Sen. John Kennedy said he would consider jumping in the 2028 presidential race if he does not like his party’s options for the Republican nominee.
“On my side of the aisle, if a bunch of goobers run, and I think they’re goobers, and one of the goobers might win, and I think I could do a better job, I would consider running,” Kennedy said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
The Louisiana Republican said his focus is squarely on his Senate race in 2028, but he would consider a bid for president if he doesn’t think he “can be effective in the Senate anymore.”
Kennedy, who is not up for reelection this year, has made several out-of-state appearances on the campaign trail this cycle to stump for his fellow Republicans — traveling to Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska in September and New Hampshire in June.
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The senator told reporters earlier this month that he never expected to spend time in the trio of states he visited in September to drum up support for the Republican Senate candidates.
“If you told me six months ago I was going to be having to spend my time in those three states, I wouldn’t have believed you. Those ought to be fat guy layups for us,” Kennedy said, according to The Washington Post.
Kennedy, known for his frequent folksy and viral one-liners, has broken with President Donald Trump on several key issues. The Louisiana Republican publicly disagreed with Trump’s assertion that Ukraine started the war with Russia and also pushed back on the Trump administration’s deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, labeling it a “screw up.”
Most recently, Kennedy criticized Trump for giving out Sen. Tom Cotton’s (R-Arkansas) cellphone number Saturday on Truth Social over the senator’s opposition to a bill that would make Daylight Saving Time permanent.
“He can be tempestuous. He can go from zero to a-hole in about three seconds,” Kennedy told NBC News about Trump. “I don’t think he should have given out Tom’s cell phone number. I don’t think that’s going to help convince Tom.”
Kennedy is in the middle of his second term in the Senate, and has never run for president.
Recent polling from YouGov puts Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis among the top names Republicans would consider voting for in 2028.
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