CNN Throws Scott Jennings Under Bus on McConnell Health Claim

CNN says that it does not consider Scott Jennings’ widely criticized claims about Sen. Mitch McConnell’s health condition to be “CNN reporting.”

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A network spokesperson told the Daily Beast that Jennings, who is among the GOP insiders who claim to have spoken to McConnell this week, “is not a full-time employee or journalist” at CNN and that his reporting “reflects his experience” and does not represent the network.

CNN has covered the McConnell health saga extensively, including being the first network to publish footage of the senator being loaded into an ambulance. It has not presented Jennings’ reporting as its own on the air or in digital articles, but has provided him a platform to make claims about McConnell’s health.

That included Jennings appearing on Jake Tapper’s show on Thursday. There, he claimed that the staff of the Kentucky senator told him that McConnell is planning to return to work amid growing rumors that the senator is “brain dead” or a “vegetable.”

“I have been in touch with the staff,” Jennings told Tapper. “In fact, I was speaking with some of his senior staff today, and I know he was actually meeting with some of his staff late this afternoon about a few issues going on over at the Senate.”

Jennings continued, “And truthfully, it sounded to me like somebody who was preparing at some point to go back to work. Now, whether that means go back to work soon or go back to work eventually, I don’t know. But I do know he was meeting with his staff today and getting some briefings on a few issues.”

Tapper neither pushed back on Jennings’ claim that he spoke to McConnell by phone nor did he treat it as fact, though he did question why McConnell’s team has not released a video of the senator that would prove he is OK and dispel speculation about his condition.

CNN host Laura Coates asked Jennings why he did not press McConnell for more answers about his health when he appeared on her show on Tuesday but did not push Jennings for proof that their call actually occurred.

Jennings, who also hails from Kentucky, previously directed political operations for McConnell’s U.S. Senate campaigns. He did not respond to a request for comment for this article.

McConnell, 84, has been hospitalized for nearly a month after emergency responders were called to his home on June 14. Dispatch audio indicates there was a report of an unconscious person in cardiac arrest.

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McConnell’s staff, which is led by his longtime, camera-shy aide, Terry Carmack, who is set to earn more than $226,000 this year, has remained largely mum on the senator’s condition.

Updates on McConnell’s health have largely come from allies like Jennings and Republican Sen. John Thune, who also claims to have spoken with McConnell by phone about political issues.

CNN host Kasie Hunt scrutinized Jennings’ claim that he spoke to McConnell for about 17 minutes during his Tuesday appearance on The Arena. She implored Jennings to ring up McConnell on the air so Americans could hear for themselves that McConnell is alive and well.

“Did you come away feeling like he‘s still capable of serving the people of Kentucky as senator?” Hunt asked Jennings about the call.

“I came away feeling that he was staying on top of the news,” Jennings answered. “His condition—why he’s in the hospital, or when he might come out…”

“Do you know why?” Hunt asked. “And are you just saying you‘re not at liberty to share?”

“I do not know why,” Jennings said. “I only know, frankly, what has been reported or what his office has said. So this was, it was a personal, private call. But I didn‘t, I didn‘t probe him too deeply for his medical records.”

“Would you encourage him or anyone in his position to be more transparent with his voters about his health than he‘s been so far?” Hunt continued to press.