CNN’s panel shows have become appointment television—not for the analysis, but for watching Scott Jennings repeatedly expose his fellow panelists as hacks.
Monday night delivered another classic moment.
Cameron Kasky, a 25-year-old leftist activist, was discussing Trump’s interest in Greenland when he decided to casually drop this bomb: “I would love it if he was more transparent about the human sex trafficking network that he was a part of.”
Just threw it out there. Trump was part of a sex trafficking ring. On live television. On a major news network.
Host John Berman tried to move on to another question about Greenland. Jennings wasn’t having it.
“You’re gonna let that sit?” Jennings asked. “Are we going to claim here on CNN that the president is part of a global sex trafficking ring or…?”
The Walkback
Berman, suddenly aware that CNN’s legal department was probably already drafting memos, asked Kasky to repeat what he’d said.
With noticeably less confidence, the young activist replied: “That Donald Trump was… probably… very involved with it.”
A smug 25-year-old leftist activist just got HUMBLED live on CNN by Scott Jennings.
Cameron Kasky claimed President Trump was part of a “human sex-trafficking network” — and for a moment, the panel let it slide.
Until @ScottJenningsKY stepped in and FORCED the host John Berman… pic.twitter.com/wRxV2sQ3B5
— Overton (@overton_news) January 20, 2026
Probably. The qualifier that tells you someone knows they’ve stepped in it.
Berman immediately fact-checked his own guest: “Donald Trump has never been charged with any crimes in relation to Jeffrey Epstein.”
Kasky, displaying the judgment that got him on CNN in the first place, tried to push back: “Yeah, but let’s be adults here…”
Berman wisely ignored him and moved on.
The “Accident”
Sometime between the broadcast and the next morning, someone with legal knowledge apparently explained to Kasky what defamation lawsuits look like.
His retraction on X was something to behold:
“I would like to retract my comments from CNN last night and truly apologize. Donald Trump was obviously not involved with a giant international child sex trafficking ring where women and children were systematically raped by elites. I said that by accident and didn’t mean it.”
By accident. He accused the President of the United States of being part of a child sex trafficking ring… by accident.
How exactly does that work? Did he trip over his words and accidentally form a complete sentence accusing someone of one of the most heinous crimes imaginable?
Jennings Saves the Day
The irony is that Scott Jennings—CNN’s token conservative who exists to be outnumbered and shouted down—probably saved both Kasky and CNN from a devastating lawsuit.
By forcing the issue on air, Jennings made Berman address the claim immediately. The host’s instant fact-check and correction created a record that CNN didn’t endorse the accusation. Without that pushback, the network would have let a baseless sex trafficking allegation sit unchallenged on their airwaves.
Kasky apparently thought CNN would protect him. It’s the anti-Trump network, after all. Surely they’d let wild accusations slide if they made the right target look bad.
He learned that even CNN has limits—mostly because their lawyers have limits.
The Larger Problem
This 25-year-old activist felt comfortable enough to casually accuse a sitting president of child sex trafficking on live television. That tells you everything about the media environment that created him.
He’s spent years watching pundits say outrageous things about Trump with zero consequences. Russian agent. Putin’s puppet. Fascist. Nazi. Why not sex trafficker?
The difference is that specific factual accusations—unlike vague political insults—carry legal liability. Saying someone is “authoritarian” is opinion. Saying someone participated in sex trafficking is a factual claim that can be proven false and defamatory.
Kasky learned this the hard way. His “apology” reeks of legal counsel explaining exactly how much money he could lose in a lawsuit.
No Grace Deserved
The young activist extended no grace to Trump when he made his accusation. He doesn’t deserve any in return.
He said what he meant. He meant what he said. The “accident” excuse is laughable. The retraction came only after someone explained the legal exposure.
Maybe he’ll learn from this. Maybe CNN will be more careful about which activists they put on air. Maybe networks will remember that even panels have standards.
Or maybe next week another guest will say something equally insane, Jennings will have to play hall monitor again, and we’ll repeat the whole circus.
At least it’s entertaining.
