Abby Phillip Cuts Down Scott Jennings’s Trump-Inspired War Claim With Simple Question

CNN host Abby Phillip cut down panelist Scott Jennings on Tuesday, asking him a simple question that shut down his claim that Iran has “nothing to shoot” at the U.S.

President Donald Trump claimed on Tuesday that Iran was “not even shooting at us” in the ongoing conflict with Iran, despite recent reports that Iran struck at least one U.S. aircraft in recent days. The president has made similar claims in the past, telling reporters a few weeks into the conflict that “nobody” was attacking U.S. planes.

“The navy’s gone. Their air force is gone. Their anti-aircraft equipment is gone,” Trump said two weeks ago. “We’re flying wherever we want. We have nobody even shooting at us.”

Jennings made a similar point on Tuesday’s edition of CNN’s NewsNight, telling panelists that Iran was in such a “weak position” that they were no longer able to shoot at U.S. forces.

“But you would admit Iran is in a much weaker position today. I mean, we’ve bombed 13,000 military targets,” he said, a point which Phillip agreed with as Jennings continued.

“And we’ve taken away– last night, you know, their underground missile stores in Isfahan. I mean, we control the skies,” said Jennings. “We’re refueling B52s over their airspace. They’re in a much weaker position. So when it comes to talking, whether they’re reasonable or accessible or whatever, I know this: they’ve got really nothing to shoot back at us with right now. And that’s a weak position.”

Phillip was quick to hit back at the idea that the U.S. had an advantage in the war, asking Jennings bluntly why the critical oil passageway in Iran was still shut down.

“So why is the Strait of Hormuz closed then?” asked Phillip. “If that’s the case.”

Jennings did not offer a response to the question.

The Strait of Hormuz has been closed since the conflict began in February, leading to skyrocketing gas prices, which reached $4 a gallon this week. Secretary of State Marco Rubio dismissed Iran’s ongoing blockage of the passway on Tuesday, telling Fox News’ Sean Hannity that the issue was ultimately “a problem for the world” because in the U.S., “we depend very little on the Strait.”

Watch above via CNN.

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