Whoops: CNN Panelist Triggered by Trump's White House Tesla Event Walks Into Trap of Her Own Making

On Tuesday, President Donald Trump made a public show of support for Elon Musk by having Musk, the co-founder and CEO of Tesla, help him pick out one of the several Tesla vehicles that were parked at the White House for purchase.

As RedState reported, Trump told reporters that he would be buying one because "Number one, it's a great product — as good as it gets — and number two, because Elon Musk has devoted his energy and his life to doing this and I think he has been treated very unfairly by a very small group of people."

Trump ended up buying a red Tesla Model S, which he said his staff will make use of since he doesn't drive (perhaps for security reasons?), and also indicated he'd bought a Tesla Cybertruck for his granddaughter, Kai. Musk, whose role at DOGE has sparked leftist protests and violence, announced in turn that "as an act of faith in America" and as a show of support for the Trump administration that "Tesla is going double vehicle output in the United States within the next two years."

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READ MORE: Trump Buys New Tesla, Musk in Turn Makes Big Investment in America

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On Wednesday during a tense exchange on CNN anchor Kasie Hunt's show "The Arena," former Biden Dept. of Justice director of public affairs Xochitl Hinojosa

 told GOP strategist Scott Jennings that she thought the Trump Tesla event was a terrible public relations move for the White House because, in her view, it failed to show support for the American worker and instead put a billionaire on a pedestal.

As one might imagine, that argument did not go over well at all with Jennings, who pointed out a couple of inconvenient facts, with one being that Elon Musk was creating a lot of jobs and two, that he was employing American workers:

Hinojosa: I‘m assuming you agree because as a Republican strategist, you wouldn‘t have advised him to go in front of the White House and drive a Tesla.

Jennings: Wait, why? Of course I would have. You know why? Because if I were advising a Republican president, I would say, ‘Let‘s support American companies that have thousands of American workers and thousands more workers who make indirect products for it.’ Yeah, I think it would be a good idea if American companies did well under my administration.

Hinojosa: So you‘re going to go ahead and support a billionaire, but not support the American worker. 

Jennings: Who do you think makes Teslas, Xochitl? American workers!

Whoops!

After some back and forth among the panelists - all of who were unsuccessfully trying to knock down Jennings' argument - an incredulous Jennings remarked, "I’ve never seen Democrats so excited to tear down an American company or companies the way they are right now. It’s crazy.”

Yeah, the lady talking about a Trump messaging fail might want to take a look in the mirror and at her own party, methinks.