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CNN conservative pundit Scott Jennings blasted Jim Messina — an adviser to former President Barack Obama — for accusing Jennings of parroting Republican Party "talking points" during a heated exchange Wednesday.
Amid a discussion about GOP midterm gains among Latino voters, Jennings said regarding the Arizona Senate race that polling indicates "[Blake] Masters is close to [Mark] Kelly. I don’t know if he’s gonna win, but it’s a very close..." Yahoo! Entertainment reported.
Messina — who was White House deputy chief of staff for operations under Obama and the former president's 2012 campaign manager — shot back, “Do you want to bet money on that race?” the outlet added.
“Do I want to bet money?” Jennings replied, according to the outlet. “You wanna bet money on the governor’s race?”
Image source: Twitter video screenshot via @Acyn
“You’re just holding the Republican line in everything you’ve said tonight,” Messina told Jennings, the outlet said. “Let’s be in the middle.”
The outlet added that Messina continued accusing Jennings of parroting the GOP line.
"C'mon," Messina said. “Enough with the talking points.”
Jennings had quite enough.
“I feel like your debate with Karl Rove that you had before you came here — like, your ears are clogged,” Jennings told Messina.
“No,” Messina replied. “I’m just concerned that the RNC gave you the talking points and now you can’t shift.”
“I tell you what, man, do you have a single friend?” Jennings asked Messina sarcastically before getting a tad angry. “You’re an absolute jerk! Unbelievable."
Alisyn Camerota tried to tone things down, hilariously sounding a bit like a teen trying to stop a high school fight: "Guys! Guys! Guys! Stop!"
Jennings just got angrier.
“I’m sorry, I don’t come on here and read talking points! You know me, and you know me, and you,” he said angrily, pointing at Camerota, Laura Coates, and Ana Navarro one by one, the outlet said.
Speaking to Messina, Jennings added that "I don’t even know you, and you come on here and insult me …"
Camerota then held up her hand and pleaded for an end to the "ad-hominem attacks."
"I don’t want to be accused of reading talking points," Jennings added.
\u201c\u201cI tell you what, man, do you have a single friend? An absolute jerk\u201d\u201d— Acyn (@Acyn) 1666838653
Former Obama campaign manager Jim Messina sharply condemned Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) on Tuesday for endorsing a far-left politician over an incumbent Democrat.
On Tuesday, Ocasio-Cortez endorsed New York state Sen. Alessandra Biaggi (D) in the race for New York's 17th congressional district.
The snag is that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D), chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, is also running for that seat. Thus the race for the Democratic nomination will pit moderate and progressive Democrats against one another.
Messina, who ran former President Barack Obama's 2012 campaign, had strong words for Ocasio-Cortez after her endorsement.
Messina believes Ocasio-Cortez is driving further divide in the Democratic Party at a critical moment when Democrats can least afford it.
"This is so counter-productive. The Supreme Court is about to outlaw abortion. We could lose both houses," Messina said. "So we are going to focus our time running against each other? Now we’re primarying commited (sic) progressives because. . .why? If we lose house it’s because of dumb s*** like this."
\u201cThis is so counter-productive. The Supreme Court is about to outlaw abortion. We could lose both houses. So we are going to focus our time running against each other? Now we\u2019re primarying commited progressives because. . .why? If we lose house it\u2019s because of dumb shit like this\u201d— Jim Messina (@Jim Messina) 1654623900
The race for New York's 17th congressional seat became the center of intra-party controversy among Democrats last month after multiple courts ruled that New York Democrats drew a congressional district map that violated the state constitution by being illegally gerrymandered.
A court-appointed official then redrew the map in a way that pits several incumbent Democrats against one another.
Most prominently, Maloney's home was redrawn into the 17th congressional district, which is currently represented by Rep. Mondaire Jones (D). The majority of the 17th district, however, remains new territory for Maloney, who currently represents the 18th district. Still, Maloney announced he would run for the 17th district, which increases his chances at re-election.
Instead of challenging Maloney, Jones decided to run for the newly redrawn 10th congressional district, which includes lower Manhattan and parts of eastern Brooklyn.
After Maloney's revealed he was switching districts, Biaggi announced that she would run against him and called him "a selfish corporate Democrat."
"I am sure that he will say, ‘This is hurting the party, she doesn’t care about being a Democrat,'" Biaggi told the New York Times. "What hurt the party was having the head of the campaign arm not stay in his district, not maximize the number of seats New York can have to hold the majority."