CNN host Kaitlan Collins has mocked her conservative colleague Scott Jennings to his face in a live TV segment.
Jennings appeared on Monday’s The Source, where he defended President Donald Trump over his use of taxpayer funds to run what the White House has claimed are public service announcements.
One ad in particular was previously used to promote Trump’s 2024 campaign, and is now being recycled with “Paid for by the U.S. Government” added at the end.
A White House official previously told the Daily Beast, “The PSAs are clearly not political. The President is not on the ballot and the ads don’t have a call to action.”
Ashley Allison, a former White House policy adviser under Barack Obama, said on The Source, “Personally, as a taxpayer, I don’t want the president using my tax dollars to run political ads.”
When asked by Collins what he thought about the ads, Jennings said, “I think a reasonable person could look at these and be mad about it, and I think a reasonable person could look at it and say ‘Well, other presidents have run PSAs.’”
He added, “I think it’s pretty standard practice for administrations to do PSAs, but I can see why somebody would raise objections if they thought the material was overly political.”
Both Collins and Allison laughed at Jennings as he was finishing his answer, with the host asking him, “What is the public service announcement in the ad? That was my question watching it.”
Collins added that most people would view a public service advertisement to warn of an impending tornado or to boil water to prepare for a disaster.
Still laughing, Collins repeated, “What is the public service announcement you saw in that ad, Scott?”
“Well, the White House offered an assessment that it was making people feel good about America and trying to push back against ideologies that would defeat America. So, look, it’s a perfectly reasonable message.”
Jennings did concede, “My personal advice would be maybe not steal it from a previous campaign ad.”
Collins once again said, “OK, I’m still not sure what the public service announcement was.”
“Warning against communism sounds like a public service to me,” Jennings said. “We got one whole political party that’s fallen in love with it—I think they need to be warned, Kaitlan.”
Collins pointed out Trump’s fawning over Chinese dictator Xi Jinping last week, saying “that came as he had the red carpet rolled out for a communist leader,” and saying “pretty good things” about New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, whom Trump previously called a communist.
Allison pointed out to Jennings, “Using taxpayers’ dollars for a political ad, taking the press out because you don’t like their coverage, those are more communist-like behaviors than just calling people `communists.’”
Collins asked Jennings about Trump’s plan to tour America before the midterms, and how some states such as Alabama may not want the president there in person, given his tanking popularity.
“I do think the people of Alabama will love to see Donald Trump,” Jennings replied. “Donald Trump creates national news... it’s not as though his words or comments or observations are going to be confined just to the borders of Alabama. It will be reported, in theory, around the country.”
He added, “I think sometimes we overblow these geographical choices.”
Collins went on, “Really? Scott, really? You’re saying it doesn’t matter where the president goes?”
Jennings snapped back, “Of course it matters. I’m just saying that if he goes to Alabama and makes a speech, do you think people in other states aren’t going to see that?”
He added that Trump “is the centerpiece of the election, whether you like it or not.”
