CNN’s MAGA pundit backed into corner over Pentagon’s latest attack on senator

CNN's Scott Jennings at the CNN Republican Presidential Debate in Des Moines, Iowa on January 10, 2024 (Gage Skidmore/Flickr)

Scott Jennings, the resident MAGA Republican pundit at CNN, was backed into a corner during a Monday panel discussion, getting pressed about the Department of Defense's latest attack against a Democratic senator while attempting to attack said lawmaker as publicity-seeking.

Over the weekend, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called for a renewed investigation into Sen. Mark Kelly, an Arizona Democrat, for allegedly disclosing classified information during a televised interview with CBS News's Face the Nation, where he said it was "shocking" how deeply the U.S. military has depleted its munitions amid the ongoing war with Iran. This marks the second time the Pentagon has attempted to investigate Kelly, a leading candidate for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination, with the last effort getting shot down in court.

"We had this conversation in a public hearing a week ago and you said it would take ‘years’ to replenish some of these stockpiles. That’s not classified, it’s a quote from you," Kelly wrote in a social media post responding to Hegseth.

During a Wednesday broadcast of CNN's The Arena with Kasie Hunt, Alex Thompson, a national political reporter for Axios, noted how Hegseth's highly publicized attacks on Kelly have done wonders for the senator's fundraising efforts.

"Pete Hegseth has been the best political fundraiser of Kark Kelly's entire career," Thompson said. "Mark Kelly, as of the end of last quarter, had $22 million cash on hand. He's not up for reelection... until 2028. And of all the people thinking about running for president in 2028, he has the most cash on hand by a long shot. He has more cash on hand than [Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez] or any of these other people.... Mark Kelly's political team has made the most of it."

"Every single day that the Trump administration takes on Mark Kelly is a good day for theKelly potential presidentialcampaign," Jamal Simmons, the former communication advisor for Kamala Harris, added. "He goes up in stocknot just in money, but alsopeople paying attention to this.They'll sort out what happenedwith the, you know, who saidwhat and which briefing. But thepolitical problem that the trumpadministration has is Mark Kelly, fighter pilot, astronaut, husband of Gabby Giffords is avery tough political opponentfor them."

In response to those comments from Thompson and Simmons, Jennings chimed in, arguing that the fundraising angle gave Kelly "partisan interests" for seemingly picking a fight with the Trump administration.

"This man is a United States senator. He's getting classified briefings from the Pentagon. And then he goes on television and tells our enemies around the world in great specificity which weapon systems are depleted, which need to be restocked," Jennings said. "Did he ever stopto ask himself what is in thebest interest of the United States of America, and not justmy own political future? Becauseit's obvious that he did not. Asitting senator going ontelevision and telegraphing toour enemies and our threatsaround the world what we may ormay not have. It'sextraordinarily irresponsible,but let's not let that get inthe way of a presidential campaign."

In response, host Kasie Hunt asked, if the information about the depleted munitions was so important, why Hegseth opted to state publicly that the information was classified and important, instead of quietly pushing for an investigation into Kelly. Jennings, in return, appeared flustered by the pushback.

"Look, look, right. I mean, look, Mark Kelly went on television and said, I got a classified briefing and here's what I was told," Jennings said.

"I'm just saying, it soundslike they're both doing thesame thing, right?" Hunt responded. "Everyone'splaying politics here...if you're going to buy intoyour argument that, hey, this isa senator, right? Who's runningfor president, and that's whatwe're acknowledging he's doing. Like, is Hegseth not doing thesame thing?"

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