President Donald Trump and White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in Washington, D.C., July 24, 2026. REUTERS/Jonathan Erns
President Donald Trump is reportedly eyeing an outspoken MAGA booster from CNN as his next White House Press Secretary, but according to the D.C. insiders at Pod Save America, there is one reason that he would crash and burn in the role.
The Trump administration is currently in the process of searching for Karoline Leavitt's replacement as press secretary, following her decision to depart the role by the end of the month. Reports now indicate that Scott Jennings, the conservative CNN pundit best known for his constant defenses of Trump and his tendency to get into shouting matches during panel debates, is at the top of Trump's list of candidates for the job, with his recent outbursts defending the president's scandal-plagued assistant Natalie Harp purportedly being part of his audition for the job.
Discussing the situation in a recent episode of the "Pod Save America" podcast, co-hosts and former Obama administration officials Jon Favreau and Dan Pfeiffer cited a report from NOTUS claiming that Trump is looking to put a man in the role, as he has staffed it exclusively with women since the departure of his first press secretary, Sean Spicer, near the start of his time in the White House. The report also suggested that Trump might alternatively consider elevating Harp to the role, but given his fondness for her and his reliance on her presence, Favreau and Pfeiffer dismissed that idea as a serious possibility.
On the subject of Jennings potentially getting the job, Favreau, Barack Obama's former director of speechwriting, suggested that his tendency to lash out in his TV appearances suggests that he is too unstable and temperamental to handle the "pressure" of the role. He specifically cited a recent segment in which he seemed on the verge of tears while arguing with the young liberal commentator, Adam Mockler.
"Karoline Leavitt, whatever else you want to say about her, she's pretty unflappable in that job," Favreau explained. "She's got the lying part, right, that you just mentioned, like she's nailed that. Same thing with, you know, Sarah Huckabee Sanders. But they are not nearly as emotional as Scott Jennings is... He loses his s—— on panels constantly, and Karoline Leavitt never lost her s—— in that briefing room."
Pfeiffer, Obama's former senior communications adviser, half-jokingly called Jennings a "snowflake beta" and argued that what makes him valuable as a pundit for CNN would make him poorly suited for the White House Press Secretary role.
"I think he probably gets plaudits for that sort of losing his s—— on CNN. That's probably what they're going for; that's why they pay him," Pfeiffer said. "But in the White House briefing room, that's just not a particularly effective way of doing your job."
Former Trump biographer Michael Wolff recently claimed that Trump has staffed so many women in the role because of their ability to remain composed when he yells at them. This, he added, was part of the reason he parted ways with Spicer, citing a story in which he allegedly cowered after being chewed out by the president.