CNN: Scott Jennings Issues Warning to Trump on Anderson Cooper Show
What To Know
- CNN commentator Scott Jennings warned that President Trump needs substantial evidence against Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, or else the investigation could create significant political problems.
- Jennings noted that the probe into Powell may deter qualified candidates from accepting the Fed chair position due to fears of political retaliation.
- Powell responded to Trump’s repeated attacks by emphasizing the importance of the Federal Reserve’s independence from political pressure in setting monetary policy.
CNN’s conservative commentator Scott Jennings has said that President Donald Trump “better have something” on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, otherwise it will create a whole lot of “issues.”
Jennings, who frequently defends the President on CNN, made the comments when he joined Anderson Cooper on Tuesday (January 23), alongside fellow guests Van Jones and Alyssa Farah Griffin. The panel was discussing the Trump administration’s criminal investigation into Powell over renovations to Federal Reserve buildings.
“There are practical implications to the President’s decision-making here or the administration’s decision-making. I don’t know that the president personally had anything to do with it, and that is on the Hill,” Jennings said, per Mediaite. “If he wants to replace Jerome Powell in May with a new Fed chair, you’re going to have confirmation issues.”
Trump has consistently attacked Powell over the past year, referring to him as a “major loser” and a “numbskull.” Speaking at the White House on Tuesday, the president said of Powell, “Well, he’s billions of dollars over budget. So he’s either incompetent or he’s crooked, I don’t know what he is.”
Powell had remained quiet on Trump’s attacks until this past weekend, when he finally issued a statement on the matter. “This is about whether the Fed will be able to continue to set interest rates based on evidence and economic conditions, or whether instead monetary policy will be directed by political pressure or intimidation,” he said, per the BBC.
Jennings said the first “politically practical problem” with this probe into Powell is that it will scare potential candidates for the position of Federal Reserve Chair. Powell is set to step down in May.
“When you interview people for this, whoever you want to pick is going to ask you, ‘Are you going to come after me if I displease you?’ And so you may have trouble attracting the people that you want for the job,” the CNN pundit continued. “So I don’t know where this is going.”
Jennings added that he agreed with Sen. John Thune’s (R-SD) criticism of the investigation, saying, “If you’re going to get into something like this, you better have something because if you don’t, you’re creating a whole raft of political problems when really the outcome you want is to get rid of this guy and to get your own person there that you think is going to set better monetary policy. That now seems to be a bit more complicated.”
You can watch a clip of the segment at this link.
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