What To Know
- Former D.C. police officer Michael Fanone criticized CNN commentator Scott Jennings as an “opportunist” who “does not deserve a platform.”
- Fanone expressed concern that CNN host Abby Phillip does not sufficiently challenge Jennings’ statements on-air, which he believes elevates Jennings’ influence among right-wing viewers.
- Rejecting the idea of debating MAGA supporters, Fanone argued that extremist ideologies should be removed from political discourse.
Former D.C. Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone unleashed on CNN’s Scott Jennings last week, calling the conservative commentator an “opportunist” who “does not deserve a platform.”
Fanone, who was attacked by MAGA supporters during the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot and later suffered a heart attack, made his comments during a recent interview on Mediaite reporter Tommy Christopher’s Substack, per Huffington Post.
Christopher asked the ex-cop about Jennings’ role on CNN’s NewsNight and whether host Abby Phillip does enough to counter his MAGA talking points while on-air.
Fanone said it’s a “problem” that Phillip won’t call out Jennings’ lies on CNN, though she has on social media. “The other thing she’s doing is she’s elevated Scott Jennings’ platform to a position now where he has this tremendous podcast, and he’s become a darling of the right,” he added. “Scott Jennings does not deserve a platform!”
He said while many view Jennings as “an a******” and “a clown,” there are “200 people on the right” who are now starting to watch CNN to see him “own the libs’ day in and day out… I just don’t think that it’s healthy for the country.”
According to the Huffington Post, Fanone went on to call Jennings an “opportunist” who has contradicted his own “relatively moderate views” from a few years ago. Indeed, Jennings had previously criticized Donald Trump, calling him an “authoritarian” in 2016 and saying he “violated his oath of office” on January 6.
In a recent interview on the Breakfast Club, Phillip defended Jennings’ position on the NewsNight panel, calling it “an opportunity” to have debates between those with differing political views.
Fanone disagreed with this line of thinking, stating he doesn’t “have any interest in debating MAGA.”
“I’m not going to sit here and debate with you about whether it’s inhumane or unconstitutional to go in and rip people away from their families and deport them with no due process,” he said. “It’s not a debate for me to tell you about my experience on Jan. 6.”
Fanone said he doesn’t care about “convincing” those on the other side; he only cares about “defeating” them. “I want to remove you and your extremist ideology from our political discourse in this country because I find it to be unhealthy,” he concluded.