All posts tagged "abby phillip"

'Stop, my god': Fiery CNN debate breaks out with Trump loyalists over faces on money

A fiery debate broke out on a CNN panel after a Trump loyalist argued whose face belongs on money.

Members of a panel hosted by CNN anchor Abby Phillip reacted to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announcing that the Trump administration does not plan to put Harriet Tubman's face on the $20 bill. The Obama administration first revealed plans to immortalize the historical figure, who led slaves to freedom through the Underground Railroad, and the Biden administration revived those plans.

"Look, you put faces on money to commemorate American icons," Trump loyalist Brianna Lyman said. "There are only a limited number of bills, one, two, five, ten, 20, 100, fifty, so there has to be a very selective process."

She then argued in favor of the current face of the $20 bill, Andrew Jackson, who "saved the union during the Nullification Crisis. He was a war hero in 1815. He actually vetoed the second charter of the bank, which was seen at the time as a way to take power away from the rich and elites."

Phillip asked Lyman what the argument is against having Tubman on the $20 bill, and Lyman quickly shot back, "What's the argument for Harriet Tubman?"

"What's the argument for Harriet Tubman?" Phillip responded, seeming shocked. "Do we have to do a history lesson?"

Democratic strategist and former Kamala Harris campaign advisor Mike Nellis, who sat next to Lyman on the panel, threw his hands up and asked, "What's the argument for Donald Trump getting a $250 bill?"

Phillip argued, "If you're a conservative, you should love Harriet Tubman. She was a gun-toting abolitionist. She was an everyday American hero."

Nellis agreed, saying, "Harriet Tubman represents everything that Donald Trump is not, right? There's somebody who put her body on the line, who was a regular person."

Lyman interrupted, arguing, "Donald Trump was shot and nearly killed for trying to be president," to which Nellis reacted, "Oh, stop, my god."

Conservative radio host Jason Rantz, who was also on the panel, suggested putting Tubman on another bill, to which Phillip responded, "Put her on the $250!"

GOP podcaster ridiculed on CNN panel as his defense of Trump sons collapses

A CNN panel had a good laugh as a GOP pundit twisted himself in a "pretzel" defending the Trump family.

While discussing recent revelations about how much money Trump and his family made since returning to office last year, conservative podcaster Ben Ferguson had everyone around him in stitches.

Ferguson, the host of "The Ben Ferguson Show," argued that the Trump family isn't corrupt for its involvement in billion-dollar ventures involving cryptocurrency and tungsten mining because they were engaged in "actual business."

CNN anchor Abby Phillip, who described the Trump family as "real estate developers," shot back by asking, "What do the Trump sons know about mining rare earth minerals? What do the Trump sons know about robotics?"

Ferguson's response was, "A lot, clearly, they made a lot of money off of it because they actually invest in it."

The panel around him, which included political analyst and attorney Bakari Sellers, former Biden White House staffer Yemisi Egbewole, and former Bush White House official Ashley Davis, could be heard laughing together as Ferguson responded.

Sellers chimed in by remarking, "I do hot yoga, and I feel like you're doing a little hot yoga too for that pretzel you got yourself in," which led to Egbewole and Davis laughing more.

"The president makes $400,000 a year," Sellers pointed out. "This quarter, he's made over $1 billion on crypto alone...that fundamentally is unethical. You can call it what you want."

While Sellers mentioned Trump's presidential salary, Ferguson threw in one more defense: "he gives it all away," which also caused laughter around the table.

CNN anchor shuts down MAGA columnist's head-scratching warning about 'Chinese babies'

A fiery debate broke out between a CNN anchor and a MAGA-defending correspondent who warned about "Chinese babies."

CNN anchor Abby Phillip hosted a panel discussion about calls from MAGA to stop immigrants from having children in the United States. The MAGA line comes after the Supreme Court blocked Trump's effort to end birthright citizenship.

She had the panel react to a line from Trump legal adviser Mike Davis, where he called on the administration to shift its focus from mass deportations to "going to get these pregnant women the hell out of our country, women and women who could be pregnant."

Phillip called suggestions of changing birthright citizenship via an executive order "bad politics, bad optics, maybe both," when New York Post correspondent Lydia Moynihan stepped in to defend the MAGA point of view.

"We already know that foreign adversaries are exploiting this," Moynihan said. "There's been 1.5 million Chinese CCP babies who have been born on U.S. soil."

"I've never seen the number be that high," Phillip said. "Are you talking about Chinese nationals who have come here?"

"Yes," Moynihan said. "That's an issue that we know our foreign adversaries are exploiting."

"Do you realize that not all of them are here to give birth?" Phillip responded.

Moynihan continued on about how Chinese immigrants "exploit" birth tourism, and talked over Phillip, whom she accused of trying to "argue the numbers."

"You're saying all of the 1.5 million people of Chinese heritage are coming for the sole purpose of utilizing our social services?" Phillip asked, having to talk over Moynihan as she demanded, "Do you want people whose parents are CCP citizens, who grew up in China, to come here and vote?"

"There are plenty of people who have parents of foreign citizenship, who are American citizens and do in fact have the right to vote," Phillip responded. "They might be from China, they might be from Russia, they might be from England, they might be from anywhere in the world. That is not illegal, to have parents from another country."

'Nasty, nasty work': CNN panel recoils in disgust at MAGA attacks against SCOTUS justice

A panel of political analysts recoiled in disgust at MAGA attacks against a Supreme Court justice.

CNN anchor Abby Phillip shared online comments about Amy Coney Barrett in the wake of the Supreme Court decision to block Trump's efforts to kill birthright citizenship.

"Amy Coney Barrett is the poster child for why we need to repeal the Nineteenth Amendment," wrote West Virginia congressional candidate and convicted January 6er Derrick Evans, referring to the amendment that gives women the right to vote, in a post shared by Phillip.

"If Amy Coney Barrett really votes against ending birthright citizenship, we should begin to look into how to deport her Haitian child back to Haiti," far-right internet personality Joey Mannarino wrote.

Phillip also pointed out that Daily Wire podcaster Matt Walsh had changed his tune about Barrett compared to when he praised her appointment during the first Trump administration.

She added, "The attacks on Amy Coney Barrett have been, let me just be clear, sexist."

However, after Phillip finished by reading Mannarino's post, the panel reacted audibly. Prominent liberal political commentator and podcaster Adam Mockler could be heard making an "egh" sound. Democratic strategist Ashley Allison described it as "nasty, nasty work."

"There is a lot of vitriol coming out," Mockler said. "A lot of vitriol coming out, a lot of hypocrisy from conservatives, and I'm not surprised. I'm not surprised this party is having sexist attacks against her."

Mockler suggested it was a "top-down effort from Donald Trump to try to delegitimize the courts," and "spew bile and venom in politics."

He also pointed out that Marjorie Taylor Greene "had to leave politics due to the death threats that she was getting, so women in the Republican Party aren't treated well."

'Please stop': CNN panel teams up against shouting MAGA pundit mid-rant

Several members of a CNN panel tried to get a MAGA pundit to stop her "embarrassing" rant.

Former Trump White House staffer Caroline Sunshine took part in the panel, hosted by CNN anchor Abby Phillip. Most of the panel turned on Sunshine, however, when she started to defend the Trump administration from accusations of racism because it started accepting South African refugees while turning down refugees from other African nations.

"The United States has had an extremely generous refugee policy in regards to several African nations," Sunshine argued. "Now that South Africa is one of them, there's a problem. When was the problem when we were taking in millions from every other destabilized country?"

"You're being very obtuse, and it's embarrassing," shot back political commentator Leah McGowan.

Pollster and political strategist Josh Doss agreed, saying, "This is very deliberately obtuse."

Sunshine, whose jaw dropped, interrupted Doss to ask, "Can someone explain the Expropriation Act?" She was referring to a law that Trump condemned for supposedly taking land from White farmers when he gave South Africans refugee status.

"Stop," McGowan said. "Please stop."

Phillip then stepped in to fact-check Sunshine.

"What you're saying, that expropriation act, no property has been expropriated," Phillip said. "You know that, right?"

"No!" Sunshine responded. "That's not true."

"It is true," Phillip said. "No property has actually been expropriated, so you're talking about something that is basically hypothetical."

After speaking about apartheid in South Africa, Phillip then turned her attention to the Trump administration's plan to send Haitians who are losing temporary protected status back to Haiti.

"Meanwhile, we're saying to Americans, 'Don't go to Haiti because you might die,' but we want to send 350,000 asylum seekers essentially back to Haiti because Stephen Miller doesn't like them," Phillip said.

'It's not a joke': CNN pundits crack up while reading new detail in Trump tell-all

CNN pundits couldn't hold it together as they heard about a new detail in an upcoming tell-all about the Trump White House.

The upcoming book Regime Change, written by New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, detailed how Trump showed them a document that argued he was more powerful than historical strongmen like Attila the Hun, Genghis Khan, Napoleon, Stalin, Mao, and Hitler.

After a little digging, it turned out that the document wasn't written by a presidential historian like Trump claimed, but by Hall of Fame golfer Gary Player's long-time caddy, according to reports.

CNN anchor Abby Phillip explained as much to her pundits on Thursday, but she cracked up and couldn't get through the whole recap.

"It's not a joke," Phillip said as she laughed. "This actually happened."

Political commentator Xochitl Hinojosa and Democratic former congressional candidate Isaiah Martin couldn't contain themselves either and laughed out loud alongside Phillip.

"This is the president of the United States," Hinojosa said, covering her face.

Hinojosa admitted, "It is scary that he is comparing himself [to those figures]. He has unlimited power. He is essentially saying that he is a lot like a dictator." She did find consolation in describing Trump as a historically unpopular president, though.

"He can try to say in his head that he is the most powerful, that he is like a dictator, that he has all the power in the world," Hinojosa said. "But the reality is that this man is going to go down as probably one of the least popular presidents."

CNN anchor laughs in Scott Jennings' face as his Trump Kennedy Center defense collapses

Conservative CNN pundit Scott Jennings embarrassingly lost his attempt to defend Trump as his name came off the Kennedy Center.

"Are we upset that the president of the United States took an interest in the Kennedy Center?" Jennings asked while on a CNN roundtable.

"A lot of people are upset about that, yes," CNN host Abby Phillip responded.

"Why?" Jennings followed up before taking a shot at Trump opponents. "They've never been able to stand the fact that Donald Trump won the White House the first time, and especially the second time."

Phillip quickly countered Jennings' argument by pointing out why people are really upset about Trump's attempted renaming.

"How about Congress established the Kennedy Center as a memorial for John F. Kennedy, and that it is illegal for him to slap his name on it?" Phillip said. "That is why people are upset about it."

Jennings tried to hold up his argument, though.

"But here's the deal, he took an interest in this," Jennings said, referring to Trump.

"What about the laws, Scott?" Phillip asked.

"What about it?" Jennings shot back.

Phillip laughed as soon as Jennings said that, but he kept on going.

"Who cares?" he insisted. "These haters stand out on the street screeching about a name."

"Wow, haters," journalist Cari Champion reacted. "Unbelievable."

'Unmistakably extraordinary': CNN hosts gush over Obamas after powerful DNC speeches

CNN anchors Dana Bash and Abby Phillip lauded Barack and Michelle Obama following their powerful speeches at the Democratic National Convention.

Talking with the two after the pair of speeches, fellow anchor Jake Tapper noted that the Obamas celebrated Harris and the convention, but that it's time for Democrats to get to work.

"Both of them were giving the unmistakable message to the crowd: yes, this is fun. We're having a great time. This is very exciting. But this is not what the next 77 days are going to look like," said Tapper, paraphrasing the Obamas with a laugh. "This is going to be tough. Your candidates are going to make mistakes. The other side is going to fight like hell."

Bash agreed with Tapper, noting that both spoke to the Democratic base, the energized grassroots, but also to swing voters, undecided voters and Ronald Reagan-era Republicans.

ALSO READ: Why Kamala Harris may get a big convention polling ‘bounce’

She praised Barack Obama as "unmistakably extraordinary."

"There's no Republican who would say anything different," she said. But it was Michelle who seemed to land even better with the audience.

"When Michelle Obama was speaking," she said, looking over to Phillip, "we were talking — we couldn't hear."

Phillip echoed Bash's remark.

"That was the loudest this arena had gotten," Phillip said.

"This place was going absolutely nuts," added Bash, particularly over one line that Michelle Obama said.

"When she talked about the fact that he dislikes them effectively for one reason," said Bash. "And that is because they are Black. That's effectively what she said."

Michelle "twisted the knife" when she said they have the "Black jobs," added Bash.

Phillip called the Obamas "two of the best players in politics right now."

"Two people who can speak in ways that almost no one else in the party can speak," she said. "Particularly Michelle Obama. That speech really electrified this arena. I don't even think Barack Obama — no offense to him, his speech was excellent — it was not received in the same way. I think we just have to be honest by that."

‘Change the sheets’: Conservative on CNN profanely slams Trump’s race remarks on Harris

Donald Trump made a major misstep by attacking Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris’ racial identity during a conference for Black journalists Wednesday, conservative political analyst and former White House deputy director of political affairs Scott Jennings told a CNN panel.

“He did crap the bed today. The only question is whether he's going to roll around in it or get up and change the sheets,” Jennings said during CNN host Abby Phillip’s Wednesday night broadcast of "NewsNight."

“My advice would be: get up and change the sheets," he said.

Jennings rebuke is the latest in a torrent of backlash against Trump over the calamitous interrogation at a Chicago National Association for Black Journalists conference which ended with his own team abruptly cutting off the interview. Jennings says a better strategy for the Trump campaign would be to attack Harris on her policies and record, not her race.

“This is not going to end the way he wants it to end,” Jennings said. “There’s a better way to do this and they know what to do but it’s on him to do it.”

Later on in the panel discussion, commentator Ashley Allison riffed on Jennings analogy, saying that Trump’s inflammatory race remarks may have landed better in 2016 than they do now.

“Donald Trump is sloppy with his words, quite honestly,” Allison said, eliciting laughs from the rest of the panel “Now its old and old slop is messy, and it stinks, and it's nasty and you need to clean it up.”

Watch the clip below or at this link.

'Off the rails': CNN host says Trump self-destructed and echoed 'birther' remarks

Former President Donald Trump revealed a side of himself that he has desperately tried to hide from Black voters in his tense exchange with reporters at Wednesday's gathering of the National Association of Black Journalists, CNN's Abby Phillip told Jake Tapper.

The question-and-answer session, which had Trump questioning Vice President Kamala Harris' race and calling the journalists "horrible" and "nasty," even left some right-wing outlets and commentators scrambling to do damage control.

"Trump made this bizarre claim that Kamala Harris, quote, 'happened to turn Black,'" said Tapper. "She's obviously identified as Black. Yes, her mom is Indian and her father Jamaican, but she's obviously identified as Black for her whole life. She went to Howard, for God's sake. That's not really outreach to the Black community?"

"I mean, it's really not," agreed Phillip, who went on, "I think that one of the things about this decision of Trump's to come to NABJ, it's based on this premise that he is making inroads with Black voters, particularly Black men. But when the rubber meets the road, I think that the Trump that was on display on that stage is really pretty consistent with what he has been saying all along."

She noted that Trump's questioning of Harris' race echoed his "birther" conspiracy theories from over a decade before that former President Barack Obama might not be an American citizen.

"I'll also say ... I think that when we described this as going off the rails, we should be clear, Trump was the one who seemed to lose control of the situation from the beginning," said Phillip. "The questions were there, and they were very clear. I mean, he was asked about whether he would pardon January 6th rioters. He said that he would, including the ones who assaulted police officers. He was asked about a very high-profile case going on right now involving a Black woman who was killed by a police officer. He didn't know about the case, and he seemed to suggest that the officer involved might qualify for immunity."

"So there were a lot of moments that I don't think were very beneficial to Donald Trump in this interview, but were nevertheless incredibly important to hear from his own mouth, because he is not getting asked about these questions when he goes on the friendly interviews that he's been doing quite a lot of over the last few weeks," Phillip added.

Watch the video below or at the link here.

Abby Phillip on Trump's NABJ meetingwww.youtube.com