Former anchor leans on CNN to dump 'blowhard' Scott Jennings over menacing outburst

An obscene live TV outburst by CNN pundit Scott Jennings on Thursday night has led former CNN anchor Jim Acosta to call for the network to tear up the conservative pundit’s contract.

CNN host Abby Phillip had to jump in and calm the waters after Jennings got into it with liberal pundit Adam Mockler as he leaned in and blurted, “Get your f------ hand out of my face!" during a discussion about the Iran War.

Jennings' menacing manner evoked an immediate reaction from the “NewsNight” panel as well as a response from Acosta on Substack on Friday morning.

Comparing the language Jennings used to the fictional Ron Burgundy in the film “Anchorman,” which got Burgundy fired, Acosta claimed Jennings deserves the same fate in real life, stating that at any other network it would be a ‘fireable offense.”

Calling Jennings a “blowhard,” he recalled, “Jennings was a bit of a hot-head when I worked at CNN. I recall his glaring at me following one segment when I fact-checked him in real time. But wow, what happened Thursday night was next level. Mockler really got his goat.”

He said that the CNN conservative should be immediately fired.

"Of course, with the Ellisons now gobbling up Warner Brothers Discovery, the parent company of CNN, the new management that is likely to take over the 24-hour cable news station could simply rehire Jennings if, in the unlikely event, he is tossed overboard," Acosta added. "Make no mistake, the Ellisons, and their hand-picked executive now running CBS News and possibly CNN, Bari Weiss, would certainly relish the opportunity to rehire Jennings."

The latest Jennings controversy comes after similar complaints about the leeway the conservative has been given at the network, with CNN regular Julie Roginsky recently calling him out.

"He blathers. He talks over women with particular frequency, interrupts relentlessly, and treats panel discussions as contests of volume and obstinacy, rather than as exchanges of ideas," Roginsky said. "He mugs to the camera and rolls his eyes, while calling any fact he does not like a lie. It is performative obstruction — the cable news equivalent of flipping the board when you’re losing the game."