CNN once again showed its bias Monday night as senior political commentator Ana Navarro used identity politics to silence conservative journalist Brad Polumbo during a fiery exchange over President Trump’s immigration policies.
The tense moment unfolded during *CNN NewsNight*, when Polumbo dared to challenge Navarro’s over-the-top claim that Trump’s immigration enforcement under his first term amounted to a “reign of terror.” Polumbo, known for his level-headed takes and willingness to speak truth to liberal orthodoxy, calmly stated what many Americans already know: the Left’s constant sky-is-falling rhetoric around Trump’s immigration agenda is exhausted and disingenuous.
“I think you’re definitely being hyperbolic when you talk about a reign of terror,” Polumbo said. “When the doomsday alarm from Democrats or media critics is always at a ten, it doesn’t hit the same.”
That was apparently too much for Navarro, who couldn’t rebut Polumbo on substance. Instead, she went straight for the identity politics playbook, saying, “It might be hyperbolic for you as a White man… It’s certainly not hyperbolic for me as a Latino.”
Polumbo didn’t take the racial jab lightly. “Oh, OK — so we’re being racist now?” he asked, pointing out exactly what many viewers were thinking. Navarro, predictably, denied it, but the damage was done. When you attempt to disqualify someone’s opinion based solely on their skin color and gender, what else can it be called?
“To dismiss my opinion for being a White man is racist,” Polumbo rightly fired back.
But Navarro, doubling down, claimed she wasn’t dismissing his opinion — despite the fact that’s exactly what she did. She then tried to paint herself as the voice of an entire ethnic group, saying, “What the Latino community, the Brown community in America—”
Polumbo immediately stopped her in her tracks: “A lot of them disagree with you. You do not speak in one voice for them.”
Exactly. Millions of Hispanic Americans, especially in border states, *support* strong immigration enforcement. It’s precisely why Trump’s support among Latinos continues to rise — because they understand better than most the chaos that comes with open borders.
Navarro, clearly frustrated at being challenged, tried to spin the exchange: “Being a White man is an insult?” she asked, turning the tables.
“When you invoke it to dismiss my opinion, yes,” Polumbo said.
CNN host Abby Phillip then stepped in, not to fairly moderate the clash, but to carry water for Navarro. She insisted Navarro’s remark wasn’t an insult, saying, “She said, I see it differently from you — which is not an insult.”
But that’s not what Navarro said — and viewers know it. She didn’t simply say her view was different; she weaponized race to delegitimize a dissenting opinion. That’s not civil debate — that’s identity-based silencing.
At a time when conservatives are being censored and dismissed for who they are rather than what they believe, this exchange perfectly captures how the Left continues to treat free speech: agree with us, or we’ll call you names.
Thankfully, Brad Polumbo didn’t back down — and Americans watching saw the truth.
