CNN commentator Scott Jennings has some very specific ideas about who should replace Donald Trump’s ousted press secretary—and the qualifications sound awfully familiar.
The Republican strategist, 48, was reportedly on the shortlist to replace Karoline Leavitt as Trump’s number one mouthpiece before the president handed the job to Katie Zacharia.
After Zacharia was forced to vacate the role just five days after accepting the job, Jennings appeared on CNN’s The Source on Friday night to advise the president on whom to hire next—and his advice sounded suspiciously self-serving.
“My advice to him would be to just get the most qualified person you can get, with the most experience, somebody who can stand behind that podium with credibility and not just carry your message but also handle the incoming that is sure to come,” Jennings, a former special assistant to President George W. Bush, began.
“If the Republicans don’t do well in the midterms you can all imagine the sort of hostile environment they’re going to face in Washington for the next couple of years. And that person, along with a couple of key members of Congress, are going to be on television every single day sort of dealing with that onslaught.”
As Jennings continued, his fellow panelists seemed to hold back smiles, keeping straight faces as he rattled off his qualifications for the next White House press secretary.
“There’s the short-term measure of political messenger, and then there’s the next couple of years as [Trump] fights for his own legacy, and fights to leave a mark as he exits the presidency,” he continued.
“That person’s gonna be right in the middle of it, so I think you want somebody with as much experience, and maybe has been around D.C. a little bit, and has TV experience, and so on and so forth, and maybe a little management experience, because that office does have a pretty big staff and it does require a little bit of management.”
In addition to his time in the Bush White House, Jennings worked on Bush’s presidential campaigns in 2000 and 2004, and on Mitch McConnell’s Senate campaigns during the 2000s and 2010s. He appeared to be describing a résumé remarkably similar to his own.
That fact wasn’t lost on CNN’s Jim Sciutto, who asked Jennings if he was pitching for the job.
“Oh me, no, I wouldn’t negotiate my personnel prospects with you here on television,” Jennings replied. “But I do have a view about how to staff government positions, and my view is very simple,” he continued.
He then appeared to address Trump directly.
“Find the most experienced, competent person you can find, because you deserve it. You’re the president of the United States. You’re the most powerful person in the world; you’re the leader of the free world,” he said, in an apparent appeal to Trump’s ego.
Jennings also appeared to take a swipe at Zacharia, who fumbled her way through her only press briefing on Tuesday morning, taking just three questions from friendly outlets and mixing up the president and her husband.
“Everybody that speaks on your behalf has to speak with credibility and authority when they stand up behind that podium because you’re speaking to the whole world, and the things you say at that podium can move markets and move mountains,” he said.
Jennings then concluded by pointing one of the problems that plagued Zacharia’s brief tenure: her struggle to withstand the scrutiny of the media, with revelation after revelation weakening her position.
“That person… is in the spotlight every day,” Jennings said.
It was something for Trump to consider, Sciutto noted, quipping that the president is known to watch CNN from time to time.
But Jennings appears to have gained some momentum on prediction market Kalshi, where traders now favor him to become Trump’s next permanent press secretary.
Anna Kelly, a former beauty pageant winner who served as deputy press secretary under both Karoline Leavitt and Zacharia, had been the early favorite to land the gig, with a 25 percent chance of becoming the next face of the Trump White House, versus Jennings’ 20 percent.
By the end of the day, however, Jennings had overtaken her with a 22 percent chance of getting the gig. Kelly had fallen to 14 percent.
