CNN's Scott Jennings in Des Moines, Iowa in Des Moines, Iowa (Gage Skidmore/Flickr)
A conservative commentator for CNN who has long been reported "thirsty" for a job working for Washington Republicans just got publicly insulted for not being picked as President Donald Trump's new press secretary.
"Sorry you lost your race too, @ScottJenningsKY," Michigan State Sen. Mallory McMorrow, who unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for United States Senate in her state earlier this year, posted on X on Friday.
Instead the White House chose Katherine Zacharia, who was described by Reuters as "a communications adviser for President Donald Trump's Truth Social platform. Her selection was characterized as one that "would put Zacharia at the center of the White House's public messaging operation in the final stretch before the elections, when Trump's agenda and his party's control of Congress will be put before voters. Trump's approval rating fell to 32 percent — the lowest of his political career — as his fellow Republicans soured on his handling of the cost of living and the Iran war, a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll found."
Reuters added, "The selection of Zacharia underscores the close ties between Trump's administration and his broader political and media operation. It comes after Trump Media unveiled in July that for a fee it would give banks and trading firms 'the fastest' access to posts from influential Truth Social accounts, such as the president's, whose posts often move global markets."
All of this is likely cold comfort for Jennings, who has had more than his fair share of public embarrassments in October. Earlier this month, he attracted controversy for warning Trump that if Democrats win control of Congress in the 2026 midterm elections, it would be bad for the country because they would simply investigate him.
"My other advice is that all of these arrangements, whether it’s this one or anything else, you really, really have to dot all your I’s, cross all your T’s and anticipate that every single bit of this is going to be investigated, should you lose control of either chamber,” Jennings said, continuing: “And you have to be ready to be fully transparent about that when that day comes.”
Jennings also came under fire for blaming Trump's economic problems on his predecessor, former President Joe Biden.
“His main problem is cost of living and most of the cost-of-living problems that we're dealing with in the country, he inherited," Jennings argued. “We still have a little bit of inflation, but it's largely normalized now. But most of the cost of living, he inherited it.”
He added, “… Certainly to a lot of Americans, you know, when prices spike the way they did during Biden, even going up 2 percent or 3 percent over the last two years, it feels like tacking on even more problems to their lives.”