Louisiana Republican Senator John Kennedy said on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” that he is considering running for president in 2028.
When asked by host Kristen Welker if he was considering running for president, Kennedy replied, “Yes.”
“My plan right now is to run for re-election, but as I said before, if I don’t think I can be effective in the Senate anymore, I will consider it,” he said.
Many politicians from both parties have admitted they are considering a run for president in 2028 or refused to rule it out. However, no one has officially announced that they are running. Kennedy also said he has not yet made a decision.
“On my side, if a bunch of fools were running, and I thought they were fools, and one of those fools could win, and I thought I could do better, I would consider running,” he said. “But now, I’m running for re-election.”
Kennedy will run for re-election in 2028.
Vice President J.D. Vance is widely considered a possible 2028 presidential candidate. Still, when asked why voters should choose the senator over the vice president, Kennedy declined to talk about Vance.
“I’m not going to talk about another potential candidate,” he said. “I’m just not there yet.”
He added that he believed “there’s a whole field on both sides that would be good for both sides.”
President Donald Trump has previously named Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio as potential successors. In September, Rubio said he had “no current plans” to run for president.
NBC News previously reported that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had talked about possibly running for president in 2028, but a Pentagon spokesman denied that. Separately, Vance told NBC News last week that it’s “very obvious to me” that Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz will run for president in 2028.
The 2028 presidential election will be the first time since 2012 that Trump does not become the Republican candidate.