Allies of President Donald Trump are trying to "derail" conservative commentator Scott Jennings' chances of winning the press secretary job.
According to a Thursday article by the New York Post, Trump's "fiercest allies" are trying to ruin Jennings because of his longstanding ties to his mentor, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY). Trump is still trying to fill the post that White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt will vacate at the end of the month.
"It's not going to be him," an anonymous source close to the administration told The Post.
The Post noted that Jennings met with White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles this past weekend, but a senior administration official said that no clear favorite has emerged for the job.
"It's an open book," the senior administration official said. "There are no favorites or preconceived ideas."
However, reporting by The Post framed the indecision as Trump insiders trying to sabotage Jennings' chances over his ties to McConnell. Jennings, a Kentucky native, has talked about his relationship with McConnell in light of the senior senator's extended absence.
The Post also noted that Jennings aligned himself with McConnell's position about holding Trump responsible for the violence at the Capitol on January 6. Jennings wrote a CNN op-ed declaring, "Trump caused this insurrection with his lies and conspiracy theories about the election process being rigged."
When The Post reached out to Jennings for comment, he responded with a gif of Patrick Swayze's character from the 1989 film "Road House," with the caption, "Opinions vary."
Jennings recently took the Trump position when responding to Sen. Jon Ossoff's comments about how the president prefers to "travel with Natalie Harp" instead of doing his job. In a fiery CNN debate, Jennings insisted that Harp doesn't deserve to be attacked because she doesn't have a public-facing role, but he refused to denounce Trump's attacks on women, including female reporters.
Harp herself has emerged as a possible dark-horse candidate for Leavitt's job, and insiders have also said that Trump would prefer to hire a man for the job, while others report that Trump wouldn't mind holding off on hiring until after the midterms.
