A CNN panel discussion erupted into chaos Thursday night after podcast host Touré suggested that President Donald Trump was not actually shot during the assassination attempt at his Butler, Pennsylvania rally in July 2024.
During the “NewsNight with Abby Phillip” segment, which focused on White House transparency regarding Trump’s health, Touré made remarks that immediately triggered outrage from other panelists. The discussion had centered on recent White House disclosures about Trump’s bruised hands, which Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt attributed to minor soft tissue irritation from frequent handshaking and aspirin use.
When Touré stated that Trump “supposedly got shot in the ear” and that viewers “never heard from his doctors about that,” the panel descended into immediate confrontation. CNN senior political commentator Scott Jennings reacted with visible shock, waving his hands and demanding host Abby Phillip intervene to correct the record.
Conservative commentator Ben Ferguson joined Jennings in challenging Touré’s assertion, while former Harris campaign spokesperson Adrienne Elrod also participated in the heated exchange. The confrontation became so intense that Phillip was forced to repeatedly call for order, stating that panelists needed to stop screaming before she could respond to the controversy.
When pressed by Phillip about whether Trump was actually shot, Touré backtracked from his initial statement, claiming he was not present at the rally and expressing uncertainty about what occurred. He maintained his position that medical documentation from Trump’s physicians should have been made public following the incident.
The July 13, 2024 assassination attempt at the Butler rally resulted in Trump sustaining a gunshot wound to his ear. The would-be assassin, Thomas Matthew Crooks, was killed by law enforcement at the scene. Fire captain Corey Comperatore died during the attack when he shielded family members from gunfire.
Following the assassination attempt, Rep. Ronny Jackson of Texas, who previously served as Trump’s White House physician, issued a statement about the president’s condition. Jackson revealed he was monitoring Trump’s health and declared the bullet wound came within less than a quarter inch of entering Trump’s head, striking the top of his right ear. The physician noted initial significant bleeding followed by marked swelling of the entire upper ear.
Jackson’s medical assessment explicitly stated there was absolutely no evidence Trump was hit by anything other than a bullet, directly contradicting the conspiracy theory Touré appeared to promote during the CNN panel discussion.
The controversy extended beyond the immediate panel discussion, with social media users and political commentators expressing dismay at Touré’s remarks. Critics noted that questioning the reality of a documented assassination attempt crossed traditional boundaries of political discourse, even in highly polarized media environments.
Jennings attempted to provide evidence of Trump’s injury by referencing his attendance at the Republican National Convention, where Trump appeared with a visible bandage covering his wounded ear. The conservative commentator also pointed to photographic evidence showing blood on Trump’s face immediately following the shooting.
The panel discussion originally began as an examination of presidential health transparency, with participants debating whether the current administration provides adequate medical information to the public. Elrod had criticized the White House for not always being forthcoming about Trump’s health status, while also noting apparent memory lapses including Trump’s claim that he was surprised by Jerome Powell’s appointment as Federal Reserve Chairman, despite Trump himself appointing Powell in 2017.
Touré, a former MSNBC host who now operates as an independent podcaster, has previously appeared on various CNN programs as a liberal commentator. His remarks Thursday represent one of the most controversial statements made on a major news network regarding the Butler assassination attempt, which has been thoroughly documented through video footage, law enforcement reports, and medical statements.
The heated exchange ultimately required multiple interventions from Phillip, who was forced to assert definitively that Trump had indeed been shot in the ear. The host’s corrections helped restore factual accuracy to the discussion, though not before the conspiracy theory had been broadcast to CNN’s national audience.
The incident highlights ongoing challenges facing cable news networks in managing panel discussions where guests make unsubstantiated claims about well-documented events. Network hosts increasingly find themselves in positions where they must provide real-time fact-checking while maintaining the flow of political debate programming.
