Scott Jennings, CNN’s Trump-supporting commentator who has gone viral on social media for his sparring matches with left-leaning guests, responded to reports that he may run for Senate in Kentucky to succeed Sen. Mitch McConnell.
“Man, the internet’s a crazy place. Long way until next May,” Jennings, who formerly advised multiple McConnell campaigns, told Fox News Digital at the White House Correspondents Dinner on Saturday. “I read all this with some amusement, but again, it’s a long way until next year.”
Fox News Digital reported in February that he is being encouraged to run and the Lexington Herald-Leader reported last Friday that he’s mulling a bid.
Jennings went on to say that he believes “Kentucky has benefited from having Republican senators for a long time” and that he thinks the Senate seat “ought to be in the hands ultimately of somebody who’s going to help Donald Trump execute on the president’s agenda.”
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“And frankly, I think politics is a team sport. The president’s the head of our team and I think eventually he’ll need to weigh in here on who he thinks is the best to help him execute on his agenda,” Jennings added.
At President Donald Trump’s 100-day rally in Michigan on Tuesday night, the president invited Jennings to address the audience.
“We have a man here that I don’t know, but he’s defending me all the time on CNN. And he defends me really well, but he can’t go too far because if he goes too far he’ll get fired,” Trump said.
“I got to get a farm in Michigan, because when you own as many Libs as I do, you gotta get a place to put ‘em all!” Jennings joked.
Currently, Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., and former Kentucky Attorney General David Cameron are in the race for the seat on the Republican side. There has also been speculation that Kentucky businessman Nate Morris, a close ally of Vice President JD Vance, will hop into the race.
In the Democratic primary, Kentucky House Minority Leader Pamela Stevenson is in the race. Trump won the state by a wide margin in November and it is generally considered a red state, with the notable exception of Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear.
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The 83-year-old McConnell, who has regularly butted heads with the president despite also receiving high praise from Trump, said in February he would not run for re-election after being in the seat since the 1980s.
As for Jennings, who was initially floated as a potential pick for the White House press secretary role before Karoline Leavitt was chosen, he was formerly a top advisor to McConnell and served in the George W. Bush administration. He has also advised several other campaigns and is the founding partner of RunSwitch, which is advertised as “Kentucky’s largest PR and public affairs firm.”
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