Tezlyn Figaro & Abby Phillip HUMILIATE O’Leary Over Trump LIVE

You want to put that guy in charge of America and fix California. >> No, I didn't say that. I said I said bring the same energy. >> I like that guy, but he can't manage his way out of a wet paper bag. >> Well, he sure got Trump talking 24 hours ago. >> Mr. Wonderful Kevin Olirri along with Tessine Figaro and Lee McGawan joined Abby Phillip on CNN for a heated panel discussion about Barack Obama's response to Donald Trump's latest racially charged post. Let's watch this clip together from Abby Phillips show featuring testing figuro Kevin Olirri Lee McGawan and the rest of the panel. I'll share my perspective afterward. But more importantly, I want to hear yours in the comments. All right, let's roll the clip. >> A swipe at President Trump and the rhetoric that's coming out of the current administration. In a new interview, the former president addressed the racist video posted to Trump's truth social account that depicts him and former first lady Michelle Obama as apes. I think it's important to recognize that the majority of the American people find this behavior deeply troubling. There's this sort of clown show that's happening in social media and on television. There doesn't seem to be any shame about this among people who used to feel [snorts] like you had to have some sort of decorum and and and um a sense [clears throat] of propriety and respect for the office, right? So, so that's been lost. >> So, Teslan, is he right that most Americans are not down with this stuff? >> I can't tell. Um, what what he is right about is that the clown it is a clown show. Uh, and it's been lost and and unfortunately, I don't think it's ever coming back. I I think that um whether it's Democrat, especially Democrats have to adjust to the moment. You know, this idea of wanting this bipartisan, let's all get along, let's hold hands, it's over with, Abby, to be quite honest with you. they do not put people and you know I say this all the time. If they do not put fight fire with fire and match the same energy on the other side, they're going to continue to get the table ran on them. And that's just the bottom facts. Content creators drive elections now. Podcast host drive elections now. The idea that I can just sit back and always be on um the the defense opposed to the offense is over with. I think that era is over with and I would like to see leaders adjust. >> So here's what um Piers Morgan says in response to this preposterously disingenuous nonsense by Obama. The woke left [music] has been the single meanest, angriest, exclusive, usm divisive movement in history. In history, he says >> is Barack Obama the woke left. >> I I would like to >> really the people that are like love who you want to love, be who you want to be, read what you want to read. That's the most mean group in history. >> They should they should be meaner. Democrats get meaner. >> I think the thing with the Obama thing is that it's just it's such a sky is blue moment. The fact that it was posted was so deeply and disgustingly racist. Everyone should be able to say that without caveat. The fact that Obama had to make a statement on it that wasn't just accepting Donald Trump's apology to me is appalling. And I just feel like everyone who's justifying what he did uh should be, you know, and used to be shunned by civiliz. >> Now, let's zoom out for a second. Piers Morgan, who has openly aligned himself with Donald Trump, frames this conversation as if we haven't just endured nearly a decade of Trump dominating the political stage as arguably the most aggressive bully to ever hold the bully pullpit. Give me a break. If I can ask both of you, I mean, I think Barack Obama took the high road there, right? Would you like to see him >> get lower to to your point earlier? Would you like to see him be meaner? >> No, no, no. I think President Obama is who he is. Um, he also talked about, which I know we'll discuss later on, how people have aged out. You know, their their time is over. I think I think his era and the class era is over. I think you have other leaders such as a Jasmine Crockett, for example, that is fighting fire with fire, that's giving it right back to Trump the same way he dishes it out. You have Governor Newsome who is doing the same thing. Whether you like his policy or not, it it we are now in an era where now people have to deal with it on a different level. So no, I think that the going high is over with. I think you get low and matter of fact get a little bit lower and that's what people are responding to. So to keep sitting back saying, "Oh, I'm appalled and I just can't believe it." No, I don't. They put it on the table. It was a racist video. It was a racist uh trope that has been going on since the beginning of the inception of this country. It wasn't anything new to see black people as monkeys. That's been happening. What's happening [clears throat] now is on the forefront for everybody to see and discuss. So I think now it has to you have to have a shift a shift in leadership or you're going to continue to see the same thing. >> So um former President George W. Bush this is President's Day by the way. So he has a piece out um on Substack that says our first president could have remained all powerful but chose not to twice. In doing so he set a standard for all presidents to live up to. Washington modeled what it means to put the good of the nation over self-interest and selfish ambition. He embodied integrity and modeled why it's worth aspiring to. He carried himself with dignity and self-restraint, honoring the office without allowing it to become invested with near mythical powers. Um, that's what back in the day we would have called a subweet uh directed at one Donald Trump. And it's not, look, he it's not a new observation about the founding father, but I just wonder, I mean, is he right that Trump is really kind of pushing back and defying the George Washington model for the presidency? Well, I read the essay and I thought it was a wonderful essay celebrating George Washington, who's an incredible founding father and then I saw the headlines about Bush subtly jabs Trump. I I didn't pick up on that at all from the essay. I think he's honoring a founding father on President's Day. I I I really unless you really hate Trump, I don't think you would interpret it. >> Do you see the contrast? I mean, do you see the contrast? >> You know, um I kind of buy into the idea that the office itself is above all the rhetoric and all the, you know, George Washington didn't have to deal with social media. there was none. And so those words are very inspiring. But we're in different times now. And I think the important thing to do, at least from my perspective, is I watch all this whatever you want to call it. And I ask myself, is there any policy in there? Because really what the American people want is some guidance on what is coming next that affects their lives. And I think it's important uh to respect the office. I always have and I'm trying to be bipartisan when I say this, but there's a lot of things that we focus on that really have nothing to do with the average person's day and I think they need more respect. I I deal with them. I've got all these companies with people struggling to survive and we hit them with crazy stuff and it doesn't help put cereal in the bowl. >> What Kevin Olirri says here is honestly staggering, but it's also a classic MAGA tactic. When the conversation turns to substantive criticism, real policy issues, real accountability, the response is immediate deflection. What about trans issues? What about Biden? What about this? What about that? It's endless whataboutism. But then when the topic shifts to something like Trump's racist posts, suddenly it's shouldn't we be talking about policy? Aren't there more important issues? So which is it? You can't have it both ways. I actually agree that we should be discussing policy. Absolutely. But character matters. Leadership matters. And when the person leading the country is publicly posting racist rhetoric, that's not a soft issue. That's a reflection of who he is. And let's not pretend this is normal. The fact that we elected him once was shocking enough. The fact that we did it twice, that's staggering. He is without question one of the least presidential figures we've ever put in the Oval Office. Then Ori says, "This doesn't put cereal in people's bowls. Oh, you want to talk about inflation? Let's talk about it. It's a mess. You want to talk about economic instability? We can go there, too. The record isn't exactly glowing on that front, either. So, no, this isn't a distraction. It's part of the full picture. >> I think that may be why people are wondering why Trump keeps wanting to name things after himself, why he's focused on building this. >> Yeah, [laughter] but I mean, this is not what presidents do. And I think that's the point about the Washington contrast. >> Lee McGawan is absolutely right. This is not what all presidents do. And frankly, it's not even what all real estate moguls do. He literally put his own name on the Kennedy Center. Let that sink in. >> About George Washington. >> Forget about social media. George Washington could have decided to model himself after a king. >> Can Can I just add because George Washington is long gone. Representative uh Garcia, shout out to him last week. I put that one post [clears throat] on my post. I only have about 200,000 followers. Over 15 million people looked at that post from when Representative Garc Garcia was giving it back to Pom Pam Bondi the same way she was dishing it out. Things that still need to be handled. Food on the table. All of those things. Democrats want to see a fighter. The quorum is over with. Clutching of the pearls going high. Anybody in mind? >> Yeah, I just named them. Representative uh Garcia, Jasmine Crockett, who I know Republicans love talking about 24 hours a day. Governor Nuome, who Donald Trump can't seem to stop talking about. Yeah, he gives them to it real good. It makes y'all real upset. Teslan Figuro here that loves giving it to you the same way. You want to put that guy in charge of America. California. >> No, I didn't say that. I said I said bring the same energy. >> I like that guy, but he can't manage his way out of a wet paper bag. >> He sure got Trump talking 24 hours. >> I think my I think the point about that George W. Bush essay is that it's a president looking back and being inspired by his predecessors. And I think that what we're looking at here is this lack of humility that we have from our current president. And what George W. Bush was saying it's important to have some set of humility when you are leading a country. That if you have nothing to learn, then you learn nothing. Like Washington did a lot of great things, but I think the most important thing he did was willingly give up power when he didn't have to. And I think the contrast is we currently have a president who will try to keep power when he is supposed to go. >> Lee McGawan nails something deeper here. I was talking with a friend recently about past presidents and there was a time when I would have confidently said George W. Bush was the worst modern president we'd ever had. Now Bush makes Trump look almost disciplined by comparison. To me, the single most important trait in a president is integrity. Competence comes in a close second. Without those two pillars, nothing else matters. There was a time I feared what a president Nitt Romney might do to the country. Now I would bend over backward for someone with Romney's level of integrity and basic competence. That's how far the bar has fallen. George W. Bush, in my view, had integrity, but he was disastrously incompetent. Surrounded by figures like Rumsfeld and Cheney, we were dragged into decades long wars and corporate entanglements that left lasting damage. It was a mess. But even then, he wasn't hawking sneakers, Bibles, meme coins, or openly monetizing the presidency for personal gain. Trump is different. It's not just incompetence. It's a complete absence of integrity. And when Lee talks about his refusal to let go of power, she's pointing directly at the core danger. Study the authoritarian playbook. It often starts with consolidating power to get things done. But eventually, the calculus shifts. The leader realizes that if that power ever changes hands, it could be used against them. So, they cling to it at all costs. That's the phase we're in now. And if you're watching this unfold, regardless of your political affiliation, and you still can't see it, I genuinely don't know what argument would change your mind. I could go darker here. I'm right on the edge of it, but I won't. Instead, I want to hear from you. I read the comments. I value the discussion. Tell me what you think. Where do you stand on this? Let's talk about it.

#kevinoleary #tezlynfigaro #abbyphillip Tezlyn Figaro wasn’t buying the spin—and she made that crystal clear. In a fiery CNN segment with Abby Phillip, the two take apart the defense of Donald Trump’s latest political controversy piece by piece. Sparks fly after the former president releases a provocative video targeting the Obamas, forcing Kevin O’Leary into a tense back-and-forth he may not have expected. What follows is a sharp, relentless breakdown of accountability as Figaro and Phillip push past the talking points and demand real answers. The pivotal moment? When O’Leary is challenged to stand by his claims—and struggles under the pressure. The exchange quickly turns into one of the most talked-about clashes on live television. This wasn’t just another cable news debate—it was a revealing snapshot of the growing divide over political norms and responsibility. With precision and persistence, Figaro and Phillip don’t just counter the argument—they shift the narrative. If you care about the direction of democratic discourse and the intensity of today’s political battles, this is the segment everyone’s discussing. Watch as the confrontation unfolds in real time. #kevinoleary #tezlynfigaro #abbyphillip #ananavarro #cnn #heateddebate Fair Use Disclaimer: This video may contain copyrighted material that has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Such material is made available for purposes of criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research. We believe this constitutes “fair use” under Section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Act.