Tennessee state Democrat Rep. Justin Pearson may be one of his party’s rising young stars, but he is going to need to seriously upgrade his debate skills if he hopes to be taken seriously on the national stage.
The performative lawmaker showed that he’s not ready for primetime during a CNN segment in which he was mauled by conservative pundit Scott Jennings over whether illegal aliens should be deported.
Pearson was exposed during a panel discussion on Friday’s edition of “CNN NewsNight With Abby Phillip” about the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown, a Democrat effort to force changes to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that would severely impede the agency’s ability to operate.
WATCH: Two-plus minutes of @ScottJenningsKY trying to get a Dem congressional candidate (Justin Pearson-TN) to say whether or not we should deport illegal aliens (he didn’t) pic.twitter.com/QiZq1Z0UNf
— Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) February 21, 2026
The “Tennessee Three” member began by trying to make the case for why ICE had to be abolished, but was embarrassed by the seasoned Jennings, who ran rings around the 31-year-old activist, who was reduced to a stammering mess, repeatedly tripping over his own tongue during the exchange that nearly caused his afro to melt.
“This administration cannot be trusted, and they can’t be trusted to hold themselves accountable, even after the killing of Alex Pretti and Renee Good. They didn‘t want to share information about what was happening, which is why we have to abolish ICE,” Pearson argued. “We have to abolish the Customs and Border Patrol and the way they currently exist, and replace them with something that actually does the work that we need for them to, which is why we need a Congress that works and that is effective at holding, at holding these people in this administration accountable…”
But his spiel was immediately derailed by Jennings, who pressed him hard on what needed to be done with the young Tennessean babbling on with his talking points for an excruciating two minutes as the conservative commentator exposed him as another of the DEI frauds that the Democrats have groomed for Congress.
It was a lot of words to avoid answering what the Democratic policy is: no deportations.
Later, in a post to X, Jennings summed up the exchange in just a few words: “It was an honest debate – Dems cannot name a single illegal alien they want to deport. That’s their position.”
It was an honest debate – Dems cannot name a single illegal alien they want to deport. That’s their position. https://t.co/UKZJ5nKbGh
— Scott Jennings (@ScottJenningsKY) February 21, 2026
X users weren’t impressed with Pearson, who demonstrated an uncanny inability to think on his feet.
Democrats have a script and specific talking points and it is very difficult to deviate from it as you can see.
— Sascha Rose (@TheSaschaRose) February 21, 2026
Why do these freaks always look and sound exactly like you expect them to? They just never run out of these human caricatures that views absolutely cannot stand
— StarWreck (@StarWreckDaily) February 21, 2026
CNN is trash. Another moron token person of color who speaks for “all persons of color,” who ironically is suddenly critical of ICE now, yet was not critical of ICE under Obama, who deported more immigrants, and more immigrants died in ICE custody under Obama than under Trump.…
— Robert Smith (@IAmSmithRobert) February 21, 2026
isnt it amazing how @abbydphillip just allowed that man from TN to just babble on wirh nonsense.
— DavieJew1818 (@DavieJew18x18) February 21, 2026
Holy Afro lol what is that idiot saying?
— livingdeadjake210 (@livingdeadjake) February 21, 2026
Scott, they’re just so dumb. It’s hysterical to watch.
— Tbone (@libtardofinder) February 21, 2026
CNN isn’t doing the Democrats any favors by featuring Pearson; they should probably stick with Jasmine Crockett.
- Carville sticking with WILD prediction that Trump will resign after midterms - March 28, 2026
- Megyn Kelly calls for ‘accountability’ for those who ‘pushed’ Trump on Iran – begins listing names - March 28, 2026
- ‘Absolutely offensive’: House Republicans blast ‘lazy’ Senate for funding bill ‘that doesn’t do the job’ - March 28, 2026
Comment
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.