Scott Jennings, the Most Annoying Man on Cable News

Speaking to insiders, Justin Baragona looks at how Jennings evolved from his 'aw shucks' Bush-era conservatism to WWE-style pro-Trump pugilism, and what his recent on-air outburst says about CNN.

“I don’t answer to you!” Scott Jennings, CNN’s resident defender of Donald Trump, shouted at the panelist sitting a couple of feet to his left.

Angrily pointing his finger in the face of the progressive commentator, Jennings reacted dismissively after the guest countered that the CNN pundit was being “aggressive” with his actions when they were merely “having a conversation.”

“You gonna ask me for my number after the show? Brother, don’t start with me,” Jennings sneered.

No, this is not from Jennings’s recent dustup with liberal pundit Adam Mockler. Instead, this occurred nearly two years ago during a heated confrontation with academic Michael Eric Dyson.

So why then was Scott Jennings so bothered by Mockler gesturing with his hands while pressing him on Iran that he responded, ‘get your fucking hand out of my face” – when Jennings had in fact pointed his finger in the face of a Black man a year and a half earlier?

Perhaps the two incidents aren’t all that surprising. Jennings has been having contentious interactions with fellow panelists for years, racking up viral clip after viral clip, and laying bare what has become increasingly apparent both publicly and behind the scenes: the rules don’t apply to Jennings.

“A lot of CNN contributors are feeling like they’re on the Scott Jennings network, and their only job is to react to whatever Scott says,” one on-air CNN personality told Zeteo shortly after the MAGA firebrand’s tirade at Mockler.

Former CNN contributor Wajahat Ali told me that “Scott is just a symptom of a problem, which is the obscene double standard of corporate media and American institutions that continue to bend the knee to bad-faith right-wing grievances.”

Indeed, Jennings was back on the air the following day, leading both current CNN staffers and former network employees to point out that if any other paid CNN personality had acted similarly on the air, they would have been suspended or outright terminated.

“He violated what used to be a pretty clear line in TV news. You’re not supposed to cuss people out like it’s an episode of ‘The Jerry Springer Show,’” ex-CNN anchor Jim Acosta, who wrote a Substack article titled “Fire Scott Jennings,” told me.

A CNN spokesperson told Zeteo in a statement, “We select contributors - including Scott Jennings - to reflect the actual clash of political views and values that are being debated in America today.” The spokesperson added, “We choose not to limit either the views or the advocates who argue for them to suit any ideological side in the debate. We believe that giving our viewers a chance to witness a frank encounter of this kind is a service both to them and to democracy.”

Jennings declined to comment.

It’s not just on air, CNN insiders say. The once-affable Kentucky gentleman has become more coarse and callous behind the scenes over the years.

Jennings’s most recent profane outburst and his treatment of staff underscore his evolution from his “aw shucks” Bush-era conservatism to WWE-style pugilism – and of a man who once was referred to as a “Reasonable Republican” who condemned Trump over the Jan. 6 insurrection to the word bomb-hurling MAGA sycophant he is today.

It’s also worth asking how much of Jennings’s Trump idolatry and “own the libs” persona is just a natural evolution of the attention economy, considering how ubiquitous he’s become online these past couple of years. Beyond that, does CNN and its bosses find his MAGA act valuable so they can appease and pander to the president? All the while, amid ongoing layoffs and the specter of CNN becoming part of the Ellison empire, Jennings has only seen his salary grow at the network and his overall media and political profile rise, culminating in his scoring his own syndicated talk radio show.

Meanwhile, questions and concerns have also arisen over his vehemently pro-Israel stance. Journalists and commentators have publicly noted in recent days that Jennings’s show airs on Salem Media, whose chief strategy officer is a registered agent for the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Still, even if CNN were to somehow decide to push out Jennings, he will likely be just fine. As several current and former CNN employees told me, either a Bari Weiss/David Ellison-run version of the network would scoop him back up in a few months, or he’ll just go on to bigger and better things.

“So even if CNN gets rid of him, CNN has groomed him into this heel that will launch him either to more media notoriety and success or into the halls of Congress,” Ali said. “He doesn’t need CNN anymore.”

But for now, he remains at the network.

Strap in, readers, here’s how Scott Jennings became the most annoying and “hated” man in cable news today.

When Jennings Called Trump a ‘Desperate-to-Impress Playboy’