Black political analyst Joshua Doss schooled Scott Jennings about making “racial” assumptions on “CNN NewsNight,” but the GOP commentator didn’t take the lesson well and bristled at the accusation.
During a Nov. 18 discussion, Jennings took aim at the IQ of fellow panelist Franklin Leonard, a Black Harvard-educated film producer and founder of The Black List.”
Outdated and deeply flawed, IQ testing has historically been used to promote racism and eugenics. Recently, the far right has resurrected the “low IQ” jibe, particularly when criticizing African-Americans and women (think: Rep Jasmine Crockett). The gaffe occurred during a “NewsNight” panel discussion on Nov. 18 about Donald Trump’s connections to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Earlier that day, the House and Senate both voted to force the release of the Department of Justice’s Epstein files, and the bill is now heading to Trump’s desk. The show’s host, Abby Phillip, gathered a group to weigh in on the development, which included Jennings, Doss, Leonard, Lydia Moynihan, and Tezlyn Figaro.
Jennings lashed out with an IQ insult after Leonard pushed back on his defense of Trump, telling him, “Scott, you keep saying, well, he didn’t do anything. There’s no indication of criminality. If that’s true, he should be elated that we’re putting these out.” Jennings responded, “It’s not if that’s true, it is true. Can you name any evidence?”
Jennings continued, “You think after 10 years of public life you wouldn’t know it already?” When Leonard responded, “No, I don’t! That’s exactly the point,” Jennings shot back, “Oh, come on, this is an IQ test. Don’t fail it. Come on, man.”
Anchor Abby Phillip jumped in to challenge Jennings’ defense of Trump, but it was Doss who addressed the elephant in the room.
“Just real quick, I just want to bring it back to something that just happened. I feel like I just heard Scott calling into question this Black man’s intelligence with the IQ test.” Jennings appeared offended by the accusation, saying, “You’re ridiculous. You wanna make it racial, but it’s ridiculous.”
But Doss was undeterred and pressed his point.
“Scott. You are sitting here with so much confidence without seeing all of the documents that Donald Trump is innocent. … This is the same guy that is trailing 29 rape allegations, and we have videos of him saying things like, grab him by the, you know what. Just the very fact that he’s documented, connected to the country’s most egregious pedophile, that fact alone is enough for us to ask questions about if it’s a disqualifying factor for leadership.”
He continued, “So, I just don’t know why you’re so fervent right now, saying that. I know for a fact he has nothing. Can we see the files and make that decision?”
The typically loquacious Jennings seemed momentarily stunned into silence, prompting Doss to say, “Scott?”
But Jennings was soon back to his talking points, adamant that “If there was a shred of anything to know about Donald Trump, we would already know it.”
The next day, on Nov. 19, Leonard took to X with a final thought on the exchange. “Epstein isn’t an IQ test. It’s a moral one,” he wrote. “And if you don’t already realize that, you’ve already failed.”
