CNN commentator Scott Jennings thought he had an easy target when he attacked Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff over a remark involving Donald Trump and his aide Natalie Harp.

During a recent criticism of Trump, Ossoff took aim at the president’s priorities, arguing that while U.S. sailors were dealing with serious conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, Trump was busy golfing, trading stocks, working on his ballroom and traveling with Harp.

Ossoff also referred to Trump and Harp’s unusually close relationship, describing the president’s apparent reliance on the young aide as part of a broader concern about who is actually helping run the White House.

Jennings immediately seized on the comment.

“This is quite a message for the Democratic Party to send to young women working in politics,” Jennings wrote. “Party of women? Pretty ugly stuff.”

But instead of ending the conversation, Jennings’ criticism opened the door to a much bigger argument.

Ossoff later appeared on MSNBC with Jen Psaki and pushed back on the idea that his comments were about Harp personally. He argued that the real issue was whether the White House had serious people focused on governing.

He described Harp as someone who has been characterized as Trump’s “security blanket” and said Americans need people in positions of power who are actually focused on their jobs.

Jennings wasn’t convinced.

“What a coward. Own your sexist joke, bro,” he fired back.

And that’s where the criticism of Jennings really began to snowball.

Critics quickly pointed out what they saw as a glaring double standard: Jennings was condemning Ossoff over a remark about a woman working in Trump’s orbit while continuing to defend a president who has faced years of criticism over his own treatment and comments about women.

Trump has repeatedly been accused of making degrading comments about women, and his history on the subject has been a major source of controversy throughout his political career.

That made Jennings’ sudden concern about sexism particularly easy for his critics to mock.

The argument also shifted attention away from Ossoff’s original point. Rather than focusing on whether Trump’s priorities or relationship with Harp were appropriate subjects for political criticism, the online debate became a fight over whether Jennings was applying one standard to Democrats and another to Trump.

Ossoff, meanwhile, continued emphasizing what he said was the larger issue: Americans are struggling with affordability and expect the president and his administration to take their responsibilities seriously.

So what started as Jennings accusing Ossoff of making a sexist remark quickly turned into another political battle over Trump, double standards and the way both parties talk about women.

Jennings wanted Ossoff to answer for his words. Instead, critics started asking Jennings to answer for his own standards.