CNN panelists Scott Jennings and Batya Ungar-Sargon defended President Donald Trump on Tuesday after Trump argued on social media that American museums are putting too much emphasis on “how bad Slavery was.”
Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform Tuesday that museums such as the Smithsonian Institution, “where everything discussed is how horrible our Country is, how bad Slavery was, and how unaccomplished the downtrodden have been,” are too “WOKE.”
Before debating the matter on CNN’s “NewsNight,” host Abby Phillip noted that partisan echo chambers can muddle complicated discussions. She said on this particular topic, however, “it’s important to say objectively, slavery was indeed bad.”
“It was evil,” Phillip continued. “The nation’s original sin.”
Jennings, a conservative commentator and ex-staffer for former President George W. Bush, was quick to agree. He said slavery “was a reprehensible institution,” but then offered an arguably generous interpretation of Trump’s remarks.
