Scott Jennings Hits Back at ‘Cheating’ Allegations in Tense CNN Showdown

Jennings celebrated the gerrymandering, noting that it now gives Republicans a chance to succeed in the midterm elections. “Just a few days ago, Republicans were in the doldrums about the midterms,” he said. “Now, because of Virginia, because of the redraws after the Voting Rights Act case, you’ve got Republicans feeling resurgent.”

He added, “The map looks good, the money looks good, the candidates look good, so we actually have a real race here!”

Allison, who previously served as a senior staffer in the Biden-Harris 2020 campaign, blasted Jennings and the Republican party. “You all are cheating, just accept it,” she said, per RawStory.

As Jennings tried to interject, Allison cut him off, saying, “Let me just finish. You’re cheating because you, politically, are not favorable right now, so this is the only way you would actually win the House, by drawing maps. These maps are hurting one group of voters, and that is Black voters.”

She added, “Black voters were losing power in Texas. The Voting Rights Act was gutted, and [in] less than a week, you all took power away from Black people in Tennessee, in South Carolina, in Louisiana.”

The debate intensified when Allison said, “You literally are taking Memphis, that is a city with Black voters, and you split it in three, stretching three thousand miles.”

“Whose the current Democrat congressman, or is it a Black congressman?” Jennings asked.

“Black people are allowed to like people that don’t look like them,” Allison fired back.

“Exactly, and that is the point I wanted you to make,” Jennings retorted. “Just because you’re not going to have a Black congressman, why is it that a Republican can’t do just as well representing Black voters as a Democrat?”

The pair then started talking over each other, before host Jake Tapper told Jennings to let Allison finish making her point.

“Black people don’t elect Black people based on race, they elect people that are aligned with their moral, their beliefs in justice,” Allison stated.

Jennings replied, “Black voters are still fully franchised and [can] go vote for whoever they want. It just doesn’t have to be a Democrat.”

More Headlines:

• Ken Jennings Reveals How ‘Jeopardy!’ Drives His Wife ‘Bonkers’
• See How the ‘Today’ Hosts Celebrated Mother’s Day 2026
• ‘The Traitors’ Civilian Edition Sets Fall Premiere at NBC
• ‘American Idol’: Keyla & Hannah React to Spending Mother’s Day Away From Kids
• ‘Salute to Service’ Schedule: Inside FMC & FETV’s Month of Wartime Movies