CNN Panel Melts Down When Jennings Brings Up Protestors ‘Storming Trump Tower’ [WATCH]

A heated exchange broke out on CNN Thursday when Democratic strategist Xochitl Hinojosa clashed with commentator Scott Jennings over a protest at Trump Tower led by activists from Jewish Voice for Peace.

The group occupied the building’s first floor to demonstrate against the Trump administration’s revocation of the green card of Mahmoud Khalil, a pro-Hamas protest leader at Columbia University who was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on March 8.

Jennings referred to the demonstrators as a “mob” that “stormed Trump Tower,” a characterization Hinojosa strongly disputed.

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The discussion escalated when she invoked the events of January 6, 2021, to contrast Thursday’s protest.

“What I want to remind you both, that it was Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol on January 6th,” Hinojosa said.

“When January 6th happened this year, what happened? It wasn’t Democrats storming the Capitol. Actually, guess what? No one stormed the Capitol this January 6th.”

Jennings immediately pushed back, pointing to footage of the Trump Tower protest.

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“Did you look at the video in New York City today, the people who took over Trump Tower, the people screaming at folks on the streets? Who are those folks?” he asked.

Hinojosa insisted the event was a protest, not an act of force.

“People were protesting. People were protesting. They were not storming —” she said before Jennings interjected, “They stormed Trump Tower.”

The Trump administration took action against Columbia University after it failed to respond to the Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism regarding its handling of pro-Hamas demonstrations on campus.

As a result, the administration canceled more than $400 million in federal grants from four federal agencies.

Hinojosa continued to downplay the Trump Tower protest, arguing, “They were not storming the Capitol. They were not — They were not trying to hurt a member of Congress.”

CNN host Abby Phillip added, “The lobby of Trump Tower is not Trump Tower.”

The protest follows months of escalating demonstrations against Israel since the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack by Hamas that left more than 1,200 dead in Israel.

Since then, anti-Israel activists have occupied buildings, chanted slogans with genocidal connotations, and blocked Jewish students from parts of campus at multiple universities across the country.

Jennings challenged Hinojosa’s defense of the protesters. “You are gonna defend that mob? I mean —” he started before both Hinojosa and Phillip interrupted him.

“There were thousands of people who were prosecuted for January 6th —” Hinojosa said, while Phillip interjected, “I’m not defending any mob.”

The discussion continued to spiral as Jennings reminded the panel of his past condemnation of the Capitol riot.

“You can scream — you can scream at me all you want, but I have every single day condemned the events of January the 6th,” Jennings stated.

“Then, now, and I will continue to do it.”

The protest at Trump Tower highlights growing tensions over pro-Hamas demonstrations in the United States and the increasing scrutiny on organizations supporting such activism.

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