Scott Jennings brought props to a CNN panel, and it’s safe to say he stole the show.
Armed with a whiteboard and markers, Jennings decided to teach a crash course in moral clarity to a group of panelists who, in his view, seemed a little confused about who the heroes and villains are in today’s news cycle. His simple but effective chart boiled it down: Marine veteran Daniel Penny—good guy. Luigi Mangione, the accused killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson—bad guy. Seems straightforward, right? Apparently, not for everyone.
Jennings pointed out what many Americans are thinking but might not say out loud: the left seems to struggle when it comes to distinguishing between heroes and villains. Penny, who intervened on a New York subway to protect fellow passengers from a man making threats, was acquitted of criminal charges—yet some still vilify him. Meanwhile, Mangione, who allegedly executed Brian Thompson in cold blood, is inexplicably getting a weird level of public sympathy from certain corners of the internet. If you need a whiteboard to explain that dichotomy, maybe you’re overthinking things.
Guest host Audie Cornish wasn’t impressed, immediately interrupting Jennings to ask whether he had a chart for the “victims.” But Jennings stayed on message, refusing to let the discussion get bogged down in the kind of relativism that often clouds debates like this. “What I’m telling you is people on the left can’t seem to tell the difference between the good guys and the bad guys,” Jennings shot back.
Made a chart for the American Left last night on @cnn to help them tell the good guys from the bad, since it seems so many can’t locate the truth about the Daniel Penny and Luigi Mangione cases. pic.twitter.com/xRzJuhcAmA
— Scott Jennings (@ScottJenningsKY) December 10, 2024
Cornish then brought up Republican Rep. Eli Crane’s call to award Penny the Congressional Gold Medal, pressing Jennings for his opinion. Without missing a beat, he doubled down: “I think he ought to get a medal, I think we ought to build a statue to this guy in New York City.” That’s not a wishy-washy answer—it’s a bold declaration that contrasts sharply with the left’s tendency to nitpick every action Penny took while ignoring the context of the situation he was thrown into.
And then there’s Solomon Jones, who made the predictable argument that race played a role in Penny’s case, implying that black defendants would face harsher outcomes. Jennings dismantled that narrative by pointing out the case of Jordan Williams, a black man who stabbed someone on the subway in defense of his girlfriend and others. Williams’ case didn’t even go to trial—it was dismissed. So much for the argument that Penny’s race gave him special treatment.
Jennings’ performance highlights what so many Americans feel but rarely see articulated in mainstream media: a longing for clarity in a world where moral lines have become unnecessarily blurred. People like Daniel Penny, who act selflessly to protect others, deserve praise—not legal persecution or ideological attacks. Meanwhile, figures like Mangione, accused of cold-blooded murder, should be roundly condemned—not turned into quasi-martyrs by fringe elements seeking to make a political point.
By using a simple chart and sticking to common sense, Jennings managed to expose just how convoluted the left’s moral compass has become. Sometimes, it really is as simple as knowing who the good guys and bad guys are. Maybe CNN should keep a whiteboard on hand for every panel—because Jennings might be onto something.
