CNN host Abby Phillip had to interrupt as MAGA panelist Scott Jennings launched into a tirade about “dumb” voters while defending the introduction of voter ID requirements.
During a typically heated roundtable on NewsNight, Jennings argued why the SAVE Act—a bill requiring proof of citizenship at voter registration, which cleared the House on Wednesday—was necessary, while Phillip outlined potential concerns about the legislation.
“Seventy-six percent of Black voters think we should show an ID to vote. Eighty percent of Hispanic voters. Eighty-three percent of the American people. Are you saying that Black voters are too dumb to know what’s good for them?” Jennings asked fellow panelist Alencia Johnson, a Democratic commentator and author.
Phillip noted that the Donald Trump-backed SAVE Act is not just about voter ID but also proof of citizenship, pointing out that some Americans may not have access to a passport or birth certificate.
“There’s an argument to be made that red-state voters, women, poor white voters could be just as—” Phillip began, before Jennings cut her off, saying, “You think they’re dumb too, don’t you?”
A visibly astounded Phillip pushed back as Jennings continued speaking. “No, hold on, Scott. No, you listen to me,” she said.
As the panelists talked over one another, Phillip told Jennings, who is from the heavily rural state of Kentucky, “You should be thinking about your constituents. Most Americans don’t have a passport. Many Americans don’t have access to their birth certificate.
“A majority of women who change their names after marriage have to provide additional proof that they have changed their names in order to register to vote. Why don’t you actually respond to the substance of what I’m saying, as opposed to making it about something that it’s not?”
Jennings dismissed those concerns, suggesting Phillip was implying that married women, Black voters, and rural Americans are “too stupid” to understand how to register to vote.
The SAVE ACT passed the House in a 218–213 vote on Wednesday, with one Democrat, Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas, joining Republicans in support. It remains unclear whether the bill has enough backing to clear the Senate.
Critics argue the measure would create unnecessary barriers and could prevent millions of eligible U.S. citizens from voting.
The Southern Poverty Law Center estimates that roughly half of U.S. adults do not have a valid passport, and more than 21 million Americans have neither a birth certificate copy nor a passport.
As the debate continued, Phillip noted that there are “elderly people in this country who are 80 years old and haven’t seen their original birth certificate in decades.”
Jennings dismissed concerns that the bill could disenfranchise voters as “fearmongering” and akin to “Jim Crow 2.0.”
