Scott Jennings owns the libs on CNN. His new book goes after something much bigger. | Opinion

If you have a TV or social media, chances are you’ve seen Scott Jennings in his element: when he’s owning the libs.  

No one does it better. 

The CNN senior political commentator and Republican strategist has become one of the leading voices for conservatives around the country. He’s often the only Republican at the table, and he deftly takes on his liberal counterparts with rationality and humor. 

Jennings’ meme-perfect expressions of amused disbelief at what progressives say often speak for themselves. 

Leading up to Donald Trump’s second term, Jennings was able to break down the president’s appeal to many conservatives for CNN viewers, while detailing how Democrats had lost their way by moving so far to the left. 

When the president gave his inaugural address in January, he said, “We will begin the complete restoration of America and the revolution of common sense.”

Trump’s triumphant return to office and his plan to restore sanity to the federal government inspired Jennings to pitch a book – his first – to the president. Trump agreed. 

Jennings’ book, “A Revolution of Common Sense: How Donald Trump Stormed Washington and Fought for Western Civilization,” was released on Nov. 18. 

I recently spoke with Jennings about his book. Our conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

So this is your first book. What made you want to dive into this project?

After the election, I was thinking about the monumental moment. Trump had the greatest political comeback since Napoleon. It’s a huge story. And then I’m sitting there at CNN in January watching the inaugural address, and he used this phrase ‒ "a revolution of common sense." And I just thought, well, that is the perfect way to describe the rebranding of the Republican Party under Trump. 

And so, I was thinking that this really needs to be written about by someone who gets it, by someone who likes the president, and by someone who isn't dedicated to the narrative that everything he does must be inherently evil, which is what most of the news media does. 

I was struck by something you wrote early in your book: 'The future of the West hangs in the balance, and Trump is leading the fight to save it, as far as I'm concerned.' What gives you so much confidence in the president? 

First of all, he believes in America. And when you talk to him, he believes in an American future. When you talk to (Secretary of State) Marco Rubio, when you talk to (Treasury Secretary) Scott Bessent, when you talk to Elon Musk, who I interviewed in the White House while he was there, they all have this understanding that Donald Trump has ordered them to do everything within their power to advance America and American interests.

And America is the last best defender of the West on planet Earth. Europe’s been overrun. We don’t have a lot of great allies out there. And so just conceptually, I think Trump's defense of and advancement of American interests is inherently a defense of the West.  

On top of it, he’s shown extreme moral clarity on foreign affairs, particularly in the Middle East. He can tell the difference between right and wrong and who the good guys and the bad guys are, particularly in the wake of Oct. 7 (2023). I think he inherently knows that what’s going on over there is the central front and the fight for the future of Western civilization.

You focus a lot on common sense and what you call 80/20 issues, like men shouldn't be in women's sports. Do you see the focus on common sense continuing to be a winning message for Republicans even past Trump, versus more traditional conservative talking points like free markets and limited government? 

It all does fall under the rubric of common sense. And I think his rebranding of what he’s trying to do as common sense has appeal to people who don't think of themselves as political. They don’t really think of themselves as Republicans or Democrats. Maybe they rarely even vote. But sometimes these visceral issues come along, and they’re like, wait a minute, you mean to tell me they can put a boy in a girl’s locker room, or they’re going to have a boy out here spiking a volleyball in my daughter’s face? Well, that makes no sense. 

And for four years under the Biden administration, people were browbeaten to just accept this new norm, and nobody thought it was right. But you had the power of the federal government and the power of the president coming down on you if you got out of line. And so Trump comes along and kind of breaks that. This has always been one of Trump’s superpowers. He’s just willing to say what everyone else is thinking, but they’ve been too afraid to say it. He’ll just do it. And so if I were a politician trying to inherit his movement, that’s a trait I would carry with me.

You've worked closely with former President George W. Bush, Sen. Mitch McConnell and other more traditional Republicans. Do you think that Donald Trump is a conservative – or is he in a category all his own? 

I asked him once, do you consider yourself to be more conservative or more common sense? And he said, well, most of the time being conservative is common sense, but you know, sometimes I’m just trying to do the commonsense or the right thing for America. He does not like being hemmed in by parties or by ideologies. I don't think he looks at the world that way. And he’s trying to get outcomes. And he doesn’t really respect old ideological boundaries that have been drawn by people who he doesn't know, he doesn't like or who didn't support him.

What surprised you most after spending time with the president? It seems people always have a different perspective on him after actually talking to him and seeing him in action. 

He is funny. He’s like Don Rickles, Rodney Dangerfield and Dave Chappelle had a baby and Donald Trump was what came out. He is hilarious. He is a professional towel snapper. He is warm. He is a good listener. I watched him engage in conversation with advisers.

I think the caricature of him wouldn’t lead you to know that, the media caricature. But watching him in person, he listens to debates, he asks good questions, he absorbs information, and then he’s extremely decisive, which I think was a failing of Joe Biden. He was famously indecisive, which leads to weakness. Trump is decisive, and that’s a strong character trait for a president. I’ll tell you something else. He’s hospitable, and we should know that because he comes from the hospitality industry. But the time I spent with him, he’s solicitous of everyone in the room. 

You've made a name for yourself as the conservative who 'owns the libs' on CNN. But you're usually the only one. Bill Maher has called you 'lonely Scott.' Are you lonely? Or is it fun? 

It's quite fun. Some nights it is lonely because I’m the only person at the table who has the capacity to articulate the views of half or 80% or 90% of the American people. And it’s crazy to me that that’s the way it’s constructed sometimes. But that’s my job, and I’m happy to have it, and it’s a privilege to have it. And, by the way, CNN deserves a lot of credit, in my opinion, for putting a debating show on the air that allows a conservative to articulate the viewpoint of that many Americans. Most cable is six people sitting around agreeing with each other, and it’s boring, and you don’t learn anything.

These debates are instructive, and I think I'm often able to both articulate the conservative or middle America view, but at the same time, I'm often able to expose the hypocrisy or the holes in the liberal arguments. And without me sitting there, you wouldn’t get that. 

Ingrid Jacques is a columnist at USA TODAY. Contact her at [email protected] or on X: @Ingrid_Jacques