Former DNC Spox Gets Completely Embarrassed on CNN by Scott Jennings [WATCH]

A heated exchange broke out on CNN Sunday as senior political commentator Scott Jennings pushed back against former Democratic National Committee spokesperson Xochitl Hinojosa, who questioned the legitimacy of President Donald Trump’s decision to strike Iranian nuclear facilities without congressional approval.

The discussion followed Saturday night’s U.S. airstrikes that targeted three nuclear sites in Iran.

The military operation, ordered by President Trump, was launched amid escalating tensions between Iran and Israel and amid long-standing threats from the Iranian regime toward the United States.

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Hinojosa criticized the move, saying the administration had not provided sufficient justification for bypassing Congress.

“But I will say … in order for the president to take action without congressional approval, he needed to show that there was a real, true threat to the United States and that the strike would not cause escalation,” she said.

“We have not heard from [the Department of Defense] what is happening there, so what will be critical in the weeks to come is Congress must see the underlying intelligence about how they were an indirect threat and how the U.S. needed to respond without congressional approval. But as of right now, I have not seen that.”

Jennings immediately rejected that assertion and cited decades of antagonism from Iran toward the U.S. as justification.

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“You’re arguing that after 46 years of the Iranian regime killing Americans, threatening Americans, saying over and over and over again, ‘death to America,’ that maybe … they just didn’t mean it?” Jennings said. “That they were fiery but mostly peaceful Iranian butchers? Like I don’t understand. This is a righteous strike.”

President Trump and several members of Congress have consistently pointed to Iran’s public hostility toward the United States—particularly its “death to America” rhetoric—as a serious national security threat.

Following the strikes, House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune both released statements supporting the president’s decision, emphasizing that Iran’s efforts to obtain nuclear weapons could not be tolerated.

The “death to America” slogan has been a hallmark of the Iranian regime’s messaging for decades.

A resurfaced video from 2018 shows members of the Iranian parliament chanting the phrase and burning an American flag on the chamber floor in protest of Trump’s withdrawal from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

In terms of direct military action, Iran’s record includes the deaths of hundreds of U.S. service members.

According to the Pentagon, Iranian-backed groups and weaponry were responsible for the deaths of 603 American troops in Iraq between 2003 and 2011, as reported by the Military Times.

Broader estimates suggest Iran may be linked to the deaths of more than 1,000 American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan combined over the last 15 years.

During a national address Saturday night, President Trump warned Iran that further aggression would be met with even greater force.

“What we did tonight was a very successful attack,” he said.

“We completely and totally obliterated their nuclear enrichment facilities.”

Despite longstanding public evidence of Iran’s hostility toward the United States, some commentators attempted to downplay the regime’s threats.

Richard Stengel, a former under secretary of state for public affairs under Barack Obama, appeared on MSNBC and claimed that Iranians chanted “death to America” in a “peaceful” way.

He added, “The U.S. has much more in common with Iran than with some of our allies.”

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Stengel said that Iranians do, in fact, chant “Death to America,” but are respectful about it.

“Iran is the most Western nation… pic.twitter.com/v3VWkONi4p

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) June 19, 2025

Iran’s domestic human rights record has drawn scrutiny from international organizations for decades.

Since 1979, the Islamic Republic has imposed harsh restrictions on women, including mandatory hijab laws. Women face punishment such as fines, arrest, and even public flogging for violating dress codes.

In 2022, 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died in custody after being beaten by the country’s morality police for allegedly violating hijab rules.

That woman in your poster?
Your “hero”?
She says women like you and me deserve to be raped, because we don’t cover our hair or hide our bodies “properly.”

On Iran’s state TV,
She said #MahsaAmini deserved to die, because she broke the law by showing her hair. Remember?

But… pic.twitter.com/gYO9dS16bB

— Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) June 22, 2025

Her death triggered widespread protests across Iran.

The Biden-era critics of the Trump administration’s actions continue to argue for a more cautious, diplomacy-based approach to Iran.

However, the recent strikes and responses from U.S. leadership reflect an ongoing national security strategy shaped by decades of conflict, direct threats, and American casualties linked to the Iranian regime.

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