GOP Sen. John Kennedy Confirms Eyeing 2028 Presidential Run

Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana said that he is thinking about a possible presidential campaign in 2028, while saying his present plan is to seek reelection to the Senate.

On NBC’s Meet the Press, moderator Kristen Welker asked whether he was considering a White House run. She noted that the list of potential 2028 candidates continues to grow and that Kennedy has spent time on the campaign trail, including in New Hampshire.

Kennedy confirmed that he is considering it. “My plans right now are to run for reelection,” he said.

“But as I’ve said before, if I don’t think I can be effective in the Senate anymore, I would consider it.”

He also described a scenario in which the shape of the Republican field could change his mind.

“If a bunch of, 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,” he said. “But right now, I’m running for reelection.”

Welker asked why Republican voters should choose him over Vice President JD Vance if both sought the nomination. Kennedy declined to discuss another potential candidate, saying he was “just not there yet.”

He said he assumes Vance will run, “just like I think Rahm is going to run,” referring to former Chicago mayor and White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, and that “it’ll be good for both parties to have a full field.”

The Sunday comments track remarks Kennedy made earlier this year. In a June interview on NewsNation, he said he was focused on the midterms and a Senate reelection campaign but had not ruled out a presidential bid.

He said people had spoken with him about it and used a similar line, “Why not me?”

He also said then that “a lot of people enter the field, and I think they are goobers,” while stressing that he was not saying he would run.

According to Politico, Kennedy has appeared this year for other Republican candidates in New Hampshire, Ohio, Indiana, and Tennessee, with additional travel planned in places such as Michigan and Georgia.