CNN’s Scott Jennings Draws Protests By Gloating Over Biden Meeting: ‘Literal Hitler In The Oval Office!’

CNN analyst and potential Trump spox Scott Jennings drew protests from colleagues when he held up a newspaper photo of President-elect Donald Trump and President Joe Biden at the White House and sarcastically gloated, “Did you ever think you’d see literal Hitler in the Oval Office!”

A major subplot of the closing days of the campaign was the emergence of former senior Trump aides calling Trump a “fascist” and suggesting he admires Nazis — whom he was frequently accused of echoing during the race. Vice President Kamala Harris agreed with the “fascist” assessment, which was repeated on the campaign trail, while Biden has warned for years about Trump threatening democracy and still believes that.

But on the heels of Trump’s surprisingly quick victory, Biden upheld a longstanding tradition by inviting Trump to the White House, meeting with him in the Oval on Wednesday. It’s a tradition that Trump broke when Biden won in 2020.

On Thursday’s edition of CNN This Morning, Jennings got pushback from anchor Kasie Hunt and Democratic strategist Meghan Hays with his quip about “literal Hitler”:

KASIE HUNT: Meghan Hays, you know well, what this moment–. How I mean, how do you read it? I mean, it hadn’t been hard for Joe Biden based on how he feels about Donald Trump. But on the other hand, he did it.

MEGHAN HAYS: He’s a statesman and everyone knows that. He likes the tradition. He likes as– he he loves being the president. But also, Joe Biden is notorious for not holding grudges. And he knows that this is what you need–.

KASIE HUNT: Is he notorious for not holding grudges?

MEGHAN HAYS: Yes! (LAUGHTER) It’s a family that might hold a grudge against his staff. But Joe Biden, who traditionally does not hold grudges against people, this is this is exactly what you would expect of him.

This is exactly what everything people who work for him expect of him. He was a statesman. He was very gracious to him coming into the Oval. Clearly, he came from the house.

SCOTT JENNINGS: I’m shocked. I mean, did you ever think you’d see literal Hitler in the Oval Office–.

MEGHAN HAYS: Come on, Scott.

–with the president United States? I mean, you know what I see in all this–.

KASIE HUNT: I mean, Scott, that’s not–. Biden didn’t say that–

SCOTT JENNINGS: Democrats–

KASIE HUNT: –literally, that’s–.

SCOTT JENNINGS: It was the underpinning of the Democratic campaign–.

MEGHAN HAYS: But, but.

SCOTT JENNINGS: –that Donald Trump is a fascist. And what I see in this is I’m glad it’s happening. But what it tells me and what it ought to tell Democrats is they didn’t mean any of it. It was all campaign rhetoric.

And I think to me, if you really meant– if you really meant any of it, this wouldn’t be hap–.

MEGHAN HAYS: But if–.

SCOTT JENNINGS: I’m glad it’s happening. But to me–.

MEGHAN HAYS: I don’t think that’s fair.

SCOTT JENNINGS: –it just it totally blows up the way they ran this campaign at the end of the campaign.

MEGHAN HAYS: But I don’t think that’s fair.

Hunt is correct that Biden never called Trump “Hitler” — but Vice President-elect JD Vance infamously once said Trump “might be America’s Hitler.”

Watch above via CNN This Morning.