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.”
WATCH:
President Donald Trump is seeking to replace McConnell—who has frequently opposed the White House this year—with a loyal ally, but insiders say that concerns are rising within Trump’s inner circle over a front-runner’s repeated donations to lawmakers who voted to impeach the president.
Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.) contributed seven times through his leadership PAC to support four House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump in 2021 for allegedly inciting the January 6 Capitol riot, despite Trump urging his supporters to primary them out of office.
Barr, 51, criticized Trump as “irresponsible” and “not blameless,” yet personally voted against impeaching the 45th president, the New York Post reported.
The congressman is now engaged in a three-way race for McConnell’s Senate seat, held by the longtime senator since 1985, against former state attorney general Daniel Cameron, 39, and waste management entrepreneur Nate Morris, 44.
About a month after leaving the White House in 2021, the former and future president publicly read aloud the names of the 10 House Republicans who had joined Democrats in voting to impeach him over his claims that the 2020 election was stolen, urging his supporters to “get rid of them all.”
In February 2021, Barr donated $2,500 to then-Rep. Anthony Gonzalez (R-Ohio), who seven months later called Trump “a cancer” and announced he would not seek re-election. Barr also continued to support three other Republicans who, alongside then-Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), voted to impeach Trump, The Post reported.
Through his PAC, Barr contributed $2,000 to then-Rep. John Katko (R-NY) on June 15, 2021; $10,000 to Rep. David Valadao (R-Calif.) in four installments between June 2021 and August 2022; and $3,000 to then-Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-Wash.) in July 2022, the outlet continued, adding that of the four, only Valadao remains in the House.
Loyalty has played a key role in staffing decisions for Trump’s second administration, and Barr’s critics hope it will also influence the president’s Senate endorsement.
Trump won Kentucky by 30.53 percentage points on November 5, positioning him in the commanding role of kingmaker in the 2026 primary, The Post noted.
Barr’s supporters argue that he has consistently backed the president and aimed to build a broad GOP coalition to oppose the Biden administration’s agenda. They also note that his PAC has made hundreds of donations.
Barr’s spokesman, Alex Bellizzi, highlighted the seven-term congressman’s history of working with Trump and pointed out that Nate Morris donated $5,000 to former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley on May 20, 2021.
Haley emerged as Trump’s most persistent primary challenger in 2024, but on April 12, 2021—shortly before Morris’ donation—she stated, “I would not run if President Trump ran.”
She later reversed course and officially launched her campaign in February 2023, three months after Trump announced his candidacy, The Post reported.
Bellizzi also contended that Barr is the most electable Republican, pointing out that Daniel Cameron lost the 2023 Kentucky governor’s race to Democrat Andy Beshear by more than five points.