A CNN panel was thrown into disarray after a conservative pundit claimed that Josh Shapiro was passed over as Kamala Harris’ running mate because the Democratic Party is “awash in anti-Semitism.”
Staffer Scott Jennings, a former aide to President George W. Bush, appeared to anger his panelists after speculating that Shapiro’s religion was the primary reason Harris excluded him from the list.
But the conversation quickly degenerated into casual remarks about abortion and school meals.
Jennings initially claimed that Harris was “bowing to the radical left” by choosing Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. He speculated that choosing Shapiro, who is Jewish, would have angered the party’s far-left wing.
Jennings’ comments were quickly met with backlash from the other panelists, who responded in bizarre ways to the issue of January 6 and Walz’s previous support for free lunches for school children.
Conservative CNN pundit Scott Jennings drew angry backlash from his fellow panelists after claiming the Democratic Party is ‘awash in anti-Semitism’
Jennings’ comments about the presidential race came shortly after Harris introduced Walz as her vice presidential candidate at a rally in Philadelphia on Tuesday.
Shapiro was seen as the heavy favorite for Harris’ ticket, but his past support for Israel has become a stumbling block for many amid outrage over the high number of civilian casualties in Gaza in recent months.
Amid nationwide protests and declining support among young voters within the Democratic Party, Jennings argued that Harris buckled under pressure by not selecting Shapiro.
“Kamala Harris bowed completely to the radical left in her party by not electing Shapiro, who is Jewish. They ran a nasty campaign against him,” he said.
“Everybody knows it, nobody wants to admit it, but everybody knows it, and in the end she chose someone who wasn’t Jewish and had less talent.”
Staffer Ashley Allison was quick to respond to Jennings’ comments, comparing Harris’ decision to “one of the big issues in this election: a woman’s right to choose.”
“Guess what? Kamala Harris had to make a choice, and she got to choose who her running mate was going to be and who she was going to run with for the next 90 days and maybe the next four years and maybe the next eight years,” she said.
“You can’t tell her who to hang out with, she can choose. That’s what leaders do.”
Staffer Ashley Allison, left, responded to Jennings’ comments by raising the issue of Jan. 6 and Walz’s past support for free lunches for school children.
The CNN panel had an exchange over why Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, once the heavy favorite to be the Democratic vice presidential nominee, was passed over by Kamala Harris
Although Jennings did not bring up Walz’s previous support for free school meals for children, Allison subsequently claimed that the conservative believed Walz was “radical because he wants to feed children.”
“You know who gets hungry? White kids, black kids, brown kids, poor kids get hungry,” she continued.
“I didn’t say that,” Jennings replied.
Allison went on to compare Walz’s characterization as “radical” to that of Donald Trump, who failed to tell his supporters he had lost the election before the January 6 riots following the previous election.
“That’s radical, that’s who you are,” she concluded.
David Axelrod, a former adviser to Barack Obama, weighed in on the debate and dismissed Jennings’ speculation about Harris’ thinking.
“Anti-Semitism is something that many of us have dealt with in different ways, and my family has as well,” he said. “I don’t like to see it being exploited.”
As Jennings tried to protest, correspondent Jamie Gangel interrupted him with “sources” on Harris’ VP screening process.
On Tuesday, Harris chose Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate over Shapiro
“Scott, Scott, Scott,” she began. “One moment, take the beat. I think it’s important to add two things that we have from our reporting,” she said.
‘First of all, before Josh Shapiro went into this selection, he had some hesitation or doubts about whether he wanted to be number two.
“You may remember that three weeks ago, there were a lot of people who weren’t sure that Kamala Harris was going to be the most exciting ticket. It feels very different now, and he’s someone who absolutely has ambitions to run and he was looking to the future.
And we received a new report from our team tonight that shows that when he went into his performance review and also in his personal meeting with Harris, he made it very clear what kind of vice president he wanted this to be.
“It was much more of a two for the price of one. He wants to be in the room. He really wanted to have a say in these things.”