Appearing on CNN on Friday morning with co-hosts John Berman and Brianna Keilar, GOP campaign consultant and close adviser to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Scott Jennings suggested whoever gets the 2024 GOP presidential nomination should be prepared to disavow Donald Trump for his part in the Jan 6th Capitol insurrection.
Jennings, who normally attempts to soothe the waters when Republicans turn on each other, was uncharacteristically blunt when talking about the ex-president as he blamed him for inciting the attempted insurrection.
Using former Vice President Mike Pence's Thursday night speech when he talked about the insurrection as a leaping off point, Jennings said Republicans considering running for president in 2024 are going to be facing some hard choices if they have any hope of winning.
"You know, when I heard Vice President Pence describe it as a 'dark day,' I thought, well, he and Trump agree it was a dark day, but it's for different days. Pence thinks it was a dark day because Donald Trump sent a mob to string him up and Donald Trump thinks it was a dark day because the mob doesn't succeed," Jennings quipped. "Of course they'll not see eye to eye on this because Donald Trump fundamentally thinks the Republicans, including Mike Pence, should have bowed, caved to that mob and tried to overthrow the election."
"So, look, this is a very impossible dance, you know, for Mike Pence to do," he elaborated. "I understand rhetorically what he has to do as he seeks to run for president -- he did his duty on that day. Donald Trump is wrong, Donald Trump's at fault, and my prediction is in 2024, whoever we nominate, Pence, [Chris] Christie, [Rick] Scott, [Ron] DeSantis, somebody has to stand in front of a television camera someday and say what we all know to be true; this happened, the president of the United States was at fault, he whipped up a mob, it was a dark day for democracy, not because the Republicans didn't cave but because Donald Trump tried to commit an insurrection against his own government."
"That's the litmus test that's going to be before the American people in 2024 if they are to entrust the Republicans with the White House again," he added.
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