Liberal activist David Hogg called out conservative CNN political commentator Scott Jennings for “lecturing” Americans about affordability while wearing a Rolex watch during a heated discussion on CNN NewsNight.
The exchange took place as the panel debated New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, sparking a clash between Hogg and Jennings over class, politics, and hypocrisy.
Jennings began by commenting on Mamdani’s chances of winning, saying that New York was a “Democrat town and they’re going to elect a socialist to run the financial capital of the world.”
He then remarked that Hogg had donated $300,000 to Mamdani. “That’s interesting, that’s probably the only 300 non-Islamo Marxist grand that he got,” Jennings said.
Hogg, 25, noted there was a public financing system for elections in New York before firing back at the commentator.
“I think part of the reason [Mamdani’s] so powerful is because people are tired of being lectured by men with Rolexes on CNN about affordability in this country,” Hogg said.
“That’s the real reason he is resonating right now because he has a clear message that actually says, ‘This is what I plan to do’,” he continued. “I don’t think this is about going to the left or the right, to be honest with you. Do I agree with Zohran much more than a lot of other Democrats in our party? Certainly. But I think we need to meet voters where they’re at in their districts.”
Jennings then asked Hogg if he wanted “a socialist future for [his] party?”
Hogg replied, “I want a future where everybody has healthcare and people can afford a good life.”
Hogg, a survivor of the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, rose to prominence advocating for gun reform. He later served as Vice Chair of the Democratic National Committee from January to June 2025.
The tense exchange didn’t end there — the two also clashed over the ongoing government shutdown. Hogg argued that Democrats were protecting Americans from rising healthcare premiums under Republican amendments to the Affordable Care Act.
Jennings countered by saying there was already a sunset provision in the Affordable Care Act added by Democrats themselves. “Now you want to make it a Republican problem. These are now the same issues. You could open the government today and then you could negotiate with Republicans about ACA subsidies,” he said.
“But under duress, under a hostage-taking situation, connecting disconnected issues, and now you’re throwing SNAP onto it. You’re throwing all the federal workers who aren’t being paid onto it, all because of this fight that you wandered into because of your wing of the Democratic Party,” Jennings added. “You all led to this SNAP crisis. You all led to this crisis of the government being closed, and you don’t know how to get out of it.”
The shutdown is on track to become the longest in U.S. history this week. President Donald Trump said in an interview aired Sunday that he “won’t be extorted” by Democrats pushing to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year for millions of Americans.
