Scott Jennings Denies He Wants the White House Press Secretary Gig — But These Guys Aren’t Buying It

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CNN

TOP STORY

JENNINGS ON DECK

A lot of people sure think CNN’s Scott Jennings is next in line as White House Press Secretary (except for maybe President Donald Trump, who is said to be “not quite sold” on the idea). Jennings would replace Karoline Leavitt, who will exit the White House at the end of August.

For what it’s worth, Jennings himself has said that he’s not taking the role. When asked by the network’s Lulu Garcia-Navarro if he planned to, Jennings said simply, “No.” Kaitlan Collins also asked Jennings if he had been in touch with the White House about the possibility, and he answered, “I don’t really have anything to say about it other than, I mean, I would get to see you every day.”

As Collins put it, “That’s not a no.” That’s also the position many of our newsletter authors are taking today and this week when considering the possibility. In a city where many a president began their campaign by denying they were planning to run, Jennings could be temporarily deflecting until he knows the deal is done.

THREE TAKES

Newsbusters, Jorge Bonilla — Bonilla cheered Jennings’ defense of presidential aide Natalie Harp this week while sharing a clip from CNN and encouraging readers to watch as he “nukes [Sen. Jon] Ossoff from orbit over the remarks.” Bonilla also insisted, “There is no bottom with the left and the Elitist Media when it comes to smearing someone for political advantage.” (A quick reminder that Ossoff’s remark was that Trump “wants to build his ballroom and travel with Natalie to their apparently defenseless flying palace gifted by the Emir of Qatar.”) Should Jennings be elevated to the White House role, it certainly sounds like he’ll have a supporter in Bonilla.

CNN’s Reliable Sources, Brian Stelter — Despite his claims otherwise, Jennings is “jockeying” for the role of White House Press Secretary, Stelter wrote Thursday morning. Jennings has “been at the forefront” of leading the charge against Ossoff since his comments this Sunday, but Stelter wonders if he would “really want to give up his CNN and Salem Radio salaries for the unforgiving press secretary job.” He just might, Stelter added, because Jennings “met with [White House Chief of Staff] Susie Wiles about the possibility.”

POLITICO Playbook, Will Steakin, Dasha Burns, and Adam Wren — Jennings “pounced on” the Ossoff-Harp “drama” as a bid to “turn what some in the White House described to Playbook as a rapid response team misfire … back on the Georgia senator and potential 2028 Democratic contender.” Jennings has also “dedicated airtime, fired off rounds of tweets and used his prime-time perch on CNN vehemently defending both Harp and the president” this week — so if he’s not angling for the job, what else could he be doing?

For Jennings, it’s allegedly all about protecting Harp. He told Playbook, “I just don’t think that’s what you sign up for when you’re someone like Natalie Harp, who never put her name on a ballot. She’s not the White House press secretary. She’s not a household name, and I just find it to be appalling,” Jennings told Playbook. “Somebody needs to defend her honor.”

TAKEAWAY: Jennings might say he doesn’t want the job, but it doesn’t seem like the newsletter stack believes him. If appointed, he’d be the first man in the role under Trump since Sean Spicer left in July 2017 during the first Trump administration. Jennings’ strong defense of Harp reads as an attempt to endear himself to a president who feels lukewarm about his appointment at best.

📰 TOP SCOOPS & ANALYSIS 📰

SCOOP 🍨 Punchbowl News AM, Laura Weiss and Ben Brody — Speaker of the House Mike Johnson spoke to Punchbowl in Pennsylvania on Wednesday and noted that he believes the GOP will “substantially” expand its majority in the midterms. “We’ve got common sense, problem-solving, solutions-oriented candidates, and increasingly they’re running people who are far, far left, and they’re just out of touch with their districts,” Johnson. Weiss and Brody also wrote that Johnson told them “prediction markets showing Republicans will lose their majority are being swayed by foreigners betting on U.S. elections.”

SCOOP 🍨 The Poynter Report’s Factually, Enock Nyariki — Poynter boasts the Press Freedom Watch, which has “documented more than 100 federal actions affecting journalists and news access in the United States over the last year,” Nyariki wrote today. Some of those were “overt” (like lawsuits and arrests) and others “came through quieter policy changes.” Poynter’s Angela Fu spoke to Nyariki about the Press Freedom Watch, and said in part, “I think it very quickly became clear that what we were tracking was more than just a list of fights between the administration and the press.” Fu also admitted that the Press Freedom Watch “costs time and money — resources that could have been put into producing journalism.”

SCOOP 🍨 Status, Natalie Korach —Former New York Magazine writer Ross Barkan is taking time away after he was found to have plagiarized substantial parts of his columns. Barkan, who was first accused of plagiarism by NPR’s Bobby Allyn, initially shrugged the accusations off as “character assassination.” But that changed this month when he apologized for “the mistakes that I made.” Korach noted “the fallout has extended beyond Vox” and Status received news that Gothamist “has retracted multiple articles by Barkan, replacing them with an editor’s note.” The Nation is also “conducting its own internal review,” and Barkan will not be teaching at NYU as planned this fall.

ANALYSIS 👀 Punchbowl News AM, Ally Mutnick and Laura Weiss — Punchbowl’s authors also offered a look at where the Green Party stands in Pennsylvania this morning. Mutnick and Weiss spoke to Green Party candidate Andrew Tupone, who is “running for a crucial Pennsylvania swing seat” and has been aided by “Republicans who have played a key role in helping him get on — and stay on — the ballot.” In fact, they add, “His presence in the race could siphon liberal voters from Democratic nominee Bob Brooks and make it easier for incumbent GOP Rep. Ryan Mackenzie to win reelection.” Tupone switched parties earlier his year, but the Green Party “has disavowed him.” He also “didn’t assuage any Democratic fears by hiring a Republican attorney to represent him in legal challenges.”

ANALYSIS 👀 The Poynter Report, Tom Jones— MS NOW will introduce a new product on September 9 called Membership, Jones reported today. The network’s announcement sparked two important questions: “How much is it and what do you get for it?” The answers ($7.99 per month and $79.99 annually) were reported by Max Tani for Semafor. The new membership product also means the network “is clearly looking beyond traditional cable as the number of cable subscribers continues to dwindle,” Jones added.

ANALYSIS 👀 The Free Press, Mark Halperin— Halperin spent some time examining whether or not Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) will really run for president in 2028. Though “Chuck Schumer’s Senate seat will beckon in two years,” Halperin wrote, “the 36-year-old AOC, with a millennial’s ingrained desire for a proper work-life balance, may sit that one out too.” Right now, the Democratic field “lacks a front-runner” and may not “settle on a favorite until late winter 2028.” Ocasio-Cortez “might have the cleanest and clearest path to the nomination of any Democrat,” he continued, “because of a twin reality: Even as the super progressive wing of the party is ascendant and powerful, it paradoxically lacks an obvious presidential candidate to carry the banner.”

📈BUSINESS OF MEDIA 🎥

Feed Me, Emily Sundberg — A distinct career transition pattern has emerged among early Substack employees who leave the digital publishing platform. Rather than sharing standard LinkedIn updates, departing staffers tend to write philosophical, big-picture newsletters on Substack explaining their departures. The latest high-profile exit is former Head of New Media Hanne Winarsky, who is leaving the company to join the Sam Altman-founded Episteme as its Head of Narrative and Media. QUOTE 📣 Per Winarsky, her time at the company allowed her to watch “a new generation of media empires begin, grow, scale, create new rules and new strategies, and use independence to their greatest advantage.”

Awful Announcing, Sean Keeley — The results of Awful Announcing’s 2026 local MLB broadcaster rankings are in, based on more than 85,000 individual votes. The San Diego Padres broadcast crew of Don Orsillo and Mark “Mud” Grant claimed the top spot for the second consecutive year. Meanwhile, the New York Yankees’ booth climbed from No. 23 to No. 12 after Michael Kay launched a media campaign defending “the broadcasting brotherhood” against public rankings. QUOTE 📣 Kay: “I think pitting broadcasts against each other is disgusting.”

OTHER COOL STUFF

Feed Me — A remote rifugio in the Dolomites sitting at an altitude of 7,500 feet has been utterly overwhelmed by digital food influencers after its legendary custard donut (krapfen) went viral online after 30 unassuming years. The resulting internet hype has generated massive, chaotic queues of tourists snaking along a narrow mountain path.

Morning Brew — Chronically online internet users have crowned a new viral sensation in “Chanty Beluga,” a fictional TikTok character created by comedian Courtney O’Donnell. Since late July, O’Donnell has generated millions of views playing this awkward character doing mundane daily tasks, such as introducing herself at pool parties. The simple, purely fun meme has become a bizarre litmus test for corporate social accounts, prompting comments from brands like Grindr, Pop-Tarts, and Wikipedia, and helping O’Donnell sell out an upcoming solo comedy show in New York.

Status — Comedy icon Larry David officially ended his long-term friendship with high-profile lawyer Alan Dershowitz. Why? Dershowitz “made a deal with the devil” when he chose to represent Donald Trump during his first congressional impeachment proceedings.

The Poynter Report — Sportscaster Craig Carton is set to join Fox’s OutKick to host The Craig Carton Show three days a week beginning September 8. Per Variety, the show will “feature Carton’s unique take on national sports and culture, but also feature interviews with notable guests.”

👀 WHAT GOT MISSED? 👀

The Bulwark’s Morning Shots, Bill Kristol and Andrew Egger — The Green Party is also a big deal in Michigan, The Bulwark’s Brendan Hartnett wrote today. Or, rather, its disappearance is. The state’s Green Party “may have nominated a Republican plant to run on its ballot line in Michigan’s competitive 7th Congressional District” in 25-year-old Shane Dedick, who was “chosen as the party’s nominee after joining the Green Party of Michigan’s April nominating convention on Zoom — during which he kept his camera off, seemed to know little about the party platform, and went through practically no vetting.”

🏆 NEWSLETTER OF THE DAY 🏆

Morning Brew, Dave Lozo, Molly Liebergall, Matty Merritt, Abby Rubenstein — Morning Brew is often a really great catch-all that manages to hit topics other newsletters don’t. Today’s focused on new cancer vaccine research, the U.S. Treasury Department’s dip into the bond market, and Jason Kelce’s request that we all send our urine… somewhere. The newsletter also defly weaves together good news (the vaccine has been given to melanoma patients to promising results), potentially concerning news (the Treasury Department’s plan to “repurchase government debt” could send inflation rates soaring), and weird news (Kelce wants people to “people to pee into a jar and send it to the AI data center of their choice to replace the nearly 5 million gallons of water a day it reportedly takes to cool a large data center”).

Interspersed are other stories of note: Amazon is going to use drones to deliver to 500 cities across the U.S., and Unitree Robotics has a new dancing robot. Overall, today’s newsletter is a fun romp as we head toward the week’s end.

This newsletter was produced by Lindsey Ellefson.