A “CNN NewsNight” panel discussion turned into a heated debate on Wednesday night after Scott Jennings slammed Sen. Jon Ossoff’s (D-Ga.) comments about President Donald Trump and White House aide Natalie Harp, arguing that Ossoff was “punching down” on a “defenseless woman.”

In response, other panel members, including Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.), political strategist Keith Boykin and CNN host Abby Phillip, challenged Jennings, asking him to elaborate on how this is different from the myriad insults Trump has slung at women.

Jennings declined to comment when HuffPost reached out. The White House also did not respond to HuffPost’s request for comment.

“Just to be clear, I think the idea of continually describing a 35-year-old woman as somebody who has no agency and is defenseless and is just a victim — that is demeaning,” Phillip told Jennings. “You are so concerned about that, but you have not expressed any concern over Trump’s repeated demeaning of all kinds of other women who are just simply doing their jobs.”

Jennifer Lawless, a politics professor at the University of Virginia, told HuffPost she agreed with Phillip that Jennings’s comments are not as helpful for Harp as he may intend them to be. Lawless is also the author of “Women on the Run: Gender, Media and Political Campaigns in a Polarized Era” and “It Still Takes a Candidate: Why Women Don’t Run for Office.”

“The counterfactual is: Imagine that somebody said that [Ossoff] also condemned Stephen Miller. Would anybody say, ‘Well, Stephen Miller is just this poor, defenseless guy who’s along for the ride?’ Of course not,” she said. “Nobody in Donald Trump’s inner circle is defenseless and along for the ride.”

In response to Jennings’ comments, CNN then played a series of clips of what Phillip described as moments of Trump “punching down on and insulting women.” It featured scenes from the 2016 presidential debate when he called former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton “such a nasty woman” while she was speaking, to him slamming CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins for not smiling during an Oval Office press pool earlier this year.

“If you’re going to be outraged over [Ossoff’s comment about Trump] ‘traveling on a plane with Natalie,’ are you going to be outraged over all those things?” Phillip asked.

“I do not believe in demeaning women in any way, number one,” Jennings said. “Number two, the issue I have with this is Natalie Harp is not a public figure; she has no ability to defend herself, and Democrats are saying they’re the party of women and dragging her name.”

Throughout Jennings’ response, Boykin repeatedly asked, “Are you outraged or not?” and then said, “You are avoiding the question again, Scott Jennings.”

“I find this so rich,” Lawless told HuffPost. “I don’t understand — and haven’t understood now for 10 years — why Republicans in this spotlight, whether they’re other elected officials or pundits, can’t condemn the things that Donald Trump says that are objectively wrong and insulting.”

(Lawless disclosed to HuffPost that she knows Jennings and has had him speak for two of her large lecture classes in the past.)

Political scientists call this dynamic “paternalism,” in which someone limits another person’s autonomy under the guise of protecting them, without regard for what that person actually wants or needs. That’s what Lawless sees playing out.

“Jennings doesn’t say this outright, but the way he’s talking about Natalie Harp on CNN, it’s supposedly like this protective language, it’s paternalistic,” she said.

“He repeatedly calls her a ‘defenseless woman,’” Lawless said. “He’s not the only one saying this, but these figures calling women in politics ‘naive’ or ‘vulnerable,’ ‘in over their heads’ — that’s sexist.”

Lawless also emphasized Harp’s position in Trump’s inner circle, with extensive personal access to the president — even his social media accounts.

“It’s patronizingly sexist, and I think that some people would potentially call it benevolent sexism,” she said, referring to when someone appears kind or polite on the surface to a woman but relies on stereotypes that keeps her in a more dependent status than she actually is.

“[Ossoff’s comments aren’t] some hostile attack on a woman,” Lawless said. “When men are systematically protecting women who don’t need protection and demeaning them in the process, that’s still sexism.”

By entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you're agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.