← Next Up with Mark Halperin
Next Up with Mark Halperin
Inside the Dems’ Identity Crisis, and Scott Jennings on Trump, Vance, and Filling KY’s Senate Seat
01:07:56
Mark Halperin opens today’s show with his new reported monologue on the Democrats’ identity crisis — a deep dive into how the party has built its identity around resistance, and why that playbook has failed in the view of many Democrats. For years now, anti-Trump applause lines have filled the space where ideas used to live, creating a cycle of outrage that thrilled MSNBC panels but alienated voters looking for solutions. Now, as the country shifts and Republicans confidently seize the momentum, Democrats face a defining question: if they’re not just the opposition, what are they? Then, CNN’s “America’s Favorite Pundit” Scott Jennings joins Mark for a wide-ranging interview on how he built a rare platform as a conservative voice on CNN and why his perspective resonates with both MAGA loyalists and mainstream audiences. Jennings breaks down JD Vance’s emergence as a Republican powerhouse, the party’s new balance of loyalty and ambition, and the political intrigue surrounding Mitch ...
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Scott Jennings
Hey guys.
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Mark Halperin
Hey everybody, welcome in this is next up. I'm Mark Calper and it's Thursday and that means another time for us to convene myself and my Nexters beloved Nexters. Thank you for being here. I'm the editor in chief of the live interactive video platform 2way, and I host this program here where I bring you all my best reporting from the week, analysis, the top stories and the things that matter most right now. So you can always know what's next up. Joining us today, Scott Jennings, king of all media. You've seen him on CNN pretty much every day, rolling his eyes and bringing fact based quips to the liberals on the set with him. He's also the author of a new book coming out shortly about Donald Trump called the Revolution of Common How Donald Trump Stormed Washington and Fought for Western Civilization. He also hosts a daily podcast. He grew up in journalism, then switched to politics, worked for George bush, for Mitch McConnell, and now he's doing Betty. Betty Good. So we'll talk to Scott about stuff that's in the news, including J.D. vance, but we'll also talk about his career and how he does what he does so well with so much recognition and acclaim. That's coming up next. But first, my reported monologue about the Democrats. I'm constantly trying to figure out where the two parties are, what's going on with them, what their relative asymmetrical advantages and disadvantages are. So over the last week, as we've dealt with the government shutdown, the president's trip to the Middle east and the peace deal and a lot of other things, I've been talking to Democrats and asking the question, what do you think's going well for your party? What's not going well? And they're confronting a lot, not just the Middle east and the shutdown, but the indictments from the Justice Department, the military deployments, on and on. Donald Trump has created a, a lot of activity. Now, Haley Barber, the former national chairman of the Republican Party, former governor of Mississippi, one of the smartest political minds of the last hundred years in America. He's got two, two political aphorisms, and they're both really smart. And unfortunately, or fortunately, they're an absolute contradiction. One thing Governor Barber says is in politics, good gets better and bad gets worse. Meaning when you're on the downward trajectory, chances are things are going to keep getting bad. But the other thing he says is nothing in politics is ever as good or bad as it seems. Right? So right now, things seem pretty bad for the Democratic Party if you look at polling, the fact that they don't control the House and Senate or the White House. But maybe it's not as bad. So I'm always asking myself the question, when some political entity, a party, a person, when it doesn't seem like things are going well, is it as bad as it seems?
- [03:38]
Scott Jennings
Or.
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Mark Halperin
Or is it going to get worse? And right now, from talking to Democrats, I would say things are pretty bad. Eric Erickson, the conservative host and writer, he wrote this. I saw this this morning. He said the Democrats seem small and insignificant and life goes on with President Trump as a singular dominant force and Democrats unsure of which fights to pick. That line really stuck out to me because that's what a lot of Democrats have been saying to me. They're not sure which fights to pick. And some Democrats, at least privately, don't like the fights that some of the other Democrats are picking. Okay. The Democratic Party isn't just struggling, though, with how it talks. It's struggling now with an identity crisis. Who are they? What do they stand for? There's a chaos in their messaging. It's a byproduct of this identity crisis they once, in the era of Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, they organized around big ideas, things like growth and fairness, opportunity, progress, health care, jobs. They now are pretty much organized around one thing, which is opposition. The opposition has become their reflexive crutch. It is what animates the politicians and their followers on the left. It's not a winning formula, according to a lot of Democrats I talk to who say it's putting them in a place where they're reacting and not being the force to appeal to Americans that they need to be. Every message now that comes out of the leaders of the Democratic Party, nearly everyone, it's calibrated to be in opposition, obviously in opposition to Donald Trump, but also MAGA against the wealthy, against popular conservative voices like the late Charlie Kirk or Tucker Carlson. It's a party now that defines itself almost entirely by who its enemies are. Now, in the current environment of media and politics, that's an understandable instinct. Donald Trump is dominant. He has been for a decade. And his presence on the national stage, it fuels the outrage, it fuels the engagement, that raises money, that gets you on msnbc. But this has become a trap for the Democratic Party. So many of the folks I talked to said privately, we cannot be the party that's in opposition to Donald Trump. This thing that's coming up, this, no Kings Day, right, that is pure opposition to Donald Trump. The energy around these events coming up, it's a big deal, right? It's how they're going to turn people out in the street and get stuff for social media. But imagine if they were having, say, economic revival day or jobs day. Turnout wouldn't be as big, but they'd be doing something affirmative. The party has a lot of problems Now. Donald Trump's poll numbers aren't great, but consistently the Democratic Party's numbers are worse. The dnc, under their new chairman, is considered a non entity by a lot of people in the party, including a lot of the big donors. Schumer and Jeffries are seen as weak. And a lot of people say what? However the shutdown ends, they're going to lose. They cannot make the base satisfied because they're going to only end the shutdown by making a deal with Donald Trump, which the base won't like, no matter what the terms. And there's still no consensus at all about where the party goes next, who it's nominees should be or will be in 2028. What's not existent in the party now is a debate about ideas. When did you last hear a debate between Democrats on, well, what should we stand for on health care or what should we stand for on on trans athletes and women's sports or what should we stand for in terms of our foreign policy? There are different ideas, but they're not given space for an opportunity to be aired out, to figure out what would be the most popular and the best policies, because all the discussion is about opposing and mostly opposing Donald Trump. The other thing I heard from a lot of Democrats this week is their concern about a lack of confidence and often sports metaphors, sports metaphors are not a good idea. Sometimes they're overused. But I think about shooting free throws, right? You should be able to make every free throw. There's no one guarding you. There's no, no, the circumstances aren't different. You just stand at the foul line and drill the thing. And yet why do people miss free throw? Sometimes, you know, the mechanics are a bit off, but a lot of it's about confidence. You go up there and you're confident you're going to make it. You're a lot more likely to make it. And that's true in politics. And so many Democrats have said to me, not just in the last week, but since Donald Trump won reelection last November, that their part, the party needs to be confident. There's a ton of confidence on the other side, but in the Democratic Party, there's not confidence about Schumer, not confidence about Jeffries, not confidence about the DNC, not confidence about the 2028 race. And then you see in New Jersey and Virginia with these two governors races where the two Democratic nominees were thought to be superstars who would win their governor's races and then roll right into potential presidential or vice presidential campaigns. And what you see there is they're not confident. They've been doing these interviews where they're horribly unconfident when they get tough questions. Now. Soundbite this week that caught my eye. Kamala Harris on our book tour was being asked about her presidential campaign, and she made quite a claim about her qualifications. Roll S1, please.
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Kamala Harris (clip)
That is a decent that is a decent resume, but go ahead. Well, some people have actually said I.
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Commercial Narrator
Will was the most qualified candidate ever.
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Scott Jennings
To run for president.
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Kamala Harris (clip)
I liked your I like the some people say very nice, but go ahead. I'm just speaking fact.
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Mark Halperin
Yeah, yeah. Now, I don't know who Vice President Harris is referring to there, but you don't have to look very far to find examples of people who I think would be not just arguably, but clearly possessed of greater qualifications to run for president. Take, for instance, the guy who had been chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Judiciary Committee and incumbent vice president for eight years, Joe Biden, George H.W. bush had a pretty good resume, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton. Here's my point. I don't know if someone really did say that to her. I don't I take her at her word that they did. But part of the crisis of confidence in the Democratic Party now is, is there's so much lack of resolution about why did Joe Biden stay in the race too long, why did Kamala Harris lose? And the DNC is doing this report that's going to come out that they say will explain some of it, but there's just, it's not going to settle, it's not going to settle the argument. And in the absence of any other clear leaders for 2028 or the congressional leaders or a strong DNC chair, this question about Kamala, all these questions about Kamala Harris and Joe Biden really are hampering the Democratic Party's confidence because they don't really understand how a guy, Donald Trump, who they think is a worthless human being, how he could have won the White House. Again, contrast that with the confidence on the Republican side. You see it every day on social media. You see it in the president's events, and you see it with the vice president. There's just, there's just a degree of confidence. I don't think it means, you know, I'm not here endorsing the basis of their confidence. I'm just telling you it's an objective fact. You can see it on TV and social every day. And my sources in both parties talk about it. J.D. vance is so confident. He saw it last weekend when he went up against George Stephanopoulos and just, just rammed him in the interview, you know, talking about the program's ratings and, and bias and everything else. And then you see it with this group chat story. You've probably seen this. A bunch of young Republicans had their group chat texts exposed saying horrible things, racist things, sexist things, just horrible things. And rather than cower and divide the party, JD Vance just goes out and says in public, I, I'm not, I'm not going to, I'm not going to flag self flagellate about this. Young people do stuff. It's unfortunate, but the Democratic Party doesn't denounce their attorney general candidate in Virginia who had private texts that got revealed that said, you know, that Republican leader should be killed. And more so, J.D. vance to me, represents the asymmetrical, asymmetrical reality. Now regarding confidence. Republicans are more confident right now, not everyone in every way, but this is a factor that Democrats have to deal with. And part of why they lack confidence is because they're all saying the same thing. They're all saying, Trump is a tyrant, democracy is under attack, and the Only answer all this is to rise up. It's very emotional stuff, it's dramatic, it gets cheers on msnbc, it gets cheers at rallies, but it's relying on the muscle memory of what gets applause, what gets you a podcast. It's not a strategy. And if you listen to the leading Democratic voices right now, they all sound very similar. Their tones might differ, but it's this relentless emphasis on norms are being violated. Trump is a tyrant. Democracy is under threat. It's all a critique of Trump. It's not a forward looking vision for what the Democratic Party will do for people if they take power. Here's for instance, Barack Obama S2.
- [13:10]
Scott Jennings
Please.
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Barack Obama (clip)
Like many of you, I've become increasingly concerned about the rising wave of authoritarianism sweeping the globe. We're seeing politicians target civil society, undermine freedom of the press, weaponize the justice system, and no one is being spared. Even countries that thought they were immune from wholesale assaults on democracy now understand we're all part of this struggle. That's an enormous challenge.
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Mark Halperin
Okay, so again, those are issues that he feels strongly about, the base feels strongly about, but you don't hear him saying anything about a forward looking agenda. Here's another leading voice in the Democratic Party talked about him here a lot. Gavin Newsom, governor of California. He too very caught up in these, in this thematics of the notion of Trump is a threat to the Republic. Here's Gavin Newsom S3.
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Gavin Newsom (clip)
And we're dealing with the tyranny of this administration every goddamn day. And so for me, it's about power taking back our power. It's not about punditry and bullshit. It's not about having a goddamn candlelight visual. I'm not interested in a white paper on this shit. I'm a practitioner. We got to get out there, we got to win. I care about winning. That's what Prop 50 is about. It's about power. This son of a bitch is going to not only rewrite history, it's over the history of this country. We won't have a country in a year if this guy's successful.
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Mark Halperin
Now, it's not like Obama and Newsom never talk about issues they do, but the passion and the attention and the focus is on these issues related to, again, tyranny and process norms being violated. And I'm not minimizing how strongly they feel about it and I'm certainly not minimizing the reaction they get. Gavin Newsom raised an enormous amount of money for this process measure on redistricting and added many, many names to his email Database, but it's not a forward looking vision. Here's another one Senator Murphy of Connecticut, Democrat, often talked about as a Democratic presidential candidate. I don't see it, but I need to look more into it. Here he is on msnbc, same type of themes.
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Chris Murphy (clip)
I mean, we are not on the verge of an authoritarian takeover. We're in the middle of it now. It's not too late. We haven't lost our democracy. But you know, we sometimes like to think of the first term Donald Trump, you know, the bumbling White House that didn't seem to have any theory of the case from day to day. This is a very different White House. Right. Stephen Miller and his gang, they have a plan. They have a plan that they are executing to transition our country from democracy to something fundamentally different, maybe even autocracy.
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Mark Halperin
Okay, so again, I'm not saying the Democrats never talk about the economy. Even, even the three we just showed you. We, what I'm saying is the passion, the energy, the focus is all on these issues. And they're process issues that don't paint a brighter, broader future. Who is talking about issues? Well, Bernie Sanders, aoc, they are for sure. They did a big CNN town hall and they'll talk about healthcare, et cetera. But they're on the far left. They're not painting a vision that's gonna attract the center, let alone any Republicans for the most part. And, and they're not debating within the party. They're talking about their specific agenda. So who are people who are exceptions here? Well, one is Congressman Ro Khanna who's been on this program. He's a congressman from California, grew up in Pennsylvania. He's been doing tons of media and talking very specifically about critiquing his own party, standing up the Democratic Party when he doesn't agrees and, and talking about issues. Now here he is on a podcast with Benny Johnson. Benny is a very maga, very conservative podcaster. You wouldn't normally see Democrats going on his show, but this is the philosophy Ro Khanna has. Talk about issues and talk about issues that can appeal not just to Democrats, but independents and Republicans. A couple sound bites from this. First, here he is doing something Democrats are typically afraid to do. Not critiquing Donald Trump and everything horrible with Donald Trump, but critiquing the Democrats themselves. This is S5, please.
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Ro Khanna (clip)
There's one critique I have on my party and I'm going to ask you what your critique is of yours. But one critique of mine is sometimes we came off too much scolding. We come off as. You know, I think of the kids I grew up with who watched Rocky movies and went to Phillies games and I was like, you know, I'm no better than them, just cause I have a fancy title as a congressman or in Silicon Valley. Like, they have a lot to teach me. Not just now, but when I was terrible at like Little League. And they used to say, watch the bunt.
- [18:12]
Mark Halperin
Right.
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Ro Khanna (clip)
And I think about them all the time and how I'm still one of those kids who grew up in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. And I think our party sometimes comes off as can be preachy. You tell me, honest, honest reflection. Where do you think your party could do better?
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Mark Halperin
Right. That's engagement and a critique of the party coming off as preachy. Yeah. I think a lot of Americans would agree that that's been a problem for the party for at least a little bit. But here's Ro Khanna also talking about the economy in a positive, thoughtful, creative way. This is S5B, please.
- [18:50]
Ro Khanna (clip)
The second biggest issue in this country, that 70% of Americans believe that the American dream no longer exists.
- [18:56]
Mark Halperin
Yeah, that sucks.
- [18:57]
Ro Khanna (clip)
And my parents, when they came here, right, put aside what people think partisan, wise. But John F. Kennedy was saying we were going to go to the moon. The country was on the march. We were like, we were the place to be in the world. And they never had a doubt that I or my brother would have a better life, that this was the greatest country in the world. They, you know, I still believe that. But see, 70% of Americans lose that sense of chutzpah, that sense of building things, that we're the greatest nation, your kids are gonna have a better life. That's what our political class should be talking about. That's what we should be trying to figure out. Common ground again.
- [19:37]
Mark Halperin
He's got specific ideas too, about revitalizing the economy. But the rhetoric is not about running down Donald Trump. It's about a broad view of how the country got here, how we've made economic opportunity seem unobtainable for so many and thinking about how to fix it. Now, here's another person who's talking in a positive way with ideas. And every time I talk about him on this show, some of you freak out. I'm not a socialist. I'm not endorsing Zoran Mamdani to be mayor of New York City, although he'll probably win. But what I am telling you is the guy has great political skills and that extends to understanding how to speak to people about their concerns. And if you take his rhetoric and his ideas, his ideas probably going to be unrealistic to be implemented. They may not be smart ideas. But what he's doing is he's not just fighting with Donald Trump. He does that, too. He's saying what's on people's minds. How do I afford transportation, how do I afford housing, how do I afford education? This is very similar to Donald Trump. And again, every time I say that here, some of you freak out. He's not Donald Trump. He doesn't share Donald Trump's agenda. But listen to him talking on Fox News Channel again, just like Ro Khanna went on with Benny Mamdani, went on fox with Martha MacCallum and listened to his positive vision as six please.
- [20:55]
Zoran Mamdani (clip)
I'm that we are not only proud of us being the financial capital, the cultural capital, but also we should make it a capital of where working people can afford to live in this city. Because right now what we're seeing is that one in four New Yorkers are being priced out of the wealthiest city in the wealthiest country in the history of the world.
- [21:11]
Mark Halperin
How will you pay for these programs?
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Zoran Mamdani (clip)
You know, I've said time and again that I believe these are the most straightforward ways that we can actually fund universal childcare, making buses fast and free. And I've said that the two clear ways to do so, raising personal income taxes on the top 1% by 2% and raising the corporate tax to match that of New Jersey's corporate tax of 11.5%. Now, if there are other ways to raise this money to fund this agenda, the most important thing is that we fund the agenda. I still think that these are the most important and clear ways we can do it.
- [21:37]
Mark Halperin
You won't find a guy who's anyone, a guy or gal who's more anti Trump in the Democratic Party than Mondami, and yet he's not singularly focused on that as he's trying to appeal to voters. There are some people in the Democratic Party, I talk to them all the time I did this week, who are like, well, it's all about Trump. And yes, Trump's a narcotic for us, but Trump will leave the stage and then it'll all be different. Well, maybe, but the future is now the Democratic Party. They can't wait three years or maybe more, even if Trump's not going to run for president, but he'll be around. They can't assume that this is all about Trump, that the, the narcotic they become addicted to could be maga, where Trump's just the greatest symbol of that Democrats have seen where this roads, road leads. We saw last year, Kamala Harris defined her opposition, defined her campaign by her opposition to Trump almost exclusively. She talked about ideas, but that was not the dominant rhetoric. She gave that big speech on the in Washington about norms and democracy. And then she lost both the electoral college and the popular vote. And yet the party continues to go back to this. And Trump every day knows that. And he throws out things, immigration, deployment of US Forces and domestic, domestic overseas provocative actions, the shutdown, confrontation, firing government workers. It goes on and on. And the Democrats fall into it again and again. And so many Democrats I talk to now say we need a balance, yes, we need to harness the energy of anti Trump, anti Maga. They're not don't want to give that up. But a lot of Democrats are saying we need to be talking about positive things, too. We cannot just be the oppositional party. And until they rediscover the capacity that Bill Clinton had and Barack Obama had, until they rediscover that, it's going to be hard for them to grow up. Joe Biden won because of COVID and because of the unique circumstances of that election. But the other Democrats who've won since go back to Lyndon Johnson, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, they talked about a positive vision for America based on ideas. They talked about bringing the country together. Not a singular, very emotional criticism of the other side. Until Democrats figure out how to do that, they will be loud, they will be passionate, they will be able to march people in the streets, but they will also be directionless. They're a party that's fighting battles against primarily one man. They're not positioning themselves to lead the country. And every Democrat I talk to who knows about the way to win says we cannot be the opposition party that only opposes. We'll see. We'll see what happens. We'll see if they figure it out. Email me, let me know what you think about what I Talked about today. NextUpPalperNet gmail.com can always find the program on your social medias on TikTok, Instagram and on X at at Next up Palpatine. And of course, you can listen to us as a podcast. You can also watch the show at YouTube. To see if there's any mustard stains on my shirt, go to YouTube.com nextup halperin. And next up here, Scott Jennings, Republican media maven, consultant, contributor, author, podcaster, and a man who's learned how to communicate conservative thoughts in the liberal zone. Next up, Scott Jennings. Now I'd like to tell you about the Vapor Technology Association. It's an organization started about a decade ago to protect the rights of Americans who choose alternatives to smoking and the small businesses who have made a living using this technology. They support science based policies and the rights of adults to make healthier choices. Did you know that many family owned vape shops and manufacturers across the country are under attack? That's thanks to outdated Biden era regulations that threaten to wipe out an entire American industry. The Vapor Technology association, also known as vta, says businesses are being destroyed and people are losing their jobs. But the VTA says President Trump now has a clear opportunity to change this and to protect America's right to make their own choices and to defend small businesses and restore a free and fair marketplace. Head over to VaporTechnology.org to learn more about the organization, what it does and why they are leading the charge to support American innovation. If you're there and you read about it and their mission appeals to you, consider becoming a member on the website. Again, that's VaporTechnology.org and tell them when you're there. You heard about them on NextUp.
- [26:13]
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- [26:46]
Mark Halperin
All right, next up and with us now, Scott Jennings. He's CNN's senior political contributor, also the author of the forthcoming book A Revolution of Common How Donald Trump Stormed Washington and Fought for Western Civilization. He's also, I believe, a successful podcaster. Scott Jennings, Multi Dimensional welcome Mark.
- [27:07]
Scott Jennings
Thanks for having me. Great to be here.
- [27:08]
Mark Halperin
Really happy to have you here. You spend a lot of time talking about the news, so I'm going to try to make this a different experience for folks. First of all, what do you tell people your occupation is now?
- [27:19]
Scott Jennings
Well, I tell them I'm America's favorite pundit and that's and that's how I feel because over the last couple of years this job at CNN has, has been a real blessing and between the campaign and this new 10 o' clock debating show, I've, you know, it was really kind of a part time job for me before. But now it really has become a big part of my life. And so I'm a political commentator and but I do approach the job with the heart of a journalist. That's what I was when I started my career.
- [27:50]
Mark Halperin
Right. So is this what you're doing full time? Do you have any other work that you do or are you really just a pundit, commentator, author, podcaster now?
- [27:58]
Scott Jennings
No, I do have a firm back in Kentucky I started some years ago. It's called Run Switch Public Relations and It's a thriving PR firm and have three partners back there and 20 something employees. And so I have that part of my life as well. But this, this CNN job and the new radio show on Salem Radio, which is two to three Eastern every day, is, it's a big percentage of my life these days.
- [28:21]
Mark Halperin
Yeah. So a daily show on, on, on Salem and then you're on CN how many times a week typically?
- [28:28]
Scott Jennings
Oh, five or six.
- [28:29]
Mark Halperin
At least five or six. So that's a big work. We're going to talk next segment about, about how that all came to be and your place in the, in the media stratosphere. But for now I want to ask you about, about the news and you could speak from this As a person who lives in a, in a state whose economy is kind of up and down, not the strongest but not the weakest, and as a small businessman, how would you appraise the state of the American economy right now? What's what seems to be going well. What seems to be not going as well?
- [28:56]
Scott Jennings
Well, I think that for many people there's a feeling of optimism in the country that we didn't have before. I do believe that. And you know, for me personally, just interacting with businesses all over the country, I also give a lot of speeches around the country. So I interact with a lot of business groups and I hear it all. I hear everything from we love what the president is doing. He's really helped our business. I hear some concerns. It just depends on what industry happen to be in. So I actually think the American economy from what I can tell is extraordinarily resilient. And it does feel to me like a little bit of a wet blanket was taken off when Trump got elected. That doesn't mean everybody is currently winning or happy with everything. But I do think there's a sense that they elected him to fix it and they're giving him some leash to do that. And of course, we'll get a report card on this in about a year, which Americans go to the polls, which.
- [29:51]
Mark Halperin
Is more going to be more important to the future of the American economy and energy independence. Coal or nuclear?
- [29:59]
Scott Jennings
Well, both have their place, but nuclear is the future. I mean, there's no question. And you saw even this week, the Secretary of defense, Secretary of War, pardon me, said he's going to fire, fire up some nuclear reactors on military bases. This is the future. I mean, it seems to me we have to get all the electrons we can get, and the most efficient and cleanest way to do it is probably doing it via nuclear. And so I think nuclear is the future, but we still have this massive coal reserve. Coal is a huge part of our energy matrix today. And I think the embrace of coal by Trump after years of Obama and Biden trying to get us out of coal is a good thing. My view is we're just not making enough energy to not just meet our economic demands, but to win this AI race. I think that's what the administration believes. And so they've really embraced both and both have their place, for sure. But I'm big on nuclear right now. I really think we need to do everything we can do to have more nuclear power in this country. It's our future.
- [31:00]
Mark Halperin
I'm trying to be a good host, but it was a trick question because I asked a guy who's a Kentuckian, but also, but also someone who believes in the future and technology. So I figured I might put you in the spot.
- [31:11]
Scott Jennings
Interestingly, in Kentucky, obviously we're known for coal, but we also have this thing in Paducah called the gaseous diffusion plant, which has been there for decades. And that may be part of our. I know the DOE is running a big project there right now to turn that into a big nuclear generating area. So Kentucky actually may be part of both. And there's a lot of people in Western Kentucky who certainly have family history with coal, but may soon have a history with this nuclear facility there.
- [31:39]
Mark Halperin
Yeah. All right, we're going to just jump around because I'd love talking to you, and I got a bunch of stuff I want to ask. So we'll go in a. In a kind of what I call political potpourri. Governor of Kentucky, Governor Bashir. Every, not every, but many national Democrats I know, donors, strategists, pundits, are like, oh, yeah, he's top tier. He's awesome. He'd be really good. And then people I know in Kentucky, Democrats and Republicans alike, mostly. Again, not all. Most are like, guys, no. Like, he's not. He's not. He's not what you think he is. So which is it? Is he, Is he a top tier or second tier potential presidential prospect? Or are my folks in Kentucky more accurate that he might have been a decent governor, but no, he's not ready for major league pitching.
- [32:24]
Scott Jennings
Well, it's a good question. I think the reason he has an opening is because there's no natural leader for the Democratic Party. I mean, there's a true vacuum. So any of these governors, any of these guys or women who've been in office for a couple of terms have some electoral history, I guess have some reason to believe, well, hey, I could take control of this party. Nobody else is. So automatically he is probably at least in the second tier. You know, in Kentucky, our governors are fairly weak. The legislature runs everything. They can override a governor with a simple majority on any vetoes. So Bashir has been relatively powerless for his entire time in office, where he has made a name for himself as an emergency management. We've had terrible emergencies, weather emergencies in Canadian Kentucky, and so he got somewhat famous from that. He was also one of the COVID governors. And so he gave a daily briefing. He was in people's living rooms in Kentucky every day. From a governing perspective, from a policy perspective, virtually nothing that he wants to do or wanted to do has been enacted in Kentucky. He has been a really a powerless governor. The Republicans have super majorities in both chambers and they have probably saved him at times from his own worst instincts when it comes to various issues. So I think by virtue of being a two term governor, he's probably in the second tier. He's not the most charismatic guy. I've actually known him since I was 16 years old. We've been professional acquaintances for a long time. We obviously went our separate ways on politics. You know, I tend to think it's kind of neat when a Kentuckian gets out there on the national stage and tries. Do I think he has the same star power or the charisma that some of the other Democrats have? No. Would I trust him over Gavin Newsom? Yes.
- [34:10]
Mark Halperin
In terms of winning the nomination, which, you know, progressive voters, black voters, play a big role in the Democratic process. Would progressives like him? Would they think he was too conservative?
- [34:24]
Scott Jennings
You know, he'll probably present that way to them. They'll think, oh, he's from Kentucky. He must not be a progressive. You know, he sort of presents that way. And in Kentucky, in his political career, he always tried to present as a moderate or even a conservative at times. He'd take credit for things that Republicans were doing in the legislature. In this primary, that's not going to fly. He's going to have to work hard to make them believe he's one of them. Actually saw him this week talking about how pro LGBTQ he was as governor of Kentucky. So he's trying to, I think, wash off the idea that he's a moderate of any kind. But compared to some of these other more strident progressive liberals, he's never probably gonna present that way as it relates to black voters. Interestingly, you know, an issue that's never really been discussed much with his national touring is what happened during the 2020 riots. We had some in Louisville, and he sent out the National Guard, and a prominent African American businessman was shot and killed in West Louisville. It was a barbecue store owner. And, you know, given all the conversations we're having now about the National Guard and crime and how we deal with that in urban areas, I think those are some questions Bashir is going to have to answer from some of the voters you just mentioned.
- [35:40]
Mark Halperin
Lastly, on him, again, you're all political elites, and make no mistake, you are a political elite in Kentucky. Bipartisan. You all know each other. So, as you said, you know him well. What are you comfortable saying about why so many people from Kentucky say they don't think he's going to be a strong candidate? Not just not a strong general election candidate, but just not a strong candidate generally? What would be on that list that people in Kentucky know about and that maybe a national audience doesn't?
- [36:09]
Scott Jennings
Well, I think one of the issues is he. I think people in Kentucky know how liberal the Democratic Party is, and I think they think he's going to have a hard time fitting in with the national progressive zeitgeist. Now, I personally believe he is extremely liberal and extremely progressive. He's had to sort of COVID that up to be governor of Kentucky in his career down there. But I think some people in Kentucky probably question whether he has the skill set to really fit into the jet stream of where the energy is in the Democratic Party.
- [36:41]
Mark Halperin
All right, last one. Just two. Yes. No questions. Binary. Is he tough enough to win the presidency?
- [36:47]
Scott Jennings
No.
- [36:48]
Mark Halperin
Is he crafty enough politically to win the presidency?
- [36:52]
Scott Jennings
Yes.
- [36:53]
Mark Halperin
Yes. Okay.
- [36:54]
Scott Jennings
Let me tell you something. Let me tell you something. The Beshears are crafty. I've been running against these people my entire life. They're survivors. They find ways to win. And so I wouldn't count out that part of his skill set.
- [37:06]
Mark Halperin
Yeah. All right, let's talk about J.D. vance. I'm fascinated by this. I want. I want to Clone myself and start a book about the arc of J.D. vance from the day he was picked to be Trump's running mate through what I expect to be a coronation, to be the nominee in 28. That's my anticipation. Could change, but that's what I anticipate. Explain if you were. If you were writing a book about this. So you're helping me with my first strat. How has J.D. vance gone from someone who literally, during the convention, again, remember, people sometimes forget Trump was shot on Saturday and he hadn't named his running mate yet, and then he picked Vance. And in the days after Trump was shot, when so much of the focus was, you know, is Trump gonna be okay? Obviously, I had people who were Trump loyalists, prominent people coming to me at the convention saying, please don't Let him pick J.D. vance, please. We really don't want him. Now, some people, like Tucker and Don Jr. Did, and Charlie Kirk, but there were a lot of prominent people against him. He's gone from that and a guy who said Trump was America's Hitler in 2016 to, I believe, the most beloved vice president within the party of anybody I've ever seen in my career. They tell that story. How did JD Vance go from someone who. About whom there was deep skepticism, to now this chair, finance chair of the rnc, you know, king of all media, respected, speaks up in the Oval Office with Trump. How did that happen? Tell that story.
- [38:30]
Scott Jennings
Well, first of all, I think Vance is actually very gifted. He's got Kentucky ties. I knew him a little bit. He was a CNN commentator back right when I was hired. He was hired around the same time. And so I've had a little experience with him. Extremely gifted. And I think in the current political environment, if you are a gifted communicator, if you can go on television and do your thing and take down panels and interviews with cable hosts, you can get a lot of credit with voters and with partisans out there. So he obviously has that skill set, you know, bigger than almost anyone else on the national stage. I think that allowed him to overcome his history of not liking Trump. Also, I think people love a convert. You know, J.D. vance did not like Donald Trump, and then all of a sudden, he realized and decided, hey, Donald Trump's actually good. And my worldview and his do blend together somewhat. And so not only. So you take this guy who's a convert, and then you add in this mixture of extremely powerful communications ability, and you see what happens. I do think he's a little different than Trump in some ways. You know, they don't have the same energy when it comes to public facing stuff. But he is so smart. And we saw a little bit of what he can do on the debate stage with Tim Walls. I mean, just own Tim Walls in that debate. And so I agree with you. Republicans do love J.D. vance. He is beloved. He is going to be coordinated as the nominee of the party. And a lot of it, I think, just has to do with his ability to effectively communicate the current Republican worldview out, you know, in the press and elsewhere. People love that. People love it when we're able to tell our story, tell about our policies, talk about our views in a way that is easy to understand and digestible. And Vance just has a knack to do it.
- [40:24]
Mark Halperin
He's done that. He's done it as the outside game, as you suggest. I totally agree with your analysis. He's also done the inside game. The donors love him. Members of Congress, of Republicans love him. Is that just the product of the same thing or has he done things in private with those two groups that have endeared him?
- [40:40]
Scott Jennings
Well, I think they love those qualities about him. He's a very normal, nice person. I mean, that's been my experience with him. He comes off as a very normal, nice guy. Everybody I know also loves his wife. She comes off as an extraordinarily normal, you know, person as well. So here you have a guy, just a normal person with a normal family. I mean, who are we talking to as Republicans? Normal people with normal families. And J.D. vance, I mean, is the embodiment of that. And so now I think his relationship and friendship with some of the people you mentioned has been extraordinarily helpful to him. And to build those relationships was really smart. So it shows some political tactical smarts to do that. But I think that Vance's overall Persona of being just a normal guy who's absorbing the world just like the rest of us and then reacting to that, causing him to convert to understanding why Donald Trump is good, causing him to want to take a bigger role in explaining our worldview to people. I think the donors love this guy for those reasons. And he's also a hard worker. He does things for people. He shows up for these members of Congress. The normal inside political stuff, the favors, the coming to fundraisers, those kinds of things. JD Vance is always the first person to say yes. And so that also, I think, ingratiates you to people in the structure.
- [41:59]
Mark Halperin
Yeah. What is the Republican Party's strengths today? If you subtract Donald Trump, what does the party have going for it. Just say, when we get to 28 and Trump's not on the not running again, what are the tactical technological issue? What are the big strengths of the Republican Party today vis a vis the Democrats, as you see it?
- [42:21]
Scott Jennings
Well, even though Trump won't be on the ballot, I do think he has successfully rebranded the party as the party of common sense. He understands, I think, that we're currently living through a transformation. The red blue construct doesn't exactly apply anymore. And now it's really more branding the Republicans as common sense and by definition, the Democrats as uncommon nonsense. He did that. Now when he's gone, that branding is going to remain. And every Republican I see out there in the country is adopting this common sense branding. So even though he's not running again, he's left behind, I think, a branding legacy that will work for virtually any Republican in any race in the country, and it should work for JD Vance in 2028. As a tactical matter, I think they revolutionized political campaigning last year. They, you know, for my whole career, the whole focus was always on one kind of a turnout method. Calling and knocking the same sort of universe. You know, La Civita and the guys changed everything. They started to really focus in on these low propensity voters, talking to them, getting them out and sort of changing the pool from which we were hoping to get our voters. And I think as a tactical matter, that's what we have to do moving forward. The unknown quantity in that is can you get those low propensity voters that you did convince to turn out for Donald Trump to convert, to turning out for whatever Republicans there are, whether it's for Senate or whether it's for the next presidential campaign, that's still unknown. But to me, it's the number one thing the party has to solve between now and 28. How do you, well, really now in 26 and 28, how do you get these people who love Donald Trump to love every other Republican on the ballot? But as a tactical matter, teaching the party how to kind of cast off the old turnout models and turnout ways and really focus in on these Americans who are somewhat disengaged from our politics, that was a game changer, and it caused Donald Trump to win the national popular vote. And so having that tactical know how and that mindset, I think, is a huge advantage for the Republicans.
- [44:27]
Mark Halperin
All right, we're going to play some word association. One or two words. If you go over one or two words, the segment's over and you have to give back all the money. So here we go. One or two words. First thing comes to mind, AOC.
- [44:40]
Scott Jennings
Socialist.
- [44:41]
Mark Halperin
Chuck Schumer.
- [44:44]
Scott Jennings
Tired.
- [44:45]
Mark Halperin
John Thune.
- [44:47]
Scott Jennings
Excellent.
- [44:49]
Mark Halperin
Mitch McConnell.
- [44:51]
Scott Jennings
Legend.
- [44:52]
Mark Halperin
Legend. All right, we're going to talk about that in the next segment. Pete Hegseth. Plucky lucky or plucky? Plucky lucky. Tucker Carlson.
- [45:06]
Scott Jennings
Fascinating.
- [45:08]
Mark Halperin
Fascinating. That's a good one. Melania Trump.
- [45:14]
Scott Jennings
Class.
- [45:17]
Mark Halperin
Sean Duffy.
- [45:20]
Scott Jennings
Competent.
- [45:22]
Mark Halperin
Scott Bessant.
- [45:26]
Scott Jennings
Awesome.
- [45:27]
Mark Halperin
Awesome. Why do people. I got nothing against Scott Besson. I get why people like him, but why is he. How is why or how has he catapulted to this sort of legendary status within the party now?
- [45:39]
Scott Jennings
You know, I'll admit of all the Cabinet picks, he was probably one of the ones I knew the least about. And, and I just think he and Rubio are the class of this Cabinet. And he has done such an excellent job. And he's been handed tough issue dealing with the economy coming out of Biden. And then on top of that, he's been handed the mantle of having to explain and talk about President Trump's tariff policy and his economic vision to the world. And I think he's just done an excellent job. I see him in these interviews. He does terrific. And then on top of that, he was kind of the quarterback to get the big beautiful bill over the line last summer, and he succeeded in that as well. So Besant has every Republican I know, we're all in the Scott Besant fan club.
- [46:25]
Mark Halperin
He's. Yeah, I, I met him over a year ago, but not less than two years ago. And I just find it so interesting that in our media culture where, you know, there's so much coverage of everything, almost nobody I know had ever heard of him.
- [46:39]
Scott Jennings
Yeah.
- [46:40]
Mark Halperin
Two years ago. And, and to go from someone no one had heard of. Now, you know, if you, if you knew about Soros or if you knew about his company, sure, people had heard of him, but most people in Republican politics, most members of Congress hadn't heard of him. And he's gone from that to getting one of the top jobs in the Cabinet and as you said, just widely considered one of the superstars of the Cabinet. It's kind of a, it's kind of a fascinating thing.
- [47:03]
Scott Jennings
He's also another one of these people that in the party, you know, he's a financial elite and he understands that world, but then also has this understanding of why the way we've been doing it in the United States for the last, you know, so many years just isn't connecting with average, everyday people. What was wrong with the economy that Average everyday people were not benefiting from. And I think his ability to explain that and to really embrace the Trump economic theory and why it just doesn't work in his world but works for politics. He's really blended it. It's interesting. I interviewed him for my book, and you can tell he believes in Donald Trump. And he compared him to Teddy Roosevelt. He had a painting of Lincoln over his desk. I said, oh, is that your favorite Republican president? He said, no, Roosevelt. Teddy Roosevelt. And he explained to me just the similarities he sees between the two and how much he believes in the Teddy Roosevelt era, but also believes in obviously, what Donald Trump is doing.
- [48:04]
Mark Halperin
Yeah, no, he's just a ferocious and genuine defender of and proponent of Donald Trump and his policies. And again, it's an incredible story. I'd like to do that book, too. I won't get to, though.
- [48:16]
Scott Jennings
He's a cool customer in these. In the hearings on tv. I mean, he takes no. I mean, that's another thing about this guy. He takes no shit for many of these people.
- [48:24]
Mark Halperin
Yeah, he's ferocious. He's ferocious. All right, next up, we're going to talk about the fact that Howard Stern is no longer the king of all media. That title belongs to Scott Jennings. That's next. Up, Everybody. If you're 64 years of age or older, this is an important announcement. The Department of Justice recently sued three major Medicare brokers for claiming they were unbiased while allegedly pushing people into plans that got them the biggest kickbacks. It's true. So many insurance agents just can't be trusted. And you can't necessarily rely on government information either. That's why I want to tell you about chapter. CHAPTER was started by people who went through this exact thing personally after their own parents were pushed into the wrong Medicare plan by an agent more focused on commissions than on good care. Chapter's mission is very simple. To give every American the honest, straightforward Medicare advice that they deserve. Here's what makes them different. They're the only Medicare advisor that compares every plan all across the country, not just a few. That saves their clients. Get this. An average of $1,100 a year. There's really no reason not to make the call. It's quick, it's easy, and they can review your options in under 20 minutes. If you're already in the right plan, they'll confirm that for you. But if there's a better plan, they will help you make the switch. This could be the most important call you make this year. Dial pound250 and say, the words chapter Medicare to get peace of mind again, £250 and say chapter Medicare. All right, next up, more with CNN senior political contributor Scott Jennings, also the author of a forthcoming book, A Revolution of Common Sense, How Donald Trump Stormed Washington and Fought for Western Civilization. So tell us the story behind the story of the book. When's it out? How'd you decide to write a book? What's in it?
- [50:17]
Scott Jennings
Had an idea in January to write it. Around the time Trump took office, he said something in his inaugural that stuck with me, this phrase, a revolution of common sense, which I still think is the most genius branding anyone's ever put on a political party. I worked on an idea over a couple of weeks. I went to the Oval Office in February. I pitched the president on it. He agreed to cooperate. And it's coming out November 18th. I sort of wrote it in the spring while the administration was unfolding. And I picked out topics that I thought embodied what he was doing, why he was doing it, and how he sort of overwhelmed his opposition, whether that was Democrats or media. And I got it finished up around May, edited a little bit in June. So there's some things that have happened since that I wish we're going to be in there. There are more results as opposed to what was happening in the run up to it. But it's coming out November 18th. You can order it now, go on Amazon or wherever you buy your books and type in A Revolution of Common Sense. You'll have it. If you love Donald Trump, you're going to love the COVID he picked, the photo, and you're going to love the stories and you're going to love the topics that we picked out. And if you don't like Donald Trump, I'll tell you one thing, you will learn a little bit about why he's been so successful at overwhelming the Democrats. You'll learn about his management style. I got to hang around the Oval Office a little bit and went on a trip on Air Force One with him, interviewed the Cabinet. There's, there's some things, there's things to learn in there if you're not a Trump fan. Things to learn, yeah.
- [51:49]
Mark Halperin
Extraordinary access. I envy all the, all the interviews you got to do, as you said, with the pretty much everybody, as far as I can tell, everybody cooperated with you. And I'm looking forward to, to get them to read the book. All right, let's talk about cnn. You just, you play a unique role in the media landscape today. There's really, there's nothing like it. There's nobody on, on Fox or on MSNBC doing what you're doing. I'm sure almost everybody watching, listening to the program knows, knows what I'm talking about. But here's, here's one of a thousand mashups that exist on the interweb and social media of Scott doing his thing on cnn.
- [52:27]
Scott Jennings
Democrats who say, oh, in private meetings, I've seen Joe Biden do cartwheels and handstands while doing trigonometry, while solving all the nation's problems. We now know that every single person who said that has been lying to the American people. One day, Donald Trump couldn't hold a glass of water and we had like every medical person coming out of the woodwork. Should we have the 25th Amendment? Joe Biden could barely walk and I.
- [52:51]
Kamala Harris (clip)
Would argue, no proof that tech companies colluded to do this. This is nonsense and he knows it. Oh, no, I'm sorry.
- [52:57]
Scott Jennings
There was, there was, there was a major institutional effort.
- [53:00]
Kamala Harris (clip)
No, there was dozens.
- [53:02]
Scott Jennings
New York Post thrown off Twitter.
- [53:04]
Kamala Harris (clip)
They were.
- [53:04]
Scott Jennings
And then they.
- [53:05]
Kamala Harris (clip)
Scott, let me try again.
- [53:07]
Scott Jennings
Let's look here.
- [53:08]
Kamala Harris (clip)
Literally, she's actually done, she's done the work. Really hard to deal with.
- [53:12]
Mark Halperin
All right, so those listening to the podcast, not watching. Amongst the people Scott, sparring with there are Brian Stelter and Kara Swisher, two leading members of the resistance. Although one of them's supposed to be an objective journalist, I still haven't figured out how that works. How did this happen? Because. Because CNN is so reliant on you. Yeah. People I know you're like, why they watch CNN. You're on the 10 o' clock show, particularly with Abby Phelp. You show up in other places. But how did this happen? Did CNN empower you to do this or did it happen organically where you go on every night? And, and I no longer say own the libs. I say, Paula Jennings, you're rolling your eyes, you're pushing back with facts. How did this happen to get you to this unique place in our media landscape?
- [53:54]
Scott Jennings
Well, good question. You know, the combination of there being a presidential campaign in 2024 to cover and this 10 o' clock debating show, the convergence of those two things really gave me the opportunity and the platform to do what I'm doing right now. Also, I have to give credit to our new CEO, Mark Thompson. He's the one who thought of doing this debating show. You know, they put it on the air between the conventions last year and I think they thought they were just gonna do it for the campaign, but it Got so popular they left it on the air. But it was his thought that we needed to have a table where we could have some conservative representation. So that show combined with just. We had a normal campaign this time. In terms of coverage back in 2020, it was during COVID We didn't, it wasn't the same. We didn't have the same kind of political coverage that we did for 2024. So the opportunity was there to perform. The new show came along and I just decided to take a hold of it and not look back.
- [54:54]
Mark Halperin
Do you, when you go on the set, are your lines pre. Pre scripted or it's canned at all or you just thinking of them on the fly?
- [55:01]
Scott Jennings
I'm thinking of it on the fly. I mean, I think about vectors of arguments that I want to make and I think about what I think my opponents will do out there. But a lot of it is just on the fly. Organic conversation. You know, if you watch the 10 o' clock show, I don't have a teleprompter. I'm not reading anything off a screen. No one's telling me anything. I am reacting to what's happening in the moment authentically.
- [55:23]
Mark Halperin
Yeah. CNN says most trusted name in news. They claim to be unbiased. And yet you and I both know they're ridiculously biased. And we could give a thousand examples. You got a media writer who's just anti Trump, one of the most anti Trump people I've seen in the public square, and a bunch of anchors, not all, but a bunch, who are really biased. And they'll typically have a panel of people, not the ones you're on, where it's like two Democrats and then an anti Trump Republican. That's like their balance. So is it weird for you, is it uncomfortable at all to be on a network that's so hostile to the things you believe in, the people you support?
- [56:03]
Scott Jennings
No. Look, I've been there for over eight years now, and I've gotten quite comfortable being in the CNN ecosystem. It's my home. It's my media home. And I have to say no one there has ever censored me, told me, do this, don't do that. They've never asked me to take a position that I didn't believe in. They've only ever said to me, just give us your authentic view based on your experience and your values. I don't really get any support there in terms of writing or content generation. I'm having to do all this myself. But they do provide the platform for me to go out and make some pretty magical moments for politics. And look, my view is it's working for them. I'm shocked there aren't more debating shows on television. Everywhere I go, I hear two things. I don't agree with you, but I like the debates. I love you. I like the debates. The commonality is debates. That, that format, that content, it will work if it's being done authentically.
- [57:00]
Mark Halperin
Yeah. Do the people who you decimate with facts and rhetoric and your eye rolls after the show, is it all just back to the green room and let's have a hot toddy or they get pissed off?
- [57:14]
Scott Jennings
Some people, the people that I work with and have been working with for years, we're all very close. We have a little community. My two best friends at the network are Axe and Van, and we spend a lot of time together, travel together. Some people who come in from the outside aren't as big a fan of what I do, but for the most part, I try to live by a good rule of punditry, which is you can't take it personally. And when the show's over, the show's over. And if you can sort of internalize those rules, you'll make it in this business. Some people can, some people can't.
- [57:46]
Mark Halperin
Yeah. So again, all the CNN work, the book coming out, and then the daily podcast, are you. Are you now, is this going to be your career? Are you thinking, you know, down the line, like, do you want to be more in the media or do you want to do other things? Or how are you thinking about the medium and long term of your career?
- [58:06]
Scott Jennings
Well, I love being in the media. When I was in college, I was a reporter. I was a radio anchor in Louisville, Kentucky. I always wanted to be in the media. It was what I thought my profession was going to be. I got detoured into politics in 2000 to work for President Bush than Governor Bush. And I spent many, many years in it, but it was always in the background for me. I wrote thousands of newspaper columns over the years. I like that, too. I haven't written as much this year because I've been doing the book. But this media piece of my life has always been inside of me, and it's something I care about very deeply. So what I've been able to do this year with tv, radio, the book, it's made me very happy. And this is. This is what I was put on this earth to do. And so whatever comes to me from this in the future, I'm anxiously awaiting it because I think I found my place Sort of in our. Our ecosystem of politics, you may be.
- [59:01]
Mark Halperin
The best or the worst person to answer this. You worked for and very supportive of President Bush 43. Karl Rove is a friend of yours, right?
- [59:11]
Scott Jennings
Yes, I work for him. He was boss.
- [59:13]
Mark Halperin
Yeah. And. And you're very close to Mitch McConnell, who you called legend in the last block. And yet now MAGA loves you, even though those three guys are, you know, villains for a lot of people in maga. Not everybody, but a lot. Certainly, President Trump doesn't. Doesn't speak favorably about any of those three gentlemen. How have you done that? How. How have you kept your close public support for those three? I could give others, but those three. And yet you considered a MAGA hero. How'd you do that?
- [59:42]
Scott Jennings
Well, I think you just have to be honest about your motivations, to be honest about your affiliations, and you also have to be honest about how you're viewing the world today. Look, I was an honor to work for President Bush. I mean, the man is a patriot. Karl Rove was one of the most interesting people in politics and was an interesting boss to have. And that experience really shaped me in the early part of my career. Mitch McConnell I've known since I was. I mean, if not. But for Mitch McConnell, I don't think I go to college. I mean, I was a McConnell Scholar at the University of Louisville. I'm the son of a garbage man. I didn't have any. I didn't have any connections. I didn't have any money. And so all these people played a unique role in my life. Now, where I have landed on Trump and the state of the world today may be different from where they've landed. Certainly all three of those have had their differences with Trump over the years. But my job today is to help defend and explain to half the country, or more than half the country, what Donald Trump is doing and why he's doing it and why it's good for America and why it's good for the world. And I have embraced this job wholeheartedly, and I've embraced it in the face of a bunch of nonsense. I mean, objectively speaking, I hear crazy arguments. I go out to that table. I go on these panels. I mean, I hear crazy arguments, and I think it's just sort of miraculous that there's a little bit of a window there for somebody to just push back with a little bit of common sense in a place that had become, in the eyes of MAGA or in the eyes of Republicans, known for just not allowing any pushback at all. And so now I'm here, I'm here to make the arguments and I'm trying to do it in a colorful and entertaining way and I think we're making a difference with it. But I, look, I'm very honest about where I came from, but I'm very honest about where I am today. And I've never felt closer politically or personally to Donald Trump than I do on this very day.
- [61:38]
Mark Halperin
Yeah, there's a very complicated three way race to succeed Senator McConnell amongst three Republicans. I think you know all three of them pretty well and it's not clear who's going to win it. How do you handicap that primary right now? Yeah.
- [61:54]
Scott Jennings
Daniel Cameron is former Attorney General. I would say he's ahead in the polling and he and Andy Barr, a Congressman who's running, have both released polls recently indicating about the same result. Barr in second place, Cameron in first place, Morris behind, and Barr has the most money.
- [62:12]
Mark Halperin
But almost everybody I know says the third guy is going to be the nominee because he's got the support of maga.
- [62:17]
Scott Jennings
We'll see. You know, Trump hasn't weighed in and. Yeah, and his, his endorsement would be.
- [62:25]
Mark Halperin
Determinative in my opinion, as it almost always is. If President Trump called you and said, scott, you know, I got ties to all three, but I want you to be the nominee and I'll endorse you. Would you run under those circumstances?
- [62:38]
Scott Jennings
Oh, I take every call from the President.
- [62:40]
Mark Halperin
Well, no, but if he pre endorse you, would you run?
- [62:45]
Scott Jennings
I would listen very carefully to the President. Politics is a team sport. He's the head coach. It's hard to say no to the head coach.
- [62:51]
Mark Halperin
Yeah. Would you enter the, consider entering the race if he didn't endorse yet before you got in?
- [62:56]
Scott Jennings
I haven't made any, any announcements about this. I've gotten a lot of encouragement about this and I haven't really made any public pronouncements, but truthfully, I'm, I'm, I'm waiting to see what the President wants to do here.
- [63:09]
Mark Halperin
When do you have to decide by?
- [63:11]
Scott Jennings
The filing deadline in Kentucky is in early January. And I say you're right. I know all three of these guys and I like all three of them and I've done things with him over the years. Daniel, I was part of his campaign for Attorney General when he got elected and Andy Barr known his entire life and even Nate, I'm pretty sure Nate was like an intern for us back on the Bush campaign in Kentucky in 2000.
- [63:36]
Mark Halperin
What I think is going to happen is they're going to say they'll endorse you and ask you to enter the race. That's. I don't make a lot of predictions because there's no mileage in it, but that's what I think is going to happen.
- [63:47]
Scott Jennings
I really don't know. All I know is, is that I just pay attention to the president. He's got the best political instincts in the party, and he comes up with an idea. I think we all should listen.
- [63:57]
Mark Halperin
Are you. Are you open to the concept of going to the White House, folks in the president and saying, I'll run if you endorse me? Is that something you'd consider doing, asking for his endorsement?
- [64:07]
Scott Jennings
I. No, I'm not. I don't have any plans to do that at the moment. My plan right now to communicate with the White House is to make sure that they know that this book that I have coming out is the most important thing I have going. And I want them to be happy with it.
- [64:24]
Mark Halperin
They'll be happy with it based on what I've heard. Just one more about this. It's confusing to me. I hear from people my prediction is not pulled out of my butt. It's based on a reporting the Republican nominee is going to be the senator. Right. I mean, the Democrats are not going to beat any of those three guys or you. So why would. Why are people. Why are people talking about getting you in the race? Why not just let the three current candidates fight it out and whoever wins, you got another Republican replacing McConnell. Why are they so interested in you?
- [64:54]
Scott Jennings
You know, I don't know. I mean, I do think there is a. I'm going to make a broad statement about the state of our politics. There's a hunger for people to hold office who can communicate very clearly and concisely about what our worldview is. And not every politician is a great communicator, but we live in a world that demands communication skills in our elected officials. That's one of the reasons Vance, I think, was able to succeed and as fast as we did. If you're somebody who can look into a television camera, defeat a liberal argument, explain our worldview to an audience, be of good humor about it, be of good nature about it, there's so much value in that right now because very few people can actually do it. And so I think when you look around and you're looking at communicators, I've got one of the most prominent communication seats in political media right now, and people, for the first time are being exposed to what it looks like when a conservative goes into a hostile environment and comes out, you know, in pretty good shape most nights. And so I'm sure that's appealing to some people for thinking about, what if this guy was in public office? I, you know, I'm, I'm personally, I'm personally. I. Look, I have carved out my life exactly the way I wanted it. You know, I always wanted to be where I am, debating the Democrats. I always wanted to get back into radio. I always wanted to do some writing. I mean, I've. I've put together my life in exactly the way I was always hoping it would come together. So to run for office and to obliterate that would. Is something of a. You know, it's hard to visualize, but we'll see what happens.
- [66:37]
Mark Halperin
But it'd be hilarious to me if you could waltz into a Senate seat, because again, if you, if you run with President Trump's endorsement, you'll be the nominee, you'll win the general election. A McConnell guy getting Donald Trump's endorsement. And then Jim Banks got a Senate seat in Indiana pretty much the same way. No primary endorsement. Easy to see you do that. It'd be a huge pay cut. But, dude, you'd be doing all this stuff on the floor of the United States Senate. It'd be pretty incredible, wouldn't it, to waltz into a Senate seat even though you take a temporary pay cut. Be pretty incredible.
- [67:07]
Scott Jennings
Yeah, of course. Look, being in the Senate is. Would be an honor. I mean, I mean, it's the Senate. It's the United states Senate. As McConnell says, it's the most important debating legislative body in the world. History. And so, I mean, and he's been a legend. And Kentucky has benefited from having someone who learned and knew how to work the system. So it would. It's one of the reasons I have. Have considered it and haven't rejected it out of hand is because it would be to serve.
- [67:35]
Mark Halperin
I look forward to the Truth Social post where the President says, I give Scott Jennings my full and total endorsement, all caps. Looking forward to that.
- [67:43]
Scott Jennings
You're causing me a lot of trouble today, Mark. I knew you would.
- [67:47]
Mark Halperin
I just. The only reason I'm asking about it is everybody tells me it's going to happen. I can't ignore. I can't ignore my sources.
- [67:53]
Scott Jennings
Yeah, I know you cannot. I'm just telling you I've got no real, no real knowledge of that, and I'm just showing work every day.
- [68:01]
Mark Halperin
All right, stand by. Again, you can listen to Scott Daly on his podcast available. Where podcasts are available, you can see him practically daily on CNN, particularly at that 10pm show where he just eviscerates people who show up willingly, sit on the set with him, yuck it up, and then have to listen to him, provide facts and eye rolls to slay them.
- [68:17]
Scott Jennings
And.
- [68:18]
Mark Halperin
And then next month, more media. You can buy Scott's book. Buy it now if you want, but get it next month. A Revolution of Common Sense, How Donald Trump Stormed Washington and Fought for Western Civilization. As Scott said, if you love Trump, you're going to hear a lot of great stories from Trump and others. And if you don't love Trump, you can do what we try to do here, which is understand why he's been so successful, because people on the left still don't really get it. Scott, congratulations on your great success. Howard Stern's losses, America's gain. King of all media, Scott Jennings. Scott, thank you.
- [68:50]
Scott Jennings
Thank you, Mark. Appreciate being here.
- [68:52]
Mark Halperin
Great to have you. All right, everybody, that's it for today's program. Happy to have you be part of it. And as always, we'd love to know what you think. Send me an email@nextup halperinmail.com Tell us, tell us what's up. We'd like you to listen to the show as a podcast. Subscribe, download wherever you get your podcast and watch us on YouTube again. Like, subscribe there and share. We're growing the Nexter community, so tell all your friends and family, your colleagues, your co workers, maybe even your enemies about the show so they know as you do what's coming next up.