There is something called spinning in politics, which we see all the time, and then there is something even more egregious: outright gaslighting, which has happened with increasing frequency in recent months the closer we get to Election Day.
But something a former communications director for Vice President Kamala Harris asserted during a CNN segment Tuesday about the June presidential debate between President Biden and GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump went way beyond that, so much so that one of the panelists – conservative commentator Scott Jennings – literally facepalmed before rightly calling his colleague out.
SEE ALSO: Scott Jennings Nails Critically Important Point on Biden’s Performance As All Eyes Turn to Kamala
The topic under discussion was Harris folding on the issue of the terms for the ABC News debate. There had been some squabbling between the Harris and Trump campaigns over the issue of whether or not the mics would be on at all times.
Harris’ campaign argued that they wanted them hot throughout the debate. The Trump campaign argued that they had agreed to the same terms for the ABC News debate that they agreed to for the CNN debate, which was to have the other person’s mic off when their opponent was speaking.
Back to the CNN panel, Jamal Simmons, who was one of many comms directors for Harris in the three and a half years of her vice presidency, argued that Trump was “zero for one when it comes to debates”:
“Look, Trump right now is zero for one when it comes to debates. Right? He may think that he won that debate, but it might be that he actually lost the war because of that debate. Because after that debate Joe Biden left. And Joe Biden left, he ended up with Kamala Harris so he should be careful.”
This prompted an incredulous look from Jennings, followed by a facepalm, and then an inconvenient fact check for Simmons:
“Zero for one, Jamal? Jamal, my brother and colleague, zero for – He literally ran a man who’d been in politics for 52 years out of his chosen profession over a debate. I mean, look, I understand what you’re arguing that you all traded in for a better candidate, but Trump won the debate. [Laughter] He is not zero for one. Are you saying he actually did so well, that he did badly?”
Watch:
.@ScottJenningsKY face-palms after @JamalSimmons says Trump “may think that he won that debate, but…he actually lost the war…because after that debate, Joe Biden left and..he ended up with Kamala Harris, so he should be careful.” pic.twitter.com/iT910Xz42i
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) August 27, 2024
.@ScottJenningsKY after @JamalSimmons suggests some sort of 4D chess in Trump beating Biden at the debate, but then losing the election to Kamala: “Zero for one? Jamal, Jamal, my brother and colleague, zero for — he literally ran a man who had been in politics for 52 years out of… pic.twitter.com/0arvdHRy64
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) August 27, 2024
Another fact check that should have been done on Simmons but wasn’t was the fact that Joe Biden did not simply “leave” the race. He was forced out by the same people who a month prior as video surfaced of Biden having to be gently guided by hand off the stage by his former boss, Barack Obama, during a Hollywood fundraiser were telling us to move along, nothing to see, he was okay and was a competent leader.
Further, the behind-the-scenes machinations to shame Biden into withdrawing from the race were disturbingly undemocratic considering Harris has never had a single presidential primary vote cast directly for her, let alone win a presidential primary, not in 2020 – when she embarrassingly dropped out before the primaries, and not in 2024. The nomination was quite literally handed to her and – some would argue – stolen from Joe Biden, not earned.
In any event, hats off to Scott Jennings for schooling Simmons (and it wasn’t the first time he’s done that) on who won and who lost that June debate. I mean I thought this was not even an arguable point but then again when it comes to revising history, Democrats literally have no shame.
Flashback: Scott Jennings Reduces George Conway to a Blithering Mess During Heated Exchange on Trump Verdict
