CNN host Abby Phillip repeatedly tried to pry a straight answer out of GOP pundit Scott Jennings on Tuesday, prompting an exchange that bordered on the comical. (Watch the video below.)
“I’m going to give you a third try on this one,” an exasperated Phillip said at one point.
The subject was President Donald Trump’s influence on the Federal Reserve. Trump called Chair Jerome Powell “a major loser,” prompting another selloff after Trump’s trade war sank markets and eroded trust in U.S. finance. He reportedly considered firing Powell but Trump then said he had “no intention” of doing so. However, he said, he would like Powell to be “a little more active” on cutting interest rates.
“Do you agree or disagree that the Fed should be independent?” Phillip asked.
Jennings: “I think the president should be able to render an opinion about monetary policy.”
Phillip: “That is a yes-or-no question. Should the Fed be independent of the whims of any president of the United States?”
Jennings: “I think the president ought to be able to have opinions.”
Phillip: “Why can’t you say yes or no?”
Jennings: “I think it’s an open question whether they should be able to fire the head of the Fed. Some Republican senators don’t agree. I just think the idea that the president should not have any opinion about monetary policy is crazy.”
Phillip: “I’m going to give you a third try on this one. Should the Fed’s decisions about how they operate, the interest rates when they raise or lower them, should they be independent of the president of the United States?”
Jennings: “Does independent mean they don’t take his opinion into consideration?”
Phillip: “Independent means no, they don’t take his opinion into consideration.”
Jennings: “I don’t agree with that. I’m sorry. I think the president should be able to render an opinion.”
Phillip clarified the president has a right to give his opinion.
Jennings later accused Phillip of putting words in his mouth and proclaimed his Trump allegiance on the topic: “They should take the president’s opinion into consideration” but it’s “not the only thing.”