Press Secretary Frontrunner Scott Jennings Complains About Jon Ossoff Attacking Natalie Harp. CNN Shows Him a Montage of Trump Insulting Women
Is this a case of selective outrage?
With Karoline Leavitt leaving her position as White House Press Secretary, there’s a lot of conjecture over her replacement. One name that has come to the forefront is CNN contributor Scott Jennings, a longtime adviser to Senator Mitch McConnell who also served as Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of Political Affairs under the George W. Bush administration.
According to a CNN article published Thursday, when questioned by anchor Abby Phillip, Jennings didn’t give a straightforward answer. However, his response in this context is not what is gaining attention on social media, as in a heated panel on Thursday on CNN’s Newsnight, Jennings condemned Jon Ossoff’s comments about Trump aide Natalie Harp.
Ossoff said, “He golfs and trades stocks. See, he doesn’t want to do the job; he wants to build his ballroom and travel with Natalie to their apparently defenseless flying palace gifted by the Emir of Qatar.” Jennings, addressing the matter, said that what he found “appalling” was that Harp wasn’t a “household name” and that by “injecting” her into the narrative, Ossoff was “punching down” on “someone who’s effectively defenseless.”
Philip weighed in on Jennings’s “defenseless” comment
The panel erupted as Jennings made these comments, with some people, including Florida Congressman Jared Moskowitz, a guest on the show, noting that Trump repeatedly attacks women. As Jennings and Moskowitz put their points forward, Phillip introduced a slideshow of moments when Trump has been caught “punching down” and “insulting women.”
First in line was Trump’s interaction with Fox News, where he was questioned about calling women he doesn’t like “fat pigs, dogs, slobs, and disgusting animals.” Responding to the question, Trump said, “only Rosie O’Donnell.” As the video continued, it showed more instances of Trump belittling women, prompting Phillip to ask Jennings, in the end, whether he would be similarly outraged by all these instances if he were choosing to outrage over Ossoff’s comments about Harp.
As tensions rose, Jennings doubled down on his comments about Harp being a “defenseless woman” that Ossoff was targeting. Phillip, while addressing his comments, said they were erroneous, noting that Harp had more agency as a 35-year-old woman than he was trying to attribute to her.
Jennings said, “Just to be clear, I think the idea of continually describing a 35-year-old woman as somebody who has no agency and is defenseless and is just a victim… that is demeaning,” She added, “You are so concerned about that, but you have not expressed any concern over Trump’s repeated demeaning of all kinds of other women who are just simply doing their jobs.”
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