Comedian and CNN guest Pete Dominick lost his cool during a panel discussion hosted by anchor Abby Phillip, sparring with Republican commentator Scott Jennings and writer Coleman Hughes over the fallout from Tuesday’s presidential election.
The segment went sideways when Jennings pointed out that Biden’s presidency had effectively been stuck in a slump since his administration’s disastrous exit from Afghanistan in August 2021. Dominick responded by parroting the anti-Trump narratives pushed by The Atlantic and then proceeded to complain that Jennings and Hughes were the ones who wouldn’t acknowledge reality.
“If you look at the arc of the Biden presidency, he was in really good shape until August of 2021. When Afghanistan happened, he went under 40 — [Harris] went under 40 — and they really lived there until the end of the presidency,” Jennings explained.
“Why?” Dominick interrupted. “Why?”
“He’s still there,” Jennings continued over Dominick’s interjections. “Because — because he ran and told us that the adults were back in charge, and that was the opposite —”
“Yeah, they were,” Dominick insisted, interrupting again. “Because Donald Trump is a child.”
“And you know what — and you know what else? The fact that they wouldn’t give these 13 service members’ families the time of day,” Jennings continued without raising his voice, referencing the families of the 13 service members killed at Abbey Gate during the withdrawal — families who were ignored by the Biden administration and who Trump took the time to visit and get to know. “They would not. They would not.”
“Bulls***, dude!” Dominick objected, shouting as he cited The Atlantic and insisted despite all evidence to the contrary, “I’m sorry, but Donald Trump hates veterans. He called them ‘suckers’ and ‘losers.’ He did! He absolutely — despite — he has his whole life. He has his entire life.”
“I know you’re super emotional, I just —” Jennings tried to bring the conversation back, but Dominick wasn’t having it.
“Of course I am,” he shouted. “I’m terrified!”
“I’m telling you the political reality is that when they made that decision —” Jennings tried again.
“It doesn’t matter, when you don’t admit that Donald Trump hates veterans,” Dominick said again. “You don’t, you don’t admit it.”
CNN Panelist’s TDS Goes off the Charts During Heated Debate With Scott Jennings
PETE DOMINICK: “Donald Trump hates veterans! He called them suckers and losers. He absolutely despises them.”
SCOTT JENNINGS: “I know you’re super emotional.”
PETE DOMINICK: “Of course I am. I’m… pic.twitter.com/ry4mTeiauX
— The Vigilant Fox 🦊 (@VigilantFox) November 8, 2024
Dominick continued his rant, claiming that Jennings was calling former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly a liar — and making no mention of the people who had worked both with and for Kelly in the Trump White House and didn’t believe his claims.
“You’re still campaigning,” Jennings said calmly, shaking his head. “It’s over, brother.”
That apparently angered Dominick even more, and he shot back, “It’s not over, it will never be over! It’ll never be over! You wish.”
“The political reality is, when they made that decision, and everyone realized, oh my gosh, these aren’t the competent adults that we were promised,” Jennings explained.
“Oh, yeah, Donald Trump is,” Dominick’s snide interruption failed to get under Jennings’ skin.
“— and then, when you pile on top of it the decisions that made inflation worse, it was a compounding interest of political crap over time that they could never get out of, and that’s how she lost the race,” Jennings concluded.
Hughes weighed in then, noting that people in both parties had wanted to end the war in Afghanistan and adding that it was just the way it was done that had been problematic — and he too argued that had shown the American people they had been wrong about Biden.
“We thought the adults were back in the room, that’s why people voted for Biden,” Hughes explained. “A return to normalcy, a return to competence. He’s a lifelong public servant, we thought, we’re gonna get normal, we’re gonna get competent.”
“We did! We did!” Dominick insisted.
“Afghanistan doesn’t signal that,” Hughes pushed back.
Dominick pivoted to talk about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, claiming that they could be blamed solely on Republicans and suggesting that Biden’s hands had been tied by the time he took office. Ignoring the fact that full reports have shown that it was Biden who insisted on exiting Afghanistan in the way that he did, even over the objections of experts and generals, Dominick claimed it was Jennings and Hughes who just didn’t get it.
“You guys live on the tippy-top of bulls*** mountain,” Dominick claimed, saying that they were wrong to think public perception of Biden had changed after Afghanistan.
“I mean, I can read a chart and I can read a poll,” Jennings shrugged, kind of rolling his eyes. “I guess you can’t. But the reality is that when he made that decision —”
“Ugh, your petty insults are so weak, dude,” Dominick whined, and Jennings just laughed. “If you hear yourself talking … you can laugh all you want, but like, I can’t read a chart? It’s so uninteresting.”
