CNN Panel Gets Tense as Scott Jennings Bites Back at James Carville: ‘You’re Not Going to Call Me a Book Burner on TV’

CNN commentator Scott Jennings objected to James Carville implying he is a “book burner” during a tense debate on Louisiana schools now being required by law to post the Ten Commandments in classrooms.

Jennings and Carville joined Anderson Cooper on Tuesday to discuss the new law with Carville dismissing it as election-fueled nonsense and Jennings countering that such an act will not negatively impact schools in any way.

“This is book burner talking points, alright? These people want to burn books — take them out of libraries; you can’t substitute reading, writing, and arithmetic. Like I say, the courts will have to flush this out,” Carville, a Democratic strategist , threw at Jennings towards the end of the panel.

Carville added he finds it “fascinating” that “book burners” want a piece of reading required in every classroom, and Jennings snapped back at the strategist for lumping him in with these “book burners.”

“I do respect the hell out of James Carville; he‘s a legend in our business and for people who do what I do, but you are not going to sit on this television tonight and call me a book burner. I do not believe in burning books,” Jennings said. “I strongly believe in the First Amendment. I have no interest in restricting any information, and I strongly reject the ad hominem attack. We can disagree on this, but you‘re not going to call me a book burner on TV.”

Carville argued Jennings may not be a book burner — something Cooper jokingly noted he’s never heard the pundit mention — but the “correlation” between this group and those in support of the Ten Commandments mandate is “high.”

“The correlation between book burners and people who want the Ten Commandments is high. I can’t tell you you’re one of them, but 80% of the book burners [back this] — there’s a high correlation there,” he said.

Watch above via CNN .