CNN’s CNN Newsroom featured Scott Jennings, a CNN political analyst, educating Al Franken, a disgraced former Senator who was also a failed actor, over his blatantly false claim by Republicans that they will cut Social Security or Medicare if Congress wins in November. Jennings actually ripped into Franken so severely that Franken had to turn to CNN Newsroom host Jim Acosta to get help.
“McCarthy and Scalise both said that the first thing they would do is cut Social Security, Medicare, and they’re going, but they can’t do that unless the President vetoes, but they’re holding-they claim they’re keeping the debt limit hostage,” Franken falsely claimed.
“I was there when they tried holding the debt limit hostage. Franken asked, “And you know what would happen to it if that happens?” “The world economy will collapse. The U.S. dollar would no longer be the currency of choice in the world. It would be an economic disaster.”
“That’s not what Republicans are saying at any time. Republicans have an advantage in this election because they are running on issues that all polls show the most people care about. Jennings responded with “Inflation, economy and crime.”
Jennings said, “The problem for Democrats in this election it that they’re fishing from the wrong pier.” “They placed their entire wager on abortion. And abortion has fallen to sixth, seventh, and eighth.”
Jennings continued to attack Franken and his false narratives. That’s the bottom line.
Things became more difficult when Franken doubled his lies to Jennings, and his audience, about the GOP’s entitlement plans:
FRANKEN: This is what I will say. This is what Scalise and McCarthy both said. Scott, you can’t deny it. They said it–
JENNINGS – They are not cutting Social Security and they are not cutting Medicare
FRANKEN: They said it loud.
JENNINGS – They will stop the out of control spending that has pushed the country into an inflationary spiral. It is true. They aren’t cutting entitlements. You must be bold!
Franken was clearly frustrated by the fact that Acosta didn’t jump in to save him or help him lie so he turned Acosta on Jennings to ask for “fact checking” assistance.
“Jim, why don’t you fact-check it. Franken frantically asked, “You can see, there is plenty of coverage of that.”
Jennings pursued Franken one more time before the segment ended. “There was a truth check this week. Joe Biden has been saying exactly the same thing as you, and the Washington Post fact-checker checked him this week and found that he wasn’t telling the truth.
Jennings stated that it was a scare tactic. “I mean, you’ve been around Democrat Politics for a while. It’s an old chestnut that you guys pull out every Oct.”
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CNN Newsroom
10/23/2022
Eastern, 3:14:20 p.m.
AL FRANKEN : I don’t think we have communicated the economic message well enough. They are absolutely right. McCarthy and Scalise both stated that the first thing they would do is to cut Social Security and Medicare. Unless the President vetoes it they won’t be able to, but they will hold-they claim they’re gonna keep the debt limit hostage. I was there when they tried holding the debt limit hostage. You know what would happen if the debt limit was raised.
The world economy would collapse. The U.S. dollar would no longer be the currency of choice. It would be an economic disaster. They’re threatening this. So, normally Republicans at this stage in an election take out an ad, Democrats saying they’re going to reduce Social Security and Medicare. They’re lying. They are lying. They’re now saying, “We’re going to do it!” They are!
JIM ACOSTA: Scott You have the final word.
SCOTT JENNINGS (Yes, if you don’t mind, I would love to respond to that. This is not what Republicans are saying. Republicans have an advantage in this election because they are running on the issues that most people care about. Inflation, economy, crime. It is the most important issue in all national polls. It is the most important issue in nearly every state poll that addresses the major issues. The problem with the Democrats in this election? They’re fishing from the wrong pier.
Their entire bet was on the issue of abortion. It has fallen to sixth, seventh, and eighth. I can read a poll, and right now I see that voters don’t think the Democrats are smart enough or good enough. They just don’t like them. This is the bottom line. In this election, the Democrats have failed to address the top issues of the people.
FRANKEN: Thank you for the shoutout to Stuart Smalley
ACOSTA: I was going say, that might give Al last word here.
FRANKEN: This is what I will say. This is what Scalise and McCarthy both said. Scott, you can’t deny it. They said it–
JENNINGS – They are not cutting Social Security and they are not cutting Medicare
FRANKEN: They said it loud.
JENNINGS – They will stop the out of control spending that has pushed the country into an inflationary spiral. It is true. They aren’t cutting entitlements. You must be bold!
FRANKEN: They said they would. Jim, you should fact-check it. As you can see, there is a lot of coverage.
JENNINGS – This week there was a fact-check. Joe Biden has been saying exactly the same thing as you, and the Washington Post fact-checker checked him this week and found that he wasn’t telling the truth. It’s a scare tactic. You’ve been around Democrat politics for a while. It’s a common truism that you guys pull out every October.
