Katie Miller, the wife of White House adviser Stephen Miller, appeared on CNN in a segment that quickly escalated into a shouting match.
Fireworks erupted on Friday’s episode of CNN NewsNight after former South Carolina Democratic Rep. Bakari Sellers brought up white supremacist Nick Fuentes’ recent appearance on Tucker Carlson’s show. Sellers dubbed Fuentes “misogynistic” and “antisemitic,” but noted “he is somebody who has the pulse of the Republican base right now.”
Miller objected to his description of Fuentes “having the pulse” of the GOP. “It’s what Democrats want to say to divide the Republican base, but that isn’t true.” She said she “absolutely” disagrees with Fuentes’ views but defended his right to free speech.
Host Abby Phillip then tried to steer the conversation away from whether he can speak freely and instead toward Carlson’s influence in the conservative media space.
Miller then turned the comment around on Phillip. She specifically pointed to podcast host Jennifer Welch, who has been critical of Miller’s husband, including calling the Trump aide a “white supremacist” and a “Nazi Jew” in October.
“You had Jennifer Welch on your show very often, and you never pushed back,” Miller said, referring to the liberal podcaster who has criticized her husband. “She called my husband a white nationalist – that is no different than Nick Fuentes going on Tucker Carlson’s show.”
“Wait, hold on. How is it similar? It’s not remotely similar at all. Nick Fuentes sits around and says that he likes Hitler. How is that similar?” Philip fired back, saying that Miller was equating Fuentes to a “a liberal who has an opinion who is not a neo-Nazi.”
Miller clarified that she was drawing a comparison between Philip and Carlson, noting neither pushed back on their guests’ opinions. “It’s not different, Abby, it’s not,” she insisted.
Philip said she would never invite someone who says they love Adolf Hitler on the show, so “those two things are not the same.”
The CNN host then asked Miller if Welch was “allowed to say something negative about your husband?”
“The same way Nick Fuentes has the right to say what he wants to say,” Miller replied. “No difference.”
Miller said it was “absolutely” fine for Welch to comment on her husband, but then took a jab at Philip: “And it’s your job as a moderator to push back.” She defended Carlson: “It’s the same way you’re asking Tucker Carlson to push back on Nick Fuentes.”
Philip distinguished between Welch’s and Fuentes’ comments. Fuentes isn’t “describing someone else as a Nazi, he is saying: ‘I admire Nazis,’” Philip countered. “You don’t think that’s a different thing?”
Miller called it the “same equitable comparison,” to which Philip said she’s comparing two things that “are not in any way the same.”
On her show, Philip says she doesn’t endorse her guests’ opinions and isn’t responsible for them.
Earlier in the episode, Philip mentioned Vice President JD Vance’s refusal to denounce Carlson after the Fuentes episode. The CNN host wrapped up the segment by saying she believes it’s up to the Republican Party to decide how to move forward.
“Do they care whether or not someone who has a loud voice in their party is bringing on somebody who is encouraging, encouraging neo-Nazism?” Philip asked. “We have to leave it at that.”
