A conversation with Scott Jennings, the sharp-witted CNN commentator and former White House aide whose outspoken support for President Trump and his agenda has made him a potential candidate for White House press secretary
Scott Jennings has become one of President Donald Trump’s most prominent and articulate supporters in the national media. Quick on his feet and rarely at a loss for words, he holds his own even when he finds himself the lone conservative voice on CNN panels. A veteran Republican strategist, Jennings served in the George W. Bush White House and was a longtime adviser to Senator Mitch McConnell. He is also the author of A Revolution of Common Sense: How Donald Trump Stormed Washington and Fought for Western Civilization and hosts The Scott Jennings Show on the Salem Radio Network.
His effectiveness in defending Trump and his conservative agenda recently brought him into consideration for the position of White House press secretary. Reports surfaced that he had met with White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles about replacing Karoline Leavitt, but President Trump ultimately chose Katie Zacharia. Following Zacharia’s abrupt departure after less than a week on the job, Jennings’s name has resurfaced as a possible successor.
I spoke with Jennings before Trump made that appointment, when speculation about his own prospects for the position was already circulating. With the position now vacant once again, our conversation has taken on renewed significance.
I was going to ask where you are right now, but I see you’re calling from a Kentucky number.
That’s because my cellphone has a Kentucky number, but I’m actually standing inside Union Station in Washington, DC. I just got off the air over at CNN, and I had to walk over here to talk to the guy who makes my jackets about a jacket.
Are you living in DC right now, or do you go back and forth?
I travel back and forth. I live in Kentucky, but I commute to New York and Washington every week, and I go to other places around the country as needed.
You certainly wear many hats. You’ve had a colorful career, and it’s a pleasure to speak with you.
Thank you.
Let’s start with October 7. Our “great” mayor, Zohran Mamdani, issued an obnoxious statement that day against Israel and was later attacked by pro-Palestinians for “abandoning” them. You’re an observer of politics aside from everything else. What was your take on that?
A couple of things. Number one, I thought his statement was shameful and a disgrace. The way I read it was that he was justifying what happened that day, and he of course continuing to spread the propaganda and blood libels against the Jewish people and the nation of Israel. None of what they’re saying is true. There is no genocide. I just think it’s incredible that he continues to spread that damnable lie.
Number two, actions speak louder than words, and his actions ought to inform every Jew in New York and around the world that he hates you. He puts out this statement. He says he’s going to fight anti-Semitism and then gives millions of dollars to Linda Sarsour’s group. In fact, he gives them more than they were getting before. He goes to dinner last night at a Palestinian restaurant that has clear anti-Semitic and anti-Israel ownership. His wife is off at a Jew-hate retreat in Europe and is now apparently making art for olive oil bottles for a company that is clearly anti-Semitic.
I don’t know what else they could do to signal where their hearts are on this, which is why I found the people protesting him to be somewhat curious. Are they saying that he doesn’t hate Jews enough? Because I’m not sure he could hate them more than he clearly does. I wasn’t sure what to make of their demonstration, because if he isn’t sufficiently anti-Semitic, what exactly are you looking for?
Maybe they want a reincarnation of Hitler. I don’t think Mamdani is quite there yet.
His politics on this from before he was mayor are extremely obvious, and so are his politics after he became mayor. Sadly, I think he is the inspiration for a new generation of Democratic politicians around the country. To me, that’s the most shocking thing about our political moment.
Jews in America have voted Democrat at a rate of 75% to 80% for decades. Yet under the direction of Mamdani, AOC and the rest of these socialists, they’ve been told, “Not only are you no longer welcome in the Democratic Party but this party is hostile to you. This party hates you, this party doesn’t recognize Israel’s right to exist, and this party is going to serve as a propaganda machine to make other people hate you and put your lives in danger.” That must be shocking for Jewish Democrats who have voted Democrat their whole lives to find out that this is what they’re currently being told by Democratic leadership.
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