CNN's Scott Jennings made a controversial attempt on Monday to justify President Donald Trump's silence after a UFC fighter claimed former first lady Michelle Obama "is a man." The remark by Josh Hokit came during a brutal Sunday night event on the White House lawn, held to celebrate Trump's 80th birthday and streamed on Paramount+.
Phillip Challenges Jennings
"NewsNight" host Abby Phillip pushed back against Jennings' weak defense. UFC president Dana White had already condemned Hokit's comments as false and nasty, stating, "I hate that kind of nonsense." However, Trump—who previously shared an AI video depicting the Obamas as apes—remained silent, as did his administration.
Phillip pressed: "These people in the White House, communications director Steven Cheung, the president, nobody has the guts or the decency to say, ‘That’s inappropriate, it shouldn’t have been said, it’s wrong.’ Why?"
Jennings' Apologist Stance
Jennings replied, "I would do that, I would say, ‘We don’t endorse these comments.’" Phillip countered, "But why won’t they?" Jennings then went full apologist: "My assumption is that they get asked to condemn things all the time... and my guess is they just sort of have a policy not to do it."
Phillip wasn't convinced: "Aren’t there some things that they should condemn?" After cross-talk, she added, "The idea that they always have to condemn things is not an excuse for not condemning things that should be condemned."
Hokit later stirred further controversy, calling himself "courageous" in a social media post.
