CNN’s Avlon rejects idea Biden has been slow to call out left-wing violence
CNN’s John Avlon disagreed with political commentator Scott Jennings about Biden’s responses to violence from the right and the left.
A Wednesday morning CNN panel sparked disagreement between anchor John Avlon and political commentator Scott Jennings after the latter claimed President Biden had "very little to say" about left-wing violence in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
President Biden appeared at Wilkes University in Pennsylvania Tuesday to roll out his "Safer America Plan" and his administration's policies surrounding support for law enforcement and crime. He said during the speech that he was for funding the police and criticized the GOP over the Jan. 6 Capital riot.
"You can't be a party of law and order and call the people that attacked the police on January 6 patriots. You can't do it," Biden said.
The president also slammed Republicans for their recent criticism of the FBI, calling attacks against the agency "sickening."
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US President Joe Biden speaks at the Arnaud C. Marts Center in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, US, on Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2022. (Hannah Beier/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
During a "New Day" panel, Jennings said his takeaway from the speech was Biden has "no choice" but to try and take language surrounding crime and law enforcement back from Republicans. He noted that the Democrats had previously come down on the side of "blame the police first" and slammed Democratic mayors and prosecutors for "horrific" crime policies.
"I’m heartened to hear him finally come out and take a strong stance against people who might threaten political violence because the government’s going to do something that they don’t like," Jennings continued. "I only wish his passion wasn’t so newfound because he had very little to say when people were out promising riots and violence if the Supreme Court does this that or the other—
"That’s not true. No, it’s not. I mean this is sorry—you know," Avlon interjected.
"He was real slow, John," Jennings shot back.
GOOD MORNING AMERICA - John Avlon is a guest on "Good Morning America," Monday, April 10, 2017. ((Photo by Lorenzo Bevilaqua/Walt Disney Television via Getty Images) )
"No, no. I’m sorry. He consistently, both in the wake of Roe and in the summer of 2016, said there is no place for violence in peaceful protests," Avlon added.
S.E. Cupp then claimed that Biden has said "refund the police" but not "defund the police."
Prior to taking office, Biden suggested on the campaign trail that he "absolutely" would be OK with efforts to redirect some police funding, a suggestion he later walked back as he targeted Republicans and claimed in July 2021 that they were "lying" about efforts promoted by members of the Democratic Party to "defund the police."
At that time, Biden claimed he had "never said defund the police" and argued that "we need more policemen, not fewer policemen" despite his previous support for reallocating funds. Since then Biden has repeated his calls for police funding.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during a rally hosted by the Democratic National Committee (DNC) at Richard Montgomery High School on August 25, 2022 in Rockville, Maryland. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Biden has in fact condemned a number of instances of violence related to the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, but his stance was relayed through administration officials, as opposed to the public comments made in recent months about right-wing violence and Trump supporters.
The White House released a statement a day after an unknown assailant threw at least one Molotov cocktail into an office of Wisconsin Family Action (WFA), a pro-life activist group back in May, noting that Biden "strongly condemns" the attack.
Following the attempt on Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s life in June, the White House said that Biden condemned the attack "in the strongest terms."
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Republicans have repeatedly criticized Biden for what they viewed as slow and tepid responses to left-wing violence, often speaking out only after incidents have occurred and government agencies have already issued warnings.
Fox News’ Kyle Morris contributed to this report.
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