Tempers flared, and a shouting match erupted on CNN between political commentator and host of “The View” Ana Navarro and a former Trump administration staffer during a conversation about President Donald Trump’s intentions in Venezuela, with Navarro tossing the ultimate putdown to shut him up.
The discussion boiled over Wednesday on “NewsNight,” with host Abby Phillip struggling to bring the angry and yelling Navarro and Black MAGA mouthpiece Harrison Fields under control.
The pair battled over Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s boat strikes in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific in recent months that have sunk over 20 vessels and killed more than 80 people, according to news outlets.
Fields claimed the U.S. naval build-up off the coast of Venezuela was an effort at protecting American interests, but Navarro immediately called him out on the alleged MAGA cover story.
“What is the American interest? Oil?” she asked.
Fields claimed it’s drugs from Venezuela “pouring into this country and killing us.”
“OK. Most drugs do not come through Venezuela. Then why aren’t you bombing Mexico?” Navarro demanded.
“Are you going to bomb Mexico?” an animated Navarro persisted.
“Stop. That’s a ridiculous argument,” Fields claimed.
The two continued to exchange angry words, talking over each other, with Navarro telling Fields to stop “gaslighting” her and that “No drugs come from Venezuela,” but the MAGA supporter continued to falsely claim that they do.
Phillip tried to interrupt to regain control of the fiery exchange, but the pair continued arguing.
“You are lying to the American people,” Navarro accused Fields. “You are part of fabricating a narrative that doesn’t exist.”
“Well, your day job is ‘The View,’ so let’s talk about fabrication,” the MAGA supporter retorted.
That’s when Navarro lobbed the ultimate insult. “And you have no day job.”
The Trump administration has used the fentanyl crisis to justify bombing boats coming out of Venezuela. But even Trump’s own Drug Enforcement Agency cites China and Mexico as the primary source of fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances trafficked into the U.S.
Phillips tried to set the record straight about Fields’ falsehoods.
“Harrison, you are wrong.”
‘I’m not wrong,” he shot back, continuing to misrepresent where the drugs are coming from.
Social media went nuts, with many finding it hard to believe that Fields could even support Trump, let alone run cover for his Venezuela policy.
“It’s wild to me that a black man is defending Trump & Hegseth. Doesn’t the dude know, that both Trump & Hegseth hate black people?” this Threads user remarked wonderingly.
“Anna Navarro is one smart lady, I don’t know who this schmuck (wanna be) is talking to her!! Shut his lying mouth up!!” another Threads user declared.
“You know how you won an argument with someone like him (a childish liar)? They go off topic to try and attack you personally. Good job Ana you backed him into a corner. His responses after her “you don’t have a day job” clap back were the childish equivalent of NUH UH,” another Threads user wrote.
Other social media posters pointed out the elephant in the room.
“First of all, how does anyone defend just bombing boats and murdering everyone on board, without any proof of them doing anything illegal? Valerie Daytona Beach demanded.
The issue is now coming to a head, with Congress opening investigations after The Washington Post reported on Nov. 28 that a second air strike on a boat in the Caribbean Sea on Sept. 2 killed two survivors and that Hegseth gave the order to “kill everybody.” By Thursday, the Navy commander at the center of the probe, Adm. Frank “Mitch” Bradley, was on Capitol Hill giving congressional testimony in closed-door sessions, reportedly telling lawmakers there was no order to eliminate everyone before the Sept. 2 attack off the Venezuelan coast.
Bradley’s testimony came hours before the U.S. Southern Command announced a fresh U.S. strike on Thursday against a supposed drug boat, this one in the eastern Pacific. The announcement, conveyed in a social media post, said four people were killed in the action.
Hegseth has spent the past week revising his explanations and blaming Bradley for giving the order to strike a second time in the Sept. 2 attack.
Officials close to the Senate Armed Services Committee told CNN they are particularly troubled by evidence suggesting survivors were targeted while defenseless — a violation of U.S. law and international law.
