Liberal CNN viewers are urging the network to fire one of its only recognizable conservative commentators, Scott Jennings, after he criticized Democrats in Minnesota for “catering” to the state’s embattled Somali community.

On Monday, the panelists on CNN’s “NewsNight” were discussing the social services fraud investigation in Minnesota, which made headlines when federal prosecutors charged more than 90 individuals — the vast majority of them of Somali descent — with allegedly stealing more than half of the $18 billion allocated for Medicaid programs in the state since 2018.  As conservatives, including President Trump, focused their attention on the Somali community, leaders of Minnesota’s reliably liberal Democratic party, known as the Democrat-Farmer-Labor Party, have expressed their support for the community, which numbers around 100,000 in the state. 

Minnesota’s lieutenant governor, Peggy Flanagan, was recently seen in a video released by Somali TV of Minnesota, wearing a hijab as she encouraged residents to “show up and support our Somali businesses and our immigrant neighbors.”

Mr. Jennings suggested that Democrats’ “catering” to the Somali community is “weird.”

“You gotta admit the catering to the Somali community that goes on by the Democrats is a little weird, is it not?” Mr. Jennings said on Monday. “They got the lieutenant governor up there dressed like ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’”

His comment referred to the red cloaks and white bonnets worn by characters in “The Handmaid’s Tale,” Hulu’s dramatization of the dystopian Margaret Atwood novel. In recent years, far-left feminist protesters have worn the costumes to protest against what they perceive as an oppressive male patriarchy. 

Ms. Phillip interrupted, “I don’t think it would be acceptable for you to make a statement like that about Orthodox Jews in Brooklyn.”

“Why on Earth is it acceptable to make a statement like that?” she asked. “You’re denigrating the religious practices of a group … You’re describing the type of dress as ‘The Handmaid’s Tale,’ and you’re doing that to denigrate the religion of a group of people.”

She added, “It wouldn’t be acceptable if you did it with another group, so just don’t do it when it comes to Muslim people.”

The “handmaids” who wear the white and red costumes in the fictional Hulu show live in a Christian theocracy, the Republic of Gilead, that overthrew the United States, and have nothing to do with Muslims. 

Mr. Jennings said he was not trying to denigrate Muslims. Rather, he said he was trying to point out what he felt was the absurdity of a “white, liberal woman” wearing a hijab while noting that “she’s not religious.”

“It‘s Democrats who have put [the] Somali diaspora in Minneapolis at the center of their party and their state’s politics. It’s a small portion of the population. There is a bunch of fraud that goes on, and even Tim Walz has claimed that any investigation of this fraud is akin to white supremacy,” he said. 

“I’m sorry. This is too much. He should be suspended. Abby is right. If someone denigrated Orthodox Jews (or any other group that may be wearing religious garb), there would be a five-alarm fire. This is some sick sh—,” one user wrote.

Another viewer asked, “Why on Earth do you keep having this a—clown on your show to let him do this?”

“Abby Philip deserves a show without Jennings,” another person said.

Another viewer wrote, “Please fire this idiot!!!”

While users fumed over Mr. Jennings’ comment and asked why he was on the program, some suggested he is the reason the show is performing well. “NewsNight” – where Mr. Jennings is a regular presence as part of an otherwise liberal panel, presided over by Ms. Phillip – is one of the most popular shows on CNN. It frequently beats out a show hosted by CNN’s biggest star, the anti-Trump news personality Anderson Cooper, in the key 25-54-year-old demographic.  

Over the weekend, new questions were raised about fraud in Minnesota after an independent journalist, Nick Shirley, posted a video in which he visited daycare centers that he said were Somali-owned. Mr. Shirley said the facilities received taxpayer funds and, according to his video, several were not providing daycare services. One facility, the Quality Learning Center, had a sign that was misspelled and read, “Quality Learing Center.”

A 2015 report from Fox KMSP indicated that fraud related to daycare centers has been going on for more than a decade. 

The allegations of widespread fraud have sparked questions about whether Minnesota’s Democratic governor, Tim Walz, ignored the alleged fraud or was unaware. 

On Monday, a spokesman for Mr. Walz told Fox News, “The governor has worked for years to crack down on fraud and ask the state legislature for more authority to take aggressive action.”

The spokesman insisted Mr. Walz has “strengthened oversight” of the facilities, and launched investigations into them.