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A conservative political analyst sparked a heated conversation on CNN after refusing to give a straight answer about Donald Trump’s debunked conspiracy theory targeting Haitian migrants.
The exchange happened during a CNN panel on Wednesday, during which participants discussed the debunked right-wing claim that Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio are eating pet cats and dogs. The unfounded claim, which Trump and his running mate JD Vance have amplified, appears to have originated from a post describing a fourth-hand account on a Springfield Facebook group.
There is no evidence to support the theory and city officials have rejected the claim.
Things became heated when political commentator Ana Navarro asked Scott Jennings, a conservative political analyst, his thoughts on the theory.
“He was amplifying a conspiracy theory that I think you would agree puts a target on the backs of Haitian immigrants and that it is based on racism,” Navarro told Jennings during the Wednesday night panel. “Would you agree on that?”
“Anti-Black racism, to be more pointed,” panelist Nina Turner added.
Jennings went silent and Navarro continued: “Do you think that if there were 20,000 Scandinavians that had been sent to Springfield that your people would be saying that they’re eating cats and dogs and geese?”
“I’m not going to answer for him, for his memes, for anything else,” Jennings responded.
“I’m asking you,” Navarro clarified, “do you think that is based in racism?”
“I’m not going to answer, I don’t know,” Jennings said.
“That was a long pause, Scott,” host Abby Phillip responded, referring to his earlier silence.
“Because I don’t know the answer,” he continued. “I’m not going to sit here and answer for somebody. I don’t talk to Donald Trump about what the motivations are.”
The Independent has contacted Jennings for comment.
The baseless conspiracy theory has been a key topic in the political sphere this week. Trump even tried to promote the claim during his debate with Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday but was quickly fact-checked by the moderators.
“ABC News did reach out to the city manager there,” moderator David Muir said. “He told us there had been no credible reports of specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community.”
“Well, I’ve seen people on television. People on television say, ‘My dog was taken and used for food,’ so maybe he said that and maybe that’s a good thing to say for a city manager,” Trump responded, continuing to peddle the false claim.
