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Senator Kennedy teases 2028 presidential run if 'goobers' run

6 sources · updated 2026-10-06
Left 50% Center 0% Right 50%
1 left · 0 center · 1 right

What happened

On Oct. 4, 2026, Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) told moderator Kristen Welker on NBC's "Meet the Press" that he is considering a run for president in 2028 but has not made a decision. Asked if he was thinking about running, the 74-year-old senator replied, "Yeah," then said his plans "right now are to run for re-election" to the Senate that year and that he would consider a presidential bid if he no longer thought he could be "effective" in the chamber. He added that on the Republican side, "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," quoting the Judds lyric, "Why not me on a rainy day?" Kennedy declined to say why Republican voters should choose him over Vice President JD Vance, stating he was "not going to talk about another potential candidate" and that "it'll be good for both parties to have a full field."
Sourcing check · Fully on the record · 2 articles

2 of 2 articles cite a named source for the story. It was on the record from the first report.

What these terms mean and how they're counted
On the record · names a source 2 of 2
On the record means the article cites a source by name for the story's main claim: a person, or an institution speaking officially, such as a company statement or a named agency's spokesperson. The opposite is an unnamed source. The count is how many of the counted articles cite at least one such source; the names are everyone named across them, each once however the articles spell it. Here: Senator John Kennedy, Kristen Welker and Sen. John Kennedy
Primary evidence · cites a document or data 0 of 2
Primary evidence means the article cites a record you could check yourself: a court filing or ruling, a dataset or report, a recording or transcript, an official statement or press release, market data. A quote is not a document. The count is how many articles cite one. Here: None cited.
Credits another outlet 0 of 2
The article says the story comes from another outlet's reporting (“first reported by Reuters”). Those articles relay the story; they are not independent confirmation. Here: Each article presents its own reporting.
Unnamed sources 0 of 2
The main claim is attributed to people who are not identified: “people familiar with the matter”, “officials said”. The count is how many articles do this.
How it developed
When the first report landed and whether it named anyone; when the first named source and the first document appeared. Here: First report Oct 4, 23:54 UTC by OAN, naming its source.
Not counted 0
Opinion, analysis and video pieces, and articles too short to assess. Every count above is out of the counted articles. An article republished under a new headline is one article.
This is about who is cited, not whether the story is true. Each source below says what it names. How we count
Omitted — what each side leaves out

Unpacked

Left-leaning coverage is simply more complete on the race Kennedy would enter; right-leaning coverage leaves his Sunday comments sitting alone. NBC News reports that the coming race will be the first Republican nomination without Trump since 2012. The same piece flags other unannounced names already in circulation. Right-leaning write-ups name Vice President JD Vance as a likely rival and then return to Kennedy’s own lines, with no account of that open field. Right-leaning coverage frames the answers as color from a quipster; left-leaning coverage frames them as a presidential trial balloon. The Washington Examiner notes he is known for "homespun one-liners," a tag NBC News never uses. Would he have to forgo his own Senate re-election to run for president?
Bottom line

Skip NBC News and you never learn this is the first Republican nomination without Trump since 2012. Kennedy’s Sunday tease then reads as a quip, not as an early move in an open race.

The receipts — 4 facts one side's coverage lacks
  • 2028 will be the first time since 2012 that Trump is not the Republican nominee contextin NBC News · absent from right-leaning coverage
  • Kennedy is 74 numberin Washington Examiner · absent from left-leaning coverage
  • Meet the Press host said Kennedy has been on the campaign trail and spent time in New Hampshire contextin Breitbart · absent from left-leaning coverage
  • Marco Rubio said he has no plans at this time to run for president official statementin NBC News · absent from right-leaning coverage
The Left View
NBC News and The Hill frame the appearance as a tease inside a still-unannounced 2028 field, not a launch. NBC notes that "a slew of politicians on both sides of the aisle" have said they are considering a run or have declined to rule one out, that none have formally announced, and that 2028 will be the first presidential election since 2012 without Donald Trump as the Republican nominee. It embeds Kennedy in a succession story—Trump has floated Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio as potential successors; Rubio has said he has "no plans at this time" to run; and NBC cites other speculation around Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth—and it stresses Kennedy's refusal to explain why voters should pick him over Vance.
The Right View
The Washington Examiner, Breitbart, and One America News present the remarks as Kennedy keeping options open in his usual folksy register while remaining focused on the Senate. They lead on the "goobers" condition, note that he "emphasized that he is focused on reelection" and "gave no definite decision," and flag his reputation for "homespun one-liners" and "down-to-earth humor." Right-leaning outlets do not cast the Vance question as a succession clash; they report that he would not discuss other potential candidates and that he called a full field healthy for both parties.
Our Take (balanced)
Left-leaning coverage's strongest argument is that Kennedy offered optionality, not a candidacy: he said he was thinking about a run, then immediately subordinated it to a Senate re-election campaign, declined any comparison with the vice president most often named as a 2028 contender, and left the Republican field unnamed. Right-leaning coverage's strongest argument is that the conditions he stated—staying effective in the Senate, and intervening only if weaker Republican "goobers" looked likely to win—describe a fallback, not an entry, and that the Judds lyric fits his established comic style rather than a rollout. The central unresolved tension is whether those caveats and the rainy-day aside are a real signal of presidential ambition or colorful hedging that leaves his current course unchanged.

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