Conservative pundit Scott Jennings defended President Donald Trump on Tuesday after the president argued that the H-1B visa program — which helps U.S. companies hire foreign workers for high-skilled roles — is essential because “you don’t have certain talents” in the country.

“But obviously, he believes there’s something to be gained in the United States by finding talented people, maybe with specialized skills, and bringing them here,” Jennings said Tuesday during a panel discussion on CNN’s “NewsNight with Abby Phillip.”

Trump sat down earlier in the day with Fox News host Laura Ingraham, who said he “can’t flood the country” with immigrants if he wants to raise wages. When Trump said you “have to bring in talent,” Ingraham argued that America has “plenty of talented people” already.

“No, you don’t,” Trump countered during the interview. “No, you don’t. You don’t have certain talents, and people have to learn. You can’t take people off an unemployment line and say, ’I’m going to put you into a factory, we’re going to make missiles.’”

Co-panelist Keith Boykin, a former White House aide to ex-President Bill Clinton, found the moment far more “shocking” than Jennings, saying Trump’s use of the word “you” made it sound like the president “was referring to the United States as some other entity.”

“First of all, I agree there are not enough workers here in the United States,” said Boykin. “But the president of the United States just said that we, the United States’ people, don’t have enough talented people in ‘your’ country.”

Boykin said that if former Democratic presidents such as Barack Obama or Joe Biden said this, conservatives like Jennings would be “outraged.” Phillip agreed, which prompted Jennings to note that Trump is in a difficult position.

“Look, he was having a debate with a hardliner about immigration,” said Jennings. “He fervently believes that we shouldn’t have any of this kind of immigration. Trump is in an interesting spot … He’s got a broad coalition with really disparate views.”

The MAGA faction of Trump’s base had a meltdown over what they perceived as a betrayal of his otherwise ruthless stance on immigration. The president reminded viewers on Tuesday that he has issued a proclamation to raise the H-1B visa fee to $100,000.

“He’s not really saying clearly what the policy ought to be,” Phillip said. “He’s just saying we don’t have talented people in the United States to do these jobs, which is not true. But, you know, I mean, it’s also just a failure.”

“I interpreted it as him saying there’s room for more talented people,” Jennings replied. “When I was listening to it, and I listened to it carefully, I was interpreting his answer as, ’Look, we have needs and room for the most talented people we can get.”

Fellow panelist and Democratic strategist Madeline Summerville later asked, “If you had somebody else saying the exact same thing, would you make the same argument? Can you say that honestly? And can you be intellectually honest about that?”

Jennings reiterated, “Trump is in a difficult position because his base is so diversified here.”