Things seem to be going from bad to worse for CNN. On Wednesday, analyst Scott Jennings set host Wolf Blitzer straight on what quickly spiraled into the latest misinformation saga involving former President Donald Trump.
During the segment, Blitzer confronted Jennings with a statement attributed to Trump, in which the former president allegedly referred to illegal immigrants as “animals” and “not humans.” The comment, as presented out-of-context, sparked outrage across social media, with people accusing Trump of dehumanizing rhetoric.
“But when he says these immigrants are animals, they’re not humans, what does that suggest? I mean, isn’t that brutal? Shouldn’t people be condemning that?” Blitzer asked, laying the groundwork for a heated discussion.
Jennings, however, was quick to clarify the context of Trump’s remarks pointing out a significant omission in the narrative being pushed by certain media outlets and social media campaigns.
“I listened to the entire tape. He was specifically talking about the person who murdered Laken Riley in Georgia. And to be honest with you, Wolf, if somebody murders another human being, I think they deserve to be called ‘animals.’”
“And I don’t think any American is really going to reject that kind of rhetoric. That poor girl was murdered in cold blood. Is that person who did it not an animal? I think that’s an apt term,” Jennings retorted, challenging the framing of Trump’s comments by the Left.
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“So you think he was only referring to those murderers, not referring in general to illegal immigrants who are coming into the United States?” Blitzer asked.
“I listened to the tape; that’s exactly what he was talking about, in my opinion,” Jennings firmly responded.
The controversy began when a social media account belonging to Joe Biden’s re-election campaign, under the username Biden-Harris HQ, posted a 7-second clip of Trump’s speech. The clip showed Trump saying illegal immigrants are “animals,” conspicuously leaving out the crucial context that showed Trump was referring to migrants recently convicted of murder.
Republicans have argued the edited clip was a deliberate attempt to misconstrue Trump’s comments, which were specifically about an illegal immigrant arrested for the murder of Laken Riley.
In the full context of his remarks, Trump had discussed meeting with Riley’s family, describing the 22-year-old’s murderer as an “illegal alien animal,” a term he defended as befitting of someone who committs such a heinous crime.
“The 22-year-old nursing student in Georgia who was barbarously murdered by an illegal alien animal. The Democrats say ‘Please don’t call them animals. They’re humans.’ I said no, they’re not humans. They’re animals,” said Trump.
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The Georgia Legislature, controlled by the GOP, has moved forward with stricter immigration laws amid calls from Republican lawmakers across the country for better policies. The push comes in the aftermath of the killing of nursing student Laken Riley last month.
The bill, HB 1105, received final approval from the state House in a 99-75 vote last Thursday, the last day of Georgia’s legislative session. The Senate passed the bill last week with a 34-19 vote. It now goes to Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, who has previously shown support for tougher immigration measures.
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