CNN anchor and senior White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins wasn’t having it Thursday night when GOP analyst and serial Trump apologist Scott Jennings tried to smuggle a blatant falsehood onto live television during a discussion about redistricting.

The backdrop was already embarrassing for Republicans. Earlier that day, the Indiana State Senate torpedoed a redistricting plan Trump had aggressively pushed to pad GOP congressional numbers. The proposal went down in flames by a 31–19 vote, with a majority of Republicans joining Democrats in rejecting it — a rare bipartisan rebuke to Trump’s map-rigging ambitions.

On The Source with Kaitlan Collins, Collins brought on Jennings alongside Democratic strategist Ameshia Cross to unpack the fallout. Before Jennings could spin the loss into a moral victory, Collins played remarks from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez warning that Republican gerrymandering efforts could spectacularly backfire in the midterms.

“We’re looking that there could be a cycle where R-plus-10 seats flip to Democrats,” Ocasio-Cortez said in the clip. “And so if Republicans want to draw a map that makes them more vulnerable to that, that’s their decision to do that.” When CNN’s Manu Raju asked if she anticipated a blue wave, Ocasio-Cortez replied bluntly: “I think so.”

Collins then turned to Jennings and asked the obvious question: is this something Republicans are actually worried about?

“No, not really,” Jennings replied, before abruptly changing the subject and launching into a familiar right-wing script about voting rights that had nothing to do with Indiana’s failed redistricting scheme.

“No one has eradicated anyone’s right to vote,” Jennings insisted. “In fact, it’s never been easier in America to vote than it is right now. And many states, red and blue, have made it easier to vote than ever.”

From there, Jennings attempted to flip the narrative entirely, accusing Democrats of being the real gerrymandering villains and portraying Republicans as wide-eyed amateurs somehow outmatched by Democratic “ruthlessness.”

“To see a Democratic debating partner tonight cheer on Governor Pritzker and his continued redistricting, gerrymandering efforts just goes to show you that Republicans are rookies when it comes to redistricting,” Jennings said. “We are nowhere near as practiced or ruthless when it comes to redistricting as these Democrats.”

He went on to claim that states like Illinois are “already one of the most, if not the most, gerrymandered state[s] in the nation,” before lamenting that Republicans would simply have to “play the hands we’re dealt.”

But Jennings wasn’t finished. He then veered into a dramatic warning about the alleged future of Democratic governance, accusing Democrats of shutting down the government, redrawing maps — and, in a particularly reckless flourish, claiming they had told the military to stop following orders.

That’s when Collins stepped in.

“Well, they said … don’t follow illegal orders,” she corrected, refusing to let the insinuation slide.

The moment exposed exactly what Jennings had been trying to do: blur the distinction between lawful dissent and lawlessness, and quietly launder a false talking point into the conversation.

When Collins handed the floor to Ameshia Cross, she dismantled the broader claim head-on.

“Absolutely,” Cross said. “I was born Black. I’ll be Black all my life. I don’t want to hear anybody say that the Republican Party has not gone out of its way to keep people who look like me away from the ballot box, because it’s painfully untrue.”

The segment exposed how easily some Trump defenders will pivot to misinformation when confronted with an inconvenient loss. And thanks to Collins, one of those pivots didn’t make it past the anchor desk.

Watch the video below: