Democratic National Committee spokeswoman Xochitl Hinojosa claimed on Sunday that she’d seen no evidence thus far that Iran posed a direct and present threat to the United States — and CNN Republican commentator Scott Jennings fired back immediately.
During a panel discussion on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Jennings pointed to decades of Iranian threats against Americans, American interests, and allies, saying that they amounted to a nearly-constant threat.
WATCH:
🚨NEW: @ScottJenningsKY FIRES BACK at ex-DNC spox who suggests it wasn’t apparent Iran posed direct threat to U.S.🇺🇸
“You’re arguing that after 46 years of the Iranian regime killing Americans, threatening Americans, saying over and over and over again, ‘Death to America,’ that… pic.twitter.com/1qzHuBYnap
— Jason Cohen 🇺🇸 (@JasonJournoDC) June 22, 2025
Hinojosa raised the question of President Donald Trump’s authority to act in striking Iranian nuclear targets on Saturday, arguing that without a clear and present threat to the United States, he had no authority to take such and action without first going through Congress.
“Normally you would need Congressional approval for something like this,” she said. “And I know that my friend here is laughing a little bit, but —”
“Yes, I am laughing,” Jennings interjected.
“In order for the president to take action without congressional approval, he needed to show a real true threat to the United States and that the strike would not cause escalation,” Hinojosa continued, going on to claim that Trump had failed to present any kind of legal justification for the strike.
“So what will be critical in the weeks to come is Congress must see the underlying intelligence about how they were in direct threat and how the U.S. needed to respond without Congressional approval, but as of right now, I have not seen that,” she declared.
“You’re arguing that after 46 years of the Iranian regime killing Americans, threatening Americans, saying over and over and over again, ‘Death to America,’ that maybe they just didn’t mean it?” Jennings replied. “That they’re fiery but mostly peaceful Iranian butchers? I mean, I don’t understand! This is a righteous strike!”
