CNN senior political commentator Scott Jennings teased this week that he would run for Kentucky Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell’s seat in 2026 if President Donald Trump gave his approval.
During an interview on “Real America’s Voice,” host Eric Bolling asked Jennings, “A lot of people are floating your name to take over, to jump into Mitch McConnell’s Senate seat next year in ’26. You thinking about it?”
“Yeah, I haven’t made any announcements about that. There’s three people in the race, I know them all, like them all, have been in and out of their lives in varying degrees over the years. I’ve supported them all in various endeavors, so I’m confident the seat will remain Republican,” said Jennings, who worked as a special assistant for former President George W. Bush.
He continued, “I do think politics is a team sport, and I think Trump’s the head coach. And eventually he’s gonna weigh in on this, and my political advice would be to anybody, you know, if he calls a play, we’re gonna have to run it. I wouldn’t want to run against the president in Kentucky. So, I don’t really have any announcement about it at the moment.”
After Bolling pressed, “If Trump taps you, you’re gonna run?” Jennings said cryptically, “I pay very close attention to everything the president says.”