A former Bush-era official found himself on the defensive during a discussion about reports that Donald Trump once made glowing remarks about Adolf Hitler – whose reign of terror against the Jewish community the Republican commentator compared to protests on college campuses.
The moment came on CNN’s "NewsNight" with anchor Abby Phillip when Scott Jennings, a former special assistant to President George W. Bush, defended Trump, saying the former president refuted the claims made by his former chief of staff John Kelly, before adding: “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.”
“There's thousands of Hitler’s 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. 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 to me,” Jennings said.
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The eyebrow-raising comparison struck a nerve with former state Rep. Bakari Sellers (D-SC), who stepped in and said that while he disagrees with “many of the protests” ongoing on college campuses across the country, Jennings' comment was "far beyond the pale."
“It's more than far — the line has been crossed — you are over there and the line is behind you to compare college students who are protesting for Palestinian rights to Adolf Hitler,” Sellers told Jennings, who was seated next to him.
He continued the tense exchange Tuesday night by asking the panel to imagine a hypothetical scenario in which “anybody dare say that Kamala Harris praised Adolf Hitler.”
“Kamala Harris is having to run the 110 hurdles with high heels on and do a backflip at the end and land a perfect somersault in order to just be in the race with Donald Trump,” he said.
Watch the tense clip below or at this link.