Kentucky Politics Insider: Potential GOP Senate contender calls McConnell ‘scum’
Kentucky Politics Insider provides an analytical view of Kentucky politics and the conversations that drive decisions. Email me at ahorn@herald-leader.com or ping me on any one of the various social media sites with tips or comments.
Sen. Mitch McConnell is used to, and has even embraced, being called “Darth Vader” by critics and supporters alike.
Another label is new: “Scum” for rebelling against some of Trump’s decisions.
That’s the tone struck by Lexington tech entrepreneur Nate Morris, a Republican widely seen as a potential candidate to replace McConnell in 2026, when the 83-year-old will not seek reelection.
Morris spoke as if he were already running for the post in a May 10 interview with conservative outlet Breitbart. He pulled no punches: He’s nothing like McConnell.
The veteran senator is essentially the godfather of the Kentucky GOP, as he flipped his seat red in the 1980s when Kentucky politics was dominated by Democrats, and has remained involved in state-level politics ever since. Even the state party headquarters in Frankfort is named after him.
Morris, 44, excoriated McConnell for what he sees as an overly interventionist foreign policy. He also chided the senator’s past agreements with former Democratic president Joe Biden using a particularly crass metaphor.
“He completely pulled his pants down for President Biden when he was in office with no terms of engagement, no path for success, no ability to see what ‘good’ looks like in the engagement with Ukraine, and that’s why we got such a terrible deal. Mitch McConnell just said, ‘Joe, we trust you,’” Morris said.
The summation of Morris’ thoughts on McConnell came when he retold an interaction he had with a wealthy McConnell donor during the Kentucky Derby earlier this month.
“I said, ‘Let me tell you something: Mitch McConnell is scum. Mitch McConnell has continued to ruin lives. He’s continued to thwart anyone that tries to oppose him over the last 40 years. He has had a cabal on Kentucky, a stranglehold on Kentucky politics.”
Morris would enter a field currently led by two other prominent Kentucky Republicans in former AG Daniel Cameron and 6th Congressional District Rep. Andy Barr.
All three are fervently supporting Trump in this moment with the knowledge the president’s endorsement would likely seal the deal in the primary for whoever gets it. Morris seems to be operating under the principle he can separate himself by how far he’s willing to go — “like nobody has ever seen,” he said — in his criticism of McConnell.
In the context of his McConnell-bashing, Morris praised Trump’s foreign policy stances as a contrast to the traditionally hawkish McConnell.
He praised Trump as a peacemaker, pointing to the recent ceasefire deal struck between India and Pakistan after the two nuclear powers traded airstrikes.
“(Trump) is a threat to the pocketbooks of everyone in Washington D.C. that’s getting rich off these wars,” Morris said.
Morris ended his interview all but saying he’d jump in the race.
“I feel like at some point I’m going to have no choice. I’ve got to get in this race, potentially, because enough is enough,” he said.
“And if we don’t get someone who can shake it up and willing to take it to the McConnell machine, Kentucky is going to be in big, big trouble.”
Though Cameron’s professional ties to McConnell are the strongest of any candidate, and Barr not long ago called the senator a “mentor,” Morris is also connected to McConnell.
As an undergraduate at George Washington University, Morris interned for both McConnell’s office and that of the senator’s wife, Elaine Chao, when she was labor secretary under former President George W. Bush.
The candidate mix in the 6th District
There are now two candidates seeking Barr’s Congressional seat: Democratic former state representative Cherlynn Stevenson (as of this morning) and current Winchester GOP Rep. Ryan Dotson.
The ones many insiders think will enter:
▪ Republicans Sen. Amanda Mays Bledsoe of Lexington and Richmond Rep. Deanna Gordon.
▪ Democrats Zach Dembo, a federal prosecutor, and former Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council member David Kloiber.
There’s a handful of others that could look at it under the right circumstances, particularly if one of the above candidates opts out of the race.
A recent article from the Cook Political Report raised eyebrows among Kentucky politicos. It cited anonymous sources that Beshear was courting Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman or Rocky Adkins, the former top House Democrat who now advises Beshear, to enter the race for Barr’s seat.
I would advise you to not hold your breath if you were hoping either of those candidates will jump in. Adkins has left the door open for a variety of offices, but the scuttlebutt around him for this district has died down.
Coleman, a personal friend of Stevenson’s, has said repeatedly she’s not interested in running for office in 2026.
Here’s a stunning declaration: Anything can change in politics. And, yes, it could behoove Beshear to avoid a messy primary between Adkins and Coleman if they pursue the governor’s mansion in 2027, but that’s the state of play now.
Andy, are you running for president? Definitely, maybe
If someone acts like they’re laying the groundwork for a presidential campaign, talks like they’re laying the groundwork for a presidential campaign, and… well you get my point: They’re probably laying the groundwork for a presidential campaign.
Such is the case for Gov. Andy Beshear, who is no longer bashful about the matter in his statements to reporters.
The first instance came when he was asked about the prospect of running for president in 2028 during an interview with Louisville television station WDRB during Derby week.
“I don’t want to leave a broken country to my kids. So, if I’m somebody who can bring this nation together, hopefully find some common ground, it’s something I would consider,” the two-term Democrat said.
That makes Beshear one of the most straightforward of any Democrat weighing the question: “Who wants to replace Trump?”
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore insists he is “not running for president,” and plenty of others have their own creative spin on sidestepping the question.
Then came a May 7 POLITICO story titled “Andy Beshear is making serious moves toward a 2028 presidential run.”
The article offered an inside glimpse of how Washington insiders view him: Some think he’s a real dark horse contender a la Jimmy Carter. Others say he’s not ready for prime time.
“He’s just not exciting or interesting enough,” one anonymous operative told POLITICO. “He strikes me as a great Cabinet secretary,”
Another operative praised Beshear as a potential antithesis to Trump. They said he could be a “dark horse” candidate due to his more wholesome effect.
Even publication of the article iis a sign, too. The POLITICO reporter got access to Beshear ferrying to and from appearances and landing an interview with the governor from “the backseat of his black SUV.”
POLITICO doesn’t pursue and publish that story if the Washington class isn’t really talking about it.
And Beshear doesn’t play along if he’s not actually thinking about it.
If you needed further proof, Beshear also allowed the producer of his own podcast to ask him the question. He gave a very similar answer to the one he gave WDRB.
In other Beshear political news: He is headlining, alongside New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, the Florida Democratic Party’s “Leadership Blue” gala, one of its biggest events of the year.
Add that alongside Iowa and Virginia to the list of states where Beshear has delivered major speeches to Democrats – oh, and don’t forget his appearance at the Democratic National Convention last summer.
Again, if it looks like he’s laying the groundwork for a presidential campaign.
Scott Jennings: Trump flight ‘booked’
It wasn’t hard to determine the photo of Republican PR pro-turned-commentator-turned-potential-Senate-contender Scott Jennings posted with Trump was a book cover.
Jennings, a conservative CNN commentator whose star has risen high as an ardent Trump defender over the past two presidential administrations, has gone public with his new book.
The title sums up Jennings’ style of Trump translation – ascribing a yeoman wisdom to Trump’s often erratic behavior and a morsel in there sure to irk mainstream liberals.
It’s called “A Revolution of Common Sense: How Donald Trump Stormed Washington and Fought for Western Civilization.”
The book announcement comes at about the time in the political cycle that candidates for major offices drop books (Morris’ now-apocryphal “American Trash” still has a page on Target.com).
Jennings, a Dawson Springs native and Oldham County resident, has been the buzziest item in the Kentucky rumor mill of late, as he’s been spoken about as a potential contender for Senate in 2026.
It’s possible the subject was broached on Air Force One on April 29, when Jennings traveled with the president to speak at his 100th day in office rally in Michigan.
Trump himself gave the book his seal of approval in a post to his social media channel Truth Social.
“Scott recently joined me at our big 100 Day Rally in Michigan, and does a fantastic job defending MAGA from the Trump Deranged Losers on CNN. Scott totally gets it and, unlike the many Fake News books that are being written about my Administration, Scott’s book will focus on the TRUTH about Team Trump rand our Agenda,” Trump wrote.
The book is due Dec. 2.
Just in time for Christmas and only 11 months before Election Day 2026.
This story was originally published May 13, 2025 at 4:00 AM.
