'Are you really calling them mobs?' CNN host calls out Republican over town hall comment

CNN conservative Scott Jennings found himself at the center of a primetime pile-on that erupted after he suggested that a veteran outraged over DOGE-inspired mass firings was part of a “liberal mob” that shouted a Republican down at a chaotic town hall. The moment unfolded Thursday on CNN’s “NewsNight” as the panel discussed the increasingly volatile town halls that have played out across the country in response to the Trump administration’s dismantling of the federal workforce. We've been dealing with this since Donald Trump won in 2016,” Jennings said, adding: “It’s a literal mob.” His remark triggered several on the panel to fire back to insist the display at Edwards’ town hall was not a “liberal mob” – including CNN’s Abby Phillip, who pointed out the similarities with the “real anger” at the government exposed during the Tea Party uprising in 2010. They can yell at them all they want!” “How dare these voters have emotions,” said Roy Wood Jr., host of CNN’s “Have I Got News for You.” Jennings continued to defend his position throughout the tense exchange, while insisting that the outburst that unfolded at the North Carolina town hall on Thursday was “unrepresentative of that congressional district” and “of that state.” “These are unrepresentative, unhinged mobs.