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Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana said Sunday he’s considering running for president in 2028, though for now he plans to seek reelection to the Senate.
Getting into it: Asked on NBC’s “Meet the Press” whether he’s thinking about a White House bid, Kennedy simply said, “Yeah,” then pointed to a line from “Why Not Me?,” a Judds song that came out in 1985. He said he hasn’t made a decision and would only run if he no longer thinks he can be effective in the Senate and doesn’t like the Republican field.
He declined to talk about Vice President JD Vance, who leads most early 2028 GOP polls, saying, “I’m not going to talk about another potential candidate. I’m just not there yet,” but added that “it’ll be good for both parties to have a full field.” If Kennedy, 74, ran and won, only Trump and Joe Biden would have taken the oath at an older age.
“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. “But right now, I’m running for reelection.”
Kennedy, known for his folksy one-liners, has been one of the busiest GOP campaigners of the year, stumping for Republicans in Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa and New Hampshire. He’s a Trump ally who has still managed to criticize the administration without the president turning on him, including grilling former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem over a $200 million ad campaign featuring her, and recently saying the White House shouldn’t use taxpayer money for ads promoting Trump.
This all comes as the 2028 Republican race starts taking shape, with Vance accusing Sen. Ted Cruz of already running for president and Cruz firing back that Vance is “insecure,” while Sen. Rand Paul says he’ll decide after the midterms and Secretary of State Marco Rubio says he has “no plans at this time” to run.
