Politics
WATCH: Ana Navarro Completely Melts Down On CNN, Forces Host To Cut To Commercial
It was a tough day at the office for CNN’s liberal commentator Ana Navarro, who melted down so completely during one segment that the host was forced to cut to an impromptu commercial break so she could compose herself.
Navarro, no stranger to emotional outbursts, is one of the cable news network’s most visible contributors since making her debut in 2014 and eventually rising to co-host in 2022. Her steady rise has coincided with an increasing number of hostile and threatening statements, as when she was forced to apologize for saying Meghan McCain leveraged her father’s name to jumpstart her career in entertainment.
But Navarro’s penchant for going out of bounds went too far for host Abby Phillip, who cut Wednesday’s roundtable segment short after she lost control of a tit-for-tat between her liberal guest and conservative contributor Shermichael Singleton. The two waged a bitter fight about the legality of the Trump administration’s deportation policy.
“If you come to this country illegally, you are going home,” said Singleton, setting off a chain reaction of retorts that overtook the six-member panel.
“There are a hell of a lot of people other than the black people who were brought here as slaves, who came to this country illegally,” she replied, upping the stakes with Singleton, who is black.
“They are not the same as black people who were brought here against our will-”
“That’s exactly what I just said! A lot of people other than the black people!” Navarro fired over the rest of Singleton’s rebuttal. “Shermichael acting indignant!”
Phillip, sensing the discussion veering out of her hands, gently suggested that Singleton “misheard” an earlier comment by Navarro about the plight of illegal immigrants in the U.S. But even that wasn’t good enough for Navarro.
“No, he purposely misheard it!”
“I purposely misheard it? So now you’re in my brain?” Singleton shot back. “Last time I checked, I’m black, you’re not.”
“I’m latino and my people are being racially profiled and unfairly treated!” screamed Navarro before Phillip gave up and cut to commercials.
WATCH:
Navarro’s comportment may cause CNN to reconsider whether to renew its 2022 multi-year agreement with her at a time when conservative guests have led to a ratings bonanza. Singleton, like Scott Jennings, has become a reliable contrarian on roundtables that were long a one-sided affair during President Trump’s first term.
That has all changed under CEO Mark Thompson, who has warned his on-air personalities about “pre-judging” Trump or relying too heavily on his various criminal trials to litigate his administration. He is believed to be behind the decision to sideline Jim Acosta, the notoriously anti-Trump reporter who quit the network rather than take an assignment running its midnight show. One virulent anti-Israel guest was permanently banned from future appearances.
Navarro can always fall back on co-hosting ABC’s “The View,” a safer alternative than Phillip’s cable news cage matches, but even there, the lines of decency have been drawn. Network producers are pressuring the show to hire more pro-Trump voices among co-hosts and guests.
Navarro, meanwhile, isn’t the only member of the liberal brigade of women who have backtracked on earlier remarks out of fear of litigation. Sunny Hostin has, on multiple occasions, been forced to apologize to members of the Trump administration for making apparently defamatory statements about them.
