spoke at the annual meeting of the National Association of Black Journalists', Harris said during her speech.
'And it was the same old show: the divisiveness and the disrespect.
'Let me just say, the American people deserve better.
'A leader who tells the truth,' she went on. 'Who does not respond with hostility and anger when confronted with the facts. We deserve a leader who understands our differences do not divide us.
'They are an essential source of our strength,' she added.
During her speech, Harris also spoke of the so-called 'promise of America', and addressed the current cost-of-living crisis and concepts like equal pay for women, before briefly touching on the elephant in the room - Trump's comments.
The Vice President, on Wednesday, appeared to agree, when she 'the American people deserve better,' in a speech at the Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Inc.'s 60th International Biennial Boulé in Houston
They were offered hours earlier, when ABC's Rachel Scott, seated opposite the Republican, mentioned how a lot of people didn't think it was appropriate for him to be in Chicago considering his previous comments concerning people of color.
Visibly outraged, Trump began, ‘First of all I don’t think I’ve ever been asked a question in such a horrible manner,’ before calling the journalist 'nasty' and 'hostile' in an ode to his 2016 campaign.
‘You don’t even say hello how are you?' he continued, slamming ABC as a 'fake news network.'
‘I came here in good spirit. I love the black population of this country,’ he pressed on.
'I think it's a very rude introduction. I don’t know exactly why you would do something like that.
That's when he offered his contentious comments, after being asked if he felt it appropriate to refer to Harris as a 'DEI hire' - as several Republicans already have.
He appeared to falsely claim Harris did not lean into her black identity until it became beneficial for her to do so.
'She was always of Indian heritage and she was only promoting Indian heritage,' Trump said.
Hours before, during his now widely seen sitdown, Trump seemed to claim Harris did not lean into her black identity until it became suitable - and beneficial - to do so
To this, Jennings told host Abby Phillips, 'This is not gonna end the way he wants it to end. 'There's a better way to do this and they know what to do, but it's on him to do it. It's on him to do it'
'I didn’t know she was black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn black.
'And now she wants to be known as black. So I don’t know. Is she Indian or is she black?
'Someone should look into that,' he concluded, to a combination of laughs and jeers - the latter outweighing the former.
'I respect either one, but she obviously doesn’t.'
Scott pointed out that Harris has always identified as Black, before asking if agreed with his contemporaries that Harris was a 'DEI hire.'
Seemingly feigning confusion, the conservative countered, 'I really don’t know - could be', before being met with a chorus of boos.
To this, Jennings said, 'This is not gonna end the way he wants it to end.
'There's a better way to do this and they know what to do, but it's on him to do it. It's on him to do it.
'My strong advice is to perform,' the CNN staffer, who is frequently quoted as a political analyst concluded.
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