In an epic exchange on CNN, Senior Political Commentator Scott Jennings delivered a brutal reality check to Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and the Democrats, cutting through their rhetoric with precision. The moment came after Jayapal launched into a tirade blaming Elon Musk and Donald Trump for the looming government shutdown.
“We already had a bill,” she said. “We negotiated it. Mike Johnson agreed to it. And because, as you said, Elon Musk, a billionaire, tweeted about it — President Musk tweeted about it — these Republicans tried to go around their own caucus, all the work that's been done, and they are in charge of shutting down the government. Now, that is what's going to happen tomorrow night at midnight if we don't come to a deal.”
Jayapal also accused Trump of ceding control to Musk, saying, “I mean, this is a real crisis in my mind for Donald Trump: who’s the president right now… and who’s going to be the president come – come the New Year?” She even posed the bizarre question, “Are we now negotiating with Elon Musk? Is Mike Johnson not the speaker anymore?”
She continued, “I mean, this is abdicating all of the responsibilities of elected officials, whether it's the Republican speaker or the Republican president-to-be and giving it to an unelected guy. So I am shocked at the speed with which Donald Trump seems to have conceded his power to Elon Musk.”
Jennings, however, didn’t let this hyperbole slide.
When host Erin Burnett asked him for his response, Jennings zeroed in on Jayapal’s slip of the tongue. “She let the mask slip right at the end. She said, ‘Who’s the president right now?’” he noted.
Jennings went on to cite a recent Wall Street Journal exposé revealing that Joe Biden hasn’t actually been in charge over the past four years, and that unelected staffers and cabinet members have basically been running the government.
"Joe Biden, who we rarely hear from, The Wall Street Journal reported today has been diminished for the last four years, and we've had unelected people running around running the federal government, apparently."
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Jennings didn’t stop there. He turned Jayapal’s criticism of Trump and Musk back on the Democrats, pointing out their glaring hypocrisy. “If that is what they’re worried about, if they’re worried about people who aren’t Donald Trump, you know, running the government or having influence, I wonder where they’ve been the last four years,” he quipped.
Jayapal’s attempt to frame Musk as some unelected villain harming “working-class Americans” fell hard and flat in the face of Jennings’ unflinching assessment. He highlighted the real issue that Democrats would rather avoid: their own president’s lack of leadership. “The current president, a Democrat, is AWOL and apparently not able to execute the duties of the office,” Jennings noted.
🔥@ScottJenningsKY torches Democrat narrative about Elon running the government and not Trump, while Joe Biden is AWOL:
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) December 20, 2024
"If they're worried about people who aren't Donald Trump running the government or having influence, I wonder where they've been the last four years...… pic.twitter.com/5iER1hrCKD
It's interesting how little Democrats are bothered by the fact that Joe Biden has been president-in-name-only the past four years.
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