‘Whoa — Let’s Not Go There’: CNN Host Breaks Up Shouting Match When George Conway Accuses Network of Paying Scott Jennings to Lie

In what felt at times like a territorial battle between Republican silverbacked cable news pundits, George Conway and Scott Jennings absolutely threw down on CNN This Morning early Friday.

Anchor Kasie Hunt just managed to handle the beyond-spirited battle between Conway and Jennings; at one point, though, she had to remind Conway to treat her CNN colleague with respect after he repeatedly called out Jennings for lying. “YOU’RE LYING!” was shouted on air in perhaps the most lit CNN This Morning segment since the new format of the show was debuted.

At issue? Thursday’s guilty verdict against former President Donald Trump, which Jennings was quick to diminish because, in his eyes, he saw the charges as trumped up. This did not go over well with Conway, who has made a cable news career by explaining precisely why he thinks Trump is not just a criminal but also remarkably poorly suited for office.

Conway started by just blasting the GOP for enabling Trump’s repeated untoward behavior by not calling him out:

If you don’t want to be held liable for rape like Donald Trump has, don’t grab the woman’s genitalia. If you don’t want to be held liable for defaming the woman that you raped. Don’t keep lying about what you did and calling her a nutjob. If you don’t want to be indicted for overthrowing the Constitution, don’t start a self-coup. If you don’t want to be indicted for classified stealing classified documents and obstructing justice, don’t take the classified documents. When the government asks for it back. Give them back. If the FBI serves you with a search warrant. Don’t hide the documents. And don’t lie about it. And don’t have your lawyers lie about it.

This isn’t that hard. Donald Trump is not the victim here. Donald Trump does all of these things to himself. And I agree with David. I mean, once upon a time the Republican Party was the party, not just anti-hippies, but a personal responsibility and of law and order. What party? Where is that party? Here. There no one is willing to hold in. The Republican Party is [not] willing to hold Donald Trump to account for his crimes. Crimes that aren’t really even in dispute. And no one, no one is willing to call him up. Instead, he’s he’s going to get the nomination. That’s just insane. And it just shows the degree of moral rot we have on the conservative side of politics today.

Jennings disagreed with Conway, eventually landing on, “The non-MAGA, the anti-Trump, the right. Every wing of the party was vibrating angry about what was being done to Kavanaugh. I feel and sense that the same thing is happening today, which is why I think you’re probably going to see this backfire politically on the Democrats, and they’re going to regret it.”

Hunt then brought up the notion that the recent conviction may help Trump politically, which Conway used as a platform to attack Jennings:

Conway: I have to say, I mean, look, I mean, you know, Scott’s lying. And that’s the problem with the Republican Party. It is continually addicted to love.

Jennings:  Wait a minute. What am I, what am I what? What am I lying?

Conway:  You’re lying. You’re lying, Scott, you’re lying about the law. You’re lying about what the jury was charged to find. They don’t have to find an underlying crime. They had to find the intent to cover up an underlying crime. And the underlying crime was pretty obvious.

Jennings: What was the crime?

Conway: You ran for public office, Scott. You. You ran for public office. Scott. You know, you can’t take money from somebody and reimburse them to for as you know, if it’s a campaign you know that damn well and you’re…

Jennings: I’ve never run for public office

Conway:  Fine. Well, you… you’re close enough. You’re involved in politics to know that. Okay. So that’s the problem with the Republican Party is that they are suffused with lies. I don’t know why this network is paying Scott to say those lies. Oh.

Hunt: Whoa. Okay. Please, let’s not go there.

Conway: No, we should go.

Hunt: Scott is our colleague, and we’re going to treat him respectfully as such. Continue.

Conway is a frequent guest on CNN but is not a paid contributor.

Watch above via CNN.