‘Whoa — Let’s Not Go There’: CNN Host Breaks Up Shouting Match When George Conway Accuses Network of Paying Scott Jennings to Lie

CONWAY: “If you don’t want to be held liable for rape, like Donald Trump has, don’t grab the woman’s genitalia. If you don’t want to be held liable for defaming the woman that you raped, don’t keep lying about what you did and calling her a nut job. If you don’t want to be indicted for overthrowing the Constitution, don’t start a self-coup. If you don’t want to be indicted for classified — stealing classified documents and obstructing justice, don’t take the classified documents. When the government asked for it back, give them back. If — if you — if the FBI serves you with a search warrant, don’t hide the documents. And don’t — and don’t lie about it, and don’t have your lawyers lie about it. This isn’t that hard. Donald Trump is not the victim here. Donald Trump is — is — does all of these things to himself. And I agree with David. I mean, once upon a time, the Republican Party was the party, not just of anti-hippies, but of personal responsibility and of law and order. What party — where is that party? Here — no one’s willing to hold — in the Republican Party is willing to hold Donald Trump to account for his crimes. Crimes that aren’t really even in dispute. And no one — no one is willing to call him out. Instead, he’s — he’s going to get the nomination. That’s just insane, and it just shows the degree of moral rot we have on the conservative side of politics today.”

HUNT: “Scott Jennings, I think this is for you. Where is that party?”

JENNINGS: “Well, I disagree with a number of things George said, of course. I mean, he’s talking about these crimes —“

HUNT: “Gee, I’m so surprised.”

JENNINGS: “— that were committed that — that — that — I mean, he’s talking about the obvious crimes that were supposedly committed, but that’s the core of what a lot of decidedly non-MAGA Republicans are mad about, is that there is no underlying crime. I looked at the statement from Maine Senator Susan Collins, who I think encapsulated it perfectly. She said this was a partisan prosecutor who promised to get Trump.”

CONWAY: “Nonsense.”

JENNINGS: “And that’s what he did.”

CONWAY: “Absolute nonsense.”

JENNINGS: “Not promise to go after the law, but he promised —“

CONWAY: “Pathetic nonsense.”

JENNINGS: “— he promised to go after Donald Trump. And so the issue is here, what is the crime? He’s never been indicted for or convicted of the campaign finance theory at the core of this case. And so Republicans are wondering today, you know, what — what do you have to do to build a defense against something you’ve never been convicted of in the first place. I’ll tell you, the mood in the party, if you’re sort of looking for a generalized attitude, is reminds me a little bit about the Kavanaugh period. You go back to the Brett Kavanaugh hearings, 2018. I remember that period being — the MAGA people were mad, the non-MAGA, the anti-Trump, the pro-Trump. Every wing of the party was vibratingly angry about what was being done to Kavanaugh. I feel and sense that the same thing is happening today, which is why I think you’re probably going to see this backfire politically on the Democrats, and they’re going to regret it.”

HUNT: “I mean, George, I will say, I have heard from some people who really don’t want to see Trump get elected in the Republican Party, who are concerned that this is just, this particular case is just going to drive additional enthusiasm for the former president. I’m interested in you respond to that. And you’ve got your face in your hands. What have you got to say to Scott?”

CONWAY: “I have to say — I mean, look — I mean, you know, Scott’s lying, and that’s the problem with the Republican Party. It is continually addicted to lies.”

JENNINGS: “Wait a minute. What are my lies?”

CONWAY: “Your lie — you’re lying. You’re lying, Scott. You’re lying about the law. You’re lying about what the jury was charged to find. They don’t have to find an underlying crime. They had to find the intent to cover up an underlying crime. And the underlying crime was pretty obvious.”

JENNINGS: “What was the crime?”

CONWAY: “You ran for public office, Scott. You — you ran for public office, Scott. You know you can’t take money from somebody and reimburse them for — you know, if it’s a campaign.”

JENNINGS: “I’ve never run — I’ve never run for public office.”

CONWAY: “OK, fine. Well, you — you’re close enough. You’re involved in politics to know that. OK? So that’s the problem with the Republican Party, is that they are suffused with lies. I don’t know why this network is paying Scott to come in and say those lies.”

HUNT: “Whoa, whoa. OK. Let’s — let’s not go there, George, please. Let’s not go there.”

JENNINGS: “No, no, no. He should go there.”

HUNT: “Scott is — Scott is our colleague, and we’re going to treat him respectfully as such. Continue.”

CONWAY: “Well, you shouldn’t lie.”

JENNINGS: “Here’s my question. If — if it is — if it is an obvious crime, why did the Department of Justice and the Federal Election Commission take a pass on it?”

FRUM: “Well, the Federal Election Commission — the Federal Election Commission — hold a sec.”

CONWAY: “They should have prosecuted it. It should have been prosecuted on January 21 — on January 21, 2021.”

HUNT: “Let’s look at —“

FRUM: “We all know the Federal Election —“

CONWAY: “This is the thing about Donald Trump —“

JENNINGS: “He’s never been indicted for this.”

CONWAY: “Donald Trump has been let off. He should have been indicted for it. And the fact of the matter is —“

HUNT: “Hold on. George and Scott, hold on, please. David.”

FRUM: “The Federal Election Commission is a broken and paralyzed institution. It require — it requires a majority. It’s got equal numbers of Republicans and Democrats. It requires a majority to act, and it’s not acted on anything for a decade, because it has been — it is broken. And one of the reasons that things are ending up in the criminal justice system is because the internal political system has been sabotaged by the people who then complain that the criminal justice system is the wrong — is the wrong remedy.”