CNN's Jennings calls out student 'Hitlers,' antisemitism on college campuses: 'Open your eyes'
CNN commentator Scott Jennings addressed former Trump chief of staff John Kelly's claim that former President Trump once spoke favorably of Adolf Hitler.
CNN commentator Scott Jennings addressed former Trump chief of staff John Kelly's claim that former President Trump once spoke favorably of Adolf Hitler on Tuesday.
"I would humbly submit to Mr. Kelly that if he’s worried about Hitler and he’s worried about fascism, he ought to pick up the newspaper," Jennings said, referring to anti-Israel protests that have continued to divide U.S. college campuses following the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks by Hamas against Israel.
"There’s thousands of Hitlers running around this country right now, running around college campuses, running around New York City, chasing Jewish people around, blocking their access on college campuses," Jennings said. "If you’re worried about Hitler and you’re talking about Donald Trump, maybe open your eyes and take in what’s happening on the American left in this country. Those are the Hitlers I’m worried about."
Kelly said Trump told him that "Hitler did some good things, too" in audio interviews with The New York Times.
Jennings pushed back on Kelly's criticism of Trump, especially with the former White House aide's comments coming so close to Election Day.
"But I think, like everything else with Donald Trump, opinions vary whether you’re coming out of the military or the private sector, or government or anything else," Jennings said. "And I agree that two weeks before an election will cause some people to look at this in a jaundiced way. Like, ‘You’re trying to drop this here at the end,' and there will be people who don’t believe it. There will be people who refute it. And Donald Trump himself also refutes it."
Trump has also been accused of praising Hitler in an Atlantic article, which quoted him as saying that he wanted "the kind of generals that Hitler had. People were totally loyal to him, that follow orders."
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A spokesman for Trump called the claim "absolutely false," telling Atlantic writer Jeffrey Goldberg, "President Trump never said this."
A Trump campaign spokesperson rejected Kelly's claims in a statement to Fox News Digital.
"John Kelly has totally beclowned himself with these debunked stories he has fabricated because he failed to serve his President well while working as Chief of Staff and currently suffers from a debilitating case of Trump Derangement Syndrome," Trump communications director Steven Cheung said. "President Trump has always honored the service and sacrifice of all of our military men and women, whereas Kamala Harris has completely disrespected the families of those who gave the ultimate sacrifice, including the Abbey Gate 13."
Fox News' Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this report.
