Scott Jennings pressed about whether he will ditch CNN for Senate run

CNN senior political commentator Scott Jennings hinted Wednesday at what might lead him to ditch the corporate network for a possible Senate campaign during an interview on Real America’s Voice.

Jennings, who has repeatedly clashed with Democrats and other left-wing guests on CNN, debuted a new talk show on Salem Radio Network Monday. “Bolling!” host Eric Bolling asked Jennings about rumors of a possible run for the Senate seat held by retiring Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

“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?” Bolling asked Jennings.

“I haven’t made any announcements about that,” Jennings, a former George W. Bush administration official, told Bolling. “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.”

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Republican Rep. Andy Barr of Kentucky, former Republican Attorney General David Cameron of Kentucky, and businessman Nate Morris have all declared their candidacies for the Republican nomination to replace McConnell, according to Ballotpedia.

“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,” Jennings told Bolling. “I wouldn’t want to run against the president in Kentucky. So, I don’t really have any announcement about it at the moment.”

“Just let me throw that through the Bolling sieve here. If Trump taps you, you’re going to run,” Bolling asked, with Jennings responding, “I pay very close attention to everything the president says.”

Jennings joined President Donald Trump on Air Force One and spoke during the president’s 100-day rally in Michigan, fueling speculation of a possible Senate run.

McConnell announced his retirement in February, following a series of health crises in recent years. He was hospitalized on Mar. 9, 2023, after he tripped and fell during an event at the Waldorf Astoria in Washington, D.C., suffering a concussion and a fractured rib, and entered an inpatient rehab facility after he was released from the hospital on March 13, 2023.

The 81-year-old senator was previously treated for a broken shoulder after a 2019 fall in his Kentucky home, CNN reported. He also froze up during an August 2023 press conference in Covington, Kentucky, when asked if he was running for reelection, and had a similar incident in July 2023, during a weekly press conference in the Capitol.