Latest news with #KentuckyPolitics
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The Independent
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
CNN's resident MAGA defender hints he'll run for McConnell's Senate seat if Trump gives him the thumbs up
CNN senior political commentator Scott Jennings suggested this week that he would consider tossing his hat into the ring of the 2026 Kentucky Senate race, but only if Donald Trump urged him to fill the seat that's soon to be vacated by the retiring Mitch McConnell. A former McConnell campaign adviser and special assistant to former President George W. Bush, Jennings has carved out a niche for himself in recent years as CNN's resident Trump defender. Since the president's return to the White House, Jennings' stock has risen within both MAGA circles and the mainstream media, as he's launched his own daily radio show and been named to the Los Angeles Times' editorial board. Promoting his new pro-Trump book A Revolution for Common Sense, Jennings dropped by right-wing network Real America's Voice, where he sat down with former Fox News star Eric Bolling on Wednesday. At one point in the conversation, Bolling noted that a number of Republican candidates have already lined up to take over McConnell's seat, which includes former Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, Rep. Andy Barr (R-KY) and Trump megadonor Nate Morris. 'You thinking about it?' Bolling asked the CNN pundit. 'Yeah, I haven't made any announcements about that,' Jennings replied. '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.' Adding that he believes that 'politics is a team sport' and 'Trump's the head coach,' Jennings stated that the president will eventually 'weigh in on this' and that Republicans will have to heed his command. 'You know, if he calls a play, we're gonna have to run it,' he said. 'I wouldn't want to run against the president in Kentucky. So, I don't really have any announcement about it at the moment.' Bolling, meanwhile, straight up asked Jennings 'if Trump taps you, you're gonna run,' prompting the conservative commentator – who recently joined Trump on a rally stage – to ambiguously respond: 'I pay very close attention to everything the president says.' 'That's a good position to be,' Bolling chuckled before moving on to Jennings' book. While stepping aside as the GOP's Senate leader and announcing that he wouldn't seek another term, the 83-year-old McConnell – who has dealt with increasing concerns over his health amid falls and freezing up during public speeches – has become a rare (if mild) public critic of Trump's among Republicans on Capitol Hill in recent months. With the former Senate Majority Leader voting against the president's Cabinet nominees and warning against embracing 'right-wing isolationism,' Trump has repeatedly blasted the Kentucky lawmaker and has even suggested that McConnell faked having polio as a child. 'I have no idea if he had polio. All I can tell you about him is that he shouldn't have been leader,' Trump said in February after McConnell declared he would not support Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as HHS secretary due to his anti-vaccine stance.
Washington Post
31-05-2025
- Business
- Washington Post
These Kentucky Republicans attempt an unlikely bulwark to Trump
It is one of the most politically conservative states, yet Kentucky has become an unlikely stronghold for Republicans who oppose President Donald Trump's policy agenda. Rep. Thomas Massie (R) served as the most vociferous GOP critic of the massive tax-and-border bill that passed the House on May 22 by a single vote, the latest in a string of votes against Trump's wishes.
Washington Post
30-05-2025
- General
- Washington Post
Rural Democratic lawmaker announces switch to the GOP in the latest setback for Kentucky Democrats
FRANKFORT, Ky. — A longtime state lawmaker announced Friday that she is switching parties, joining Republican supermajorities in the latest setback for Democrats trying to rebuild support across rural Kentucky. State Sen. Robin Webb, who represents a four-county swath of northeastern Kentucky, revealed she will join the ranks of GOP lawmakers who control the flow of legislation in the state. Webb was one of the last rural Democrats in Kentucky's legislature, and her defection leaves her ex-party more tethered to urban and suburban districts in a state with large stretches of rural territory controlled by the GOP.
Washington Post
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
The Democrats' path back to power might start in places like this Appalachian town
PAINTSVILLE, Ky. — Janet Lynn Stumbo leaned on her cane and surveyed the two dozen or so voters who had convened in a small Appalachian town to meet with the chair of the Kentucky Democratic Party. A former Kentucky Supreme Court justice, the 70-year-old Stumbo said the event was 'the biggest Democratic gathering I have ever seen in Johnson County,' an enclave where Republican Donald Trump got 85% of the presidential vote last November.
Fox News
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Senate candidate in hotly contested race slapped with ethics investigation
The Kentucky Executive Branch Ethics Commission decided to move forward Wednesday with an investigation into U.S. Senate candidate Daniel Cameron due to allegations dating back to July 2023 that the then-Kentucky attorney general and gubernatorial candidate solicited campaign donations from a company his office was investigating at the time. "What's happening to me is exactly what they did to President Trump: a shameless weaponization of government to take out political opponents," Daniel Cameron told Fox News Digital in an exclusive statement. "This is the first major case of Democrat lawfare in the 2026 cycle, and the timing is no coincidence. I'm leading the GOP field by more than 20 points. It's clear who the left fears most." The Associated Press reported in July 2023 that an attorney representing Edgewater Recovery Centers said the organization received a call from Cameron followed by a campaign representative to organize a fundraiser. Cameron's Kentucky attorney general's office was investigating Edgewater Recovery Centers at the time, and the AP reported that several Edgewater executives donated $7,600 to Cameron's gubernatorial campaign. Fox News Digital spoke on Thursday to a source close to Edgewater at the time who said as soon as details about the transactions and phone calls were made public, there was quick dissipation of any plans for a fundraiser and any campaign funds were returned almost immediately. Cameron's current U.S. Senate campaign confirmed to Fox that Cameron recused himself from the attorney general's office investigation into Edgewater as soon as the matter came to his attention, canceled the events and refunded checks to the executives. Sitting Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear called for the investigation back in 2023, and his administration is now moving forward with the probe two years later. Fox News Digital also reported earlier this week that Beshear's name could be in the mix for a possible Democratic presidential candidate in 2028. Fox News Digital reached out to Beshear's office, but did not receive a response. The news of the investigation comes as Cameron's campaign for former Senate Leader Mitch McConnell's soon-vacant U.S. Senate seat is in full swing. Republican Rep. Andy Barr is the only other declared GOP candidate in the race. Fox News Digital reached out to the Kentucky Executive Branch Ethics Commission but did not receive a response. Preston Mizell is a writer with Fox News Digital covering breaking news. Story tips can be sent to and on X @MizellPreston
