Is Rand Paul worried Nate Morris could run against him for Senate in 2028?
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul had a very short answer on whether he was worried Lexington entrepreneur Nate Morris might challenge him in the 2028 Senate race.
“Nah,” he told reporters Thursday afternoon.
Morris, who was previously running on an anti-Mitch McConnell, outsider message in the competitive Senate GOP primary, bowed out and endorsed Rep. Andy Barr on Friday. President Donald Trump wrote on social media that he had asked Morris to leave the race and take an ambassador role in the administration, though he hasn’t yet said where.
Since then, there’s been speculation on the details of the deal Trump made with Morris. The theory circulating on social media by some notable Republican figures is that Trump could back Morris in a 2028 Senate campaign — the same year Paul is up for reelection.
“What if Trump made a deal with Morris to drop out now, in return for Morris getting the ambassador title — and Trump would endorse him in two years if he ran against Rand Paul?” Andrew Cooperrider, a Kentucky conservative podcast and radio host, said in a social media post.
A similar idea was posited by Laura Loomer, a far-right political activist, who said a Paul versus Morris race would be “highly entertaining.”
Morris has not said he plans to run for Senate in 2028. Morris previously supported Paul in 2015, when Morris was a “door-opener for Paul with big-money GOP donors” and traveled with him to Israel, according to reporting from Politico.
Trump endorsing Morris, or any candidate running against Paul, isn’t far-fetched.
Trump and Paul haven’t seen eye-to-eye on a myriad of issues, and Paul has drawn Trump’s criticism multiple times. That includes when Paul voted against Trump’s “Big, Beautiful bill,” prompting Trump to say in a social media post that Paul loves voting “no” on everything. Paul has also spoken out against tariffs backed by Trump and spearheaded an effort to limit Trump’s abilities to keep waging war against Iran without congressional approval.
In this primary election cycle, Paul is supporting Rep. Thomas Massie, the other Kentucky politician who Trump sees as a thorn in his side, against Trump’s hand-picked candidate, Ed Gallrein. Trump has previously called Massie “Rand Paul Jr.” because he “votes against everything.”
In Indiana, where Trump targeted seven GOP lawmakers who blocked his attempt to gerrymander the state, at least five lost reelection, according to reporting from Politico.
Paul thinks Massie’s race is different though.
“I think his race is different than most races in the country,” Paul said. “He’s now universally known across the country. He’s known for transparency the Epstein files. He’s known for voting against government spending and government debt. So, I think he will be judged on his own, and I think he has a very good chance of winning.”
On who Paul is supporting though in this year’s Republican primary in the U.S. Senate race, that’s less unclear. Although he hasn’t endorsed a candidate, Paul was seen with Daniel Cameron at the 152nd Kentucky Derby, who has decided to stay in the race despite Trump endorsing Barr.
When asked whether he would endorse Cameron, Paul didn’t give a straight answer.
“I‘ve been looking at the different candidates and hoping that one of the candidates in the Senate race will talk about what they’re for and what their agenda is,” Paul said. “Are they going to send more money to Ukraine? Are they for keeping the money at home? Are they more foreign aid? And I think the one that’s best articulated that message has been Daniel Cameron.”
