(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) CNN was put to task when a guest challenged the network live on air, defending former President Donald Trump’s characterization of the man accused of brutally murdering beloved nursing student Laken Riley as an “animal.”
On Wednesday, Scott Jennings, a former aide in the Bush White House and a CNN contributor, stood by Trump’s comments as anchor Wolf Blitzer attempted, unsuccessfully, to admonish the former president for supposedly labeling all illegal aliens as “animals.”
In response, Jennings said: “I listened to the entire tape. He was specifically talking about the person who murdered Laken Riley in Georgia. To be honest with you, Wolf, if somebody murders another human being, I think they deserve to be called animals.”
CNN gets roasted for pushing the “animals” hoax:
“[Pres. Trump] was specifically talking about the person who MURDERED Laken Riley,” says @ScottJenningsKY. “That poor girl was murdered in cold blood. Is that person who did it not an animal?” pic.twitter.com/wIfz3coTD7
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) April 3, 2024
Expanding on his defense of Trump, Jennings remarked, “I don’t think any American is really going to reject that kind of rhetoric. That poor girl was murdered in cold blood. Is that person, who did it, not an animal? I think that’s an apt term.”
Jennings’s comments were prompted by Blitzer’s incorrect interpretation of Trump’s remarks, which he made during a Michigan campaign event. “When he says that these immigrants are animals, are not humans, what does that suggest? … Shouldn’t people be condemning that?” Blitzer asserted.
Contrary to Blitzer’s claims, Trump did not broadly refer to all illegal aliens as “animals.” Instead, the former president specifically referred to Riley‘s alleged murderer and other instances of illegal aliens committing crimes.
“The 22-year-old nursing student in Georgia who was barbarically murdered by an illegal alien animal,” Trump said. He was referring to 26-year-old Jose Antonio Ibarra, a Venezuelan national who faces murder charges in Riley’s death.
NEW: Donald Trump calls Laken Riley’s murderer an ‘animal,’ prompting a meltdown from the-left.
Imagine being mad because someone calls a cold-blooded murderer an ‘animal.’
“The 22-year-old nursing student in Georgia who was barbarically murdered by an illegal alien animal.”… pic.twitter.com/Xeq0glov2D
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) April 2, 2024
Later in his remarks, Trump also criticized Democrats for objecting to his characterization of illegal aliens accused of heinous crimes as “animals,” as seen in video footage of the Michigan event.
“The Democrats said, ‘Please don’t call them animals, they’re humans.’ I said no they’re not humans they’re not humans they’re animals,” Trump stated. “[Former House Speaker] Nancy Pelosi told me that. She said, ‘Please don’t use the word animal, sir, when you’re talking about these people. I said, ‘I’ll use the word animal because that’s what they are.’”
Before making the “animal” remark, the former president addressed the tragic death of a Michigan woman, who was allegedly killed and run over by a Mexican national.
Mavi Garcia, the victim, was killed by her boyfriend, 25-year-old Brandon Ortiz-Vite, who had been deported by the Trump administration but managed to re-enter the U.S.
Law enforcement alleged that Ortiz-Vite left Garcia’s body in the middle of a street before fatally running over her. Initially, police characterized the death as the result of a drunken carjacking. The Mexican national is now facing murder charges.
