The question of how controversial conservative gadfly Scott Jennings landed his high-paying gig on CNN may have been answered by one of his former students.
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Jennings, who is reportedly being eyed by White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles to replace the equally controversial Karoline Leavitt, has become a flashpoint for the network due to his abrasive and condescending appearances, which have led some female guests to balk at appearing with him.
In a column for the Daily Beast, Kaivan Shroff revealed that he got Jennings, who taught a Harvard University class on Modern American Political Campaigns which Shroff took, to explain how he made his way onto TV after a career as a GOP strategist.
Shroff wrote that the class was also taught by Hillary Clinton campaign manager Robbie Mook. He asked both Jennings and Mook separately for advice on breaking into television commentary, noting he had made a few appearances on a local Boston station.
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“Jennings answered without hesitation or embarrassment,” Shroff recalled. “He told me he had paid a third-party booking agent something like $25 per hit to help get him on CNN. His goal was to get a real contract with the network, which he later did.”
He elaborated, “When I later asked Mook about that strategy, he seemed genuinely thrown. He told me he had never heard of anyone doing that.”
Shroff noted in his column that Jennings “didn’t storm some clichéd gates. He found the price of admission and paid it.”
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