Politics
‘Straight To El Salvador’: Scott Jennings Leaves Panel Seething In Hilarious Segment
Panel members on CNN were barely containing their laughter after Scott Jennings made a mockery of liberal outcry over the Trump administration’s criteria for deporting suspected illegal immigrant gang members to El Salvador.
With his brash tongue-in-cheek style, Jennings parodied the condemnations that President Donald Trump and immigration authorities are relying on thin evidence to send some of America’s most dangerous illegal immigrants to mega-prisons in the Central American country where its president, Nayib Bukele, has agreed to hold hundreds or thousands of individuals in exchange for funding from the U.S.
“More than 15 seconds at the coffee creamer bar at the coffee shop? Straight to El Salvador. Two or more walking side-by-side on a sidewalk? You’re gone,” said Jennings.
Other panelists off-screen could be heard trying to stifle their reactions while he kept the jokes coming.
“Recline your seat on an airplane? El Salvador. Disney adults? You’re going, too.
“And finally, pronouns in your email signature — outta here,” he deadpanned toward host Abby Phillip. “Those are my [executive orders].”
WATCH:
The White House has made its deportations to El Salvador a centerpiece of its crackdown on illegal immigration. At the same time, mainstream media outlets have relied on an internal document by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that encourages the identification of suspected gang members by tattoos to insinuate that the administration isn’t carefully vetting who it sends south.
Karoline Leavitt, the president’s press secretary, shot down those accusations in a firm rebuke last week.
“[Tren de Aragua] is a vicious gang that has taken the lives of American women,” Leavitt scolded reporters outside the White House. “And our agents on the front lines take deporting these people with the utmost seriousness. There is a litany of criteria that they use to ensure that these individuals qualify as foreign terrorists and to ensure they qualify for deportation.”
White House border czar Tom Homan, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, and others have focused on both TDA and MS-13 gang members as they seek to root out members of leadership embedded within the U.S. At a recent press conference alongside FBI Director Kash Patel, the trio announced the capture of one of the top three MS-13 leaders in the U.S. — a prime target for deportation to El Salvador.
To Leavitt, Jennings, and other pro-deportation advocates, the media’s defense of suspected criminals is reprehensible.
“And shame on you, and shame on the mainstream media, for trying to cover for these individuals,” Leavitt continued in singling out The Independent’s Andrew Feinberg after he asked about the DHS’ deportation criteria document. “This is a vicious gang, Andrew. This is a vicious gang that has taken the lives of American women.”
Jennings’ schtick has enough truth to it that Republicans want him to seriously consider a bid for elected office. With the retirement of U.S. Sen Mitch McConnell (R-KY) in 2027, a grassroots movement has formed to encourage the conservative commentator to make a bid next year for his home state Senate seat, which will be up for grabs for the first time in decades.
