This is the reason interview, where we go deep with the artists, entrepreneurs, politicians, and visionaries,

who are making the 21st century more libertarian, or at least more interesting, by challenging worn-out ideas and orthodoxies.

I'm Billy Binion, guest hosting for Nick Gillespie.

Our guest this week is Scott Jennings, the political analyst best known for his viral debates on CNN,

where he is often the lone conservative voice. In his new book, A Revolution of Common Sense,

Jennings argues that President Trump's political comeback is due in large part to what Jennings calls

a common sense platform. He and I discuss whether Trump's policies on issues like tariffs and deportations

are living up to that description a year into his second term. We also talk about Jennings' surprising

experiences at CNN, his issues with the mainstream press, whether Trump truly stands for limited

government, and what he makes of the ongoing conservative civil war between various factions

on the right.

And now, the Reason interview with Scott Jennings.

Scott Jennings, thank you for talking to Reason.

Hey, glad to be here. Thanks for having me in.

So you've been very critical of the mainstream media, and you're also on one of the most visible mainstream media networks.

So I'm wondering, what is your objective at CNN?

And do you think that you get a fair hearing on those panels? Well, my objective is to participate

in debate. I think debate is good. I think the country was founded on debates and some muskets,

but also debates. And I think to the extent that we can foster more debates

in our political culture, it's going to be a good thing for America. CNN used to years ago

sort of pioneer this. You know, this was the network of Crossfire. And then we got away from it,

and there's really not that much debating content out there on the air. And so last year, they decided to do this debating show. And I thought, this is a great idea. And it's worked. It was supposed to be a temporary thing. And then it was so popular, they left it on the air, you know, and it's still going here over a year later. So my purpose is to participate in debates. My purpose is to give

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