CNN's Scott Jennings is a breath of fresh air on the network when it comes to reminding his fellow panelists about hard truths or getting them to make admissions of their own. We certainly saw instances of both on night's edition of "CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip," as leftists went after Elon Musk and admitted how they're still melting down over last November's election. In fact, they may never get over it.
Ana Navarro had a freak out of her own early in the show about Musk's directive that federal employees send an email to their supervisors by 11:59 p.m. on Monday as to what they did the week before.
In a claim that would be astonishing if it came from someone other than a co-host of "The View," Navarro claimed it was "abusive" that Musk dared to ask such a question.
"Because I think he did it at Twitter and he thinks it worked for him there, and he thinks that the federal government, he can treat it in the same way," Navarro complained, when asked why. From there, she continued with more negative characteristics of Musk. "I think part of it is really showing control and lack of empathy towards the federal government and disdain. I think there's this like notion that federal government workers are sitting there playing words with friends, or, I don't know, twiddling their thumbs and that somehow there is a quick magic way to root out fraud and waste and corruption," she claimed, before then also going after President Donald Trump.
"And there's so many things that Elon Musk is doing and Trump, I guess, by extension, that if they did it surgically, if they did it strategically, if they did it deliberately and thoughtfully, I don't think anybody would have an issue with cutting some government waste, with identifying programs that are not working," Navarro added further. "But the way they are doing it is haphazard, it is dangerous, it is frankly abusive of federal workers, and it is just plain wrong," she said, still not done, and repeating similar talking points as top Democrats like Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY).
Once he was able to get a word in finally, after Navarro doubled down on how it was abusive and also "random," to use host Abby Phillip's term, Jennings asked how it was "abusive."
That's when Tara Setmayer, who had been involved with the Lincoln Project and founded the Seneca Project, chimed in, though she condescendingly asked Jennings another question.
"Scott, have you ever gotten an email from someone that said, you better do this or else you're going to resign," she asked, trying to express concern specifically over how it was "from someone who's not your boss."
That's when Jennings jumped in with a key reminder, and not the last of the evening. "Yes. It's called having a boss. It's called having the boss of the private sector," he pointed out, also adding that "the White House is every federal workers' boss."
As Jennings and Phillip engaged in a back-and-forth over the weekend email, Jennings aptly stuck to calling out the ridiculousness of such outrage. "I mean, look, the amount of outrage melting down and sort of outpouring of emotion over this ought to tell you everything you need to know. We had a lady on CNN today, a supposed federal worker, who said she was infuriated by getting this email. She had time to go on CNN, but shouldn't have time to send a 30-second email saying, well, here's what I was working on last week," he pointed out about a viral segment from the network.
Federal Worker: "I got this email Saturday afternoon...I felt absolutely infuriated getting this email with a demand within 48 hours to provide a response on what I did in the last week..." pic.twitter.com/fu9ATGhc7Y
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) February 24, 2025
"This is what people in the private sector have come to hate about how they view the public sector. And I think there's a great many very dedicated public servants. But you said, you know, it's about control. Yes, it's about control and it's about finding out who is actually at their job working and who isn't," Jennings added, also asking a question about all of these federal workers. "And do we need all these people?"
The exchange was even noticed by Musk himself, who shared the clip over X.
🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 https://t.co/Gi6cY8wPgC
— Scott Jennings (@ScottJenningsKY) February 25, 2025
Jennings wasn't done, though, as he also had to remind his fellow panelists that the president's picks are not only qualified, they are the president's picks and serve at the pleasure of the president.
Later in the segment, Setmayer was also involved in ranting and raving against Dan Bongino, whom Trump had just named as the deputy director for the FBI, as well as Kash Patel, who was last week confirmed as the director of the bureau.
"If I may address one issue, you just denigrated Bongino's law enforcement credentials. He was a cop and a Secret Service agent. You denigrated his academic credentials. He has a master's degree," Jennings reminded Setmayer and the other co-panelists.
"Just because he was a police officer doesn't make him qualified to run a 38,000-person, $11 billion budget agency, just like Pete Hegseth, a National Guardsman, that doesn't either. Thank you for your service," Setmayer snapped in response, as Jennings offered a key distinction of how Bongino "enjoys the confidence and the pleasure of the president."
Despite how it's not Setmayer's call to make, she still went on to whine that "his judgment is terrible."
It wasn't so much bringing up Bongino that set Setmayer off, but mainly the results of last year's election. "And I'm sorry that you're not yet over the outcome of the election. But in our system, we elect people, and they appoint people to office. That's the way it works," Jennings said.
As he made such a point, Setmayer spoke over Jennings, claiming that "this is dismantling our democracy in front of our eyes, and you guys are okay with it," going for one of the left's favorite narratives, despite how we live in a constitutional republic.
Joe Borelli, former Republican leader of the New York City Council, also chimed in to remind how unqualified the picks were under the Biden-Harris administration, including former Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and Sam Brinton, a "non-binary" employee in charge of nuclear waste who dressed as a woman and was put on leave after stealing women's luggage.
As Phillip tried to point out that Bongino is involved with the FBI, the co-panelists and the host also now had to hear a reminder from Borelli about how Bongino is "someone who has a career in law enforcement for many years."
It wasn't merely Setmayer who went after Bongino's credentials. The host did as well, with Phillip bringing up a line we've heard from her before, which is that Jennings is happy about the pick because Trump made it.
As Phillip asked if Bongino has the credentials, which he does, Jennings offered, he also made a key point. "Yes. He has law enforcement, he has academics, and, again, let me just stress this. I've mentioned this before. They serve at the pleasure of the president. That's the political appointment," he reminded.
"I know that is the answer to every question, is that Donald Trump wants it, so therefore it is good," Phillip felt the need to ask. "For political appointments? Yes," Jennings responded, refusing to let this be a gotcha question.
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