Republican strategist Scott Jennings sent “CNN NewsNight” host Abby Phillip scrambling to hide behind a former federal prosecutor Tuesday night when he questioned her comments about the use of the National Guard in the nation’s capital.
President Donald Trump announced a federal takeover of Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) to combat crime in the District of Columbia on Aug. 11. After “The Young Turks” co-host Ana Kasparian admitted Democrats “gaslit” Americans about crime, Phillip clashed with “Shark Tank” star Kevin O’Leary about crime.
“People want safety and security, but I don’t think it’s true that people don’t care whether or not the U.S. military is [being used against] fellow citizens. I mean, I think that’s a general — that’s an important American principle that has its roots all the way to this country’s founding, and it’s also because the military serves a role to protect Americans, not to be used against Americans,” Phillip claimed, with Kasparian chiming in with “Exactly.”
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“You keep saying used against Americans. What kind of Americans do you mean?” Jennings asked in response. “The ones that are murdering us, carjacking us, raping us, terrorizing our cities? I mean, you’re saying like he’s creating an actual war against American citizens, while [what] he’s actually creating is a war against criminals, and, by the way, illegal aliens who they are rounding up by the bucket load in Washington.”
Since Trump launched the crackdown in the nation’s capital, 1,178 arrests have been made and 123 guns have been seized, according to a Wednesday post on X by Attorney General Pam Bondi.
“Well, I want to let [CNN legal analyst] Elie [Honig] speak, but, I mean, look, I don’t — I’m not saying he’s creating a war against American citizens, but I also think that, first of all, even you have, you know, large amounts of armed military personnel on the streets, they’re going to encounter a lot of Americans who’ve done nothing wrong,” Phillip responded. “And those Americans have rights, as do the Americans who have done things wrong, just to be clear. But Americans who have done nothing wrong will get caught up and have gotten caught up in this.”
Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) staffer Edward Coristine, known by the moniker “Big Balls,” was injured when he tried to stop a mob from carrying out a carjacking in August.
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