Proving why defunding PBS was a great thing for America, on Wednesday, Firing Line host Margaret Hoover appeared on CNN’s The Lead and laughed after hearing conservative commentator Scott Jennings recount watching a man get murdered right in front of him in Washington, D.C.’s Union Station. Hoover went on to decry President Trump’s effort to crackdown on the out-of-control crime infesting the nation’s capital.

“I don't know what's authoritarian about putting some extra eyes and ears on the street, getting criminals off the street to keep people from being murdered and carjacked,” Jennings told host Jake Tapper, responding to pro-crime Democrats hyperventilating about sending criminals to prison. “Nobody in their right mind believes Washington D.C. is safe.”

Jennings followed up with his retelling of witnessing a murder in Union Station not far from the U.S. Capitol building:

The city is crime ridden! I saw a guy get murdered in Union Station in February at 4:00 in the afternoon! I saw the body hit the floor at the bottom of the escalator on the second floor! And so, everybody who visits there, everybody who lives there knows it's a serious problem. You have extra eyes and ears. They've arrested criminals. They're getting illegal guns off the street.

“People feel safer. Tourists feel safer. What is the problem?!” Jennings exclaimed.

Tapper pivoted to Hoover for her response. Hoover and her husband, CNN commentator John Avlon (D-NY) who was also a panelist alongside her, responded by openly laughing at Jennings:

TAPPER: Margaret?

MARGARET HOOVER: I mean –

JOH AVLON: [Laughter]

HOOVER: --the problem [Laughter] is, look, it's a series -- there's –

It’s worth noting that Tapper never disclosed the fact that two of his panelists were married as they teamed up against Jennings. He also didn’t disclose that Avlon ran for Congress as a Democrat in 2024.

Despite neither her nor her husband living in D.C., Hoover decried Trump's effort to stop the killing and crime as "a problem" because he's "normalizing this for American eyes and ears." She proclaimed it's a "slippery slope" to authoritarianism:

She argued that there were better ways to crackdown on crime, noting, “we all watched Rudy Giuliani turn a city around.” Jennings expertly countered by pointing out that, “Yes. It would be amazing if someone could do it” but the Democrats who ran the cities weren’t doing anything but backing it worse.

Of course, Hoover’s argument boiled down to an unsubstantiated prediction that Trump would use the crime crackdown as a military coup:

But like the urban policies in many of these cities have been failing. But the answer isn't to send the military in. You send the military in, you think that's normal? We're going to have a lot of problems down the road.

Hoover was definitely not the “conservative” she falsely claimed to be.

The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:

CNN’s The Lead
August 13, 2025
5:24:18 p.m. Eastern

(…)

SCOTT JENNINGS: I don't know what's authoritarian about putting some extra eyes and ears on the street, getting criminals off the street to keep people from being murdered and carjacked. Nobody in their right mind believes Washington D.C. is safe. And to say the president is trying to help us keep people from getting murdered and carjacked and we have to stop this authoritarian push? I mean, it's just sort of ridiculous rhetoric.

These Democrats don't know what to do with themselves. Every time Donald Trump tries to do something, they reflexively feel the need to oppose it without thinking through the political implications for themselves.

JAKE TAPPER: You think Democrats are taking the bait?

JENNINGS: Well, I think they're acting like idiots here. The city is crime ridden! I saw a guy get murdered in Union Station in February at 4:00 in the afternoon!

TAPPER: Murdered? You got --

JENNINGS: I saw the body hit the floor at the bottom of the escalator on the second floor! And so, everybody who visits there, everybody who lives there knows it's a serious problem. You have extra eyes and ears. They've arrested criminals. They're getting illegal guns off the street.

People feel safer. Tourists feel safer. What is the problem?!

TAPPER: Margaret?

MARGARET HOOVER: I mean –

JOH AVLON: [Laughter]

HOOVER: --the problem [Laughter] is, look, it's a series -- there's -- you and I both know it's not that –Washington and sending National Guard troops into Washington is legally permissible and it would be completely different if he had sent troops into New York City, for example. And the issue is that he's normalizing this for American eyes and ears. And making it seem like, oh, look, there's a crime problem, we'll just send the military.

Because there is a slippery slope problem, Scott. You and I both know that. I mean, we come from a conservative pedigree that really respects checks and balances, that respects the military's lane and civil society's and police's lane. And there are ways to secure a city. You and I both know that. Like, we all watched Rudy Giuliani turn a city around.

JENNINGS: Yes. It would be amazing if someone could do it.

HOOVER: It would be great.

JENNINGS: All these things in America –

HOOVER: I agree. They can't -- they can't get it right in Chicago, they can't get it right --

AVLON: We got a 30-year crime decline in the United States except for Donald Trump's first term.

HOOVER: Well, but, no, no, but like the urban policies in many of these cities have been failing. But the answer isn't to send the military in. You send the military in, you think that's normal? We're going to have a lot of problems down the road.

TAPPER: So everyone stick around, I want to get you guys take in the next block, too.

(…)