Scott Jennings Hit With Mitch McConnell Call Challenge on Air

Politics admin July 31, 2026 0 Comments

Scott Jennings Hit With Mitch McConnell Call Challenge on Air

Scott Jennings went silent when he was challenged to call his former boss, Mitch McConnell, live on air.

The conservative talking head is a longtime adviser to the AWOL Kentucky senator and was part of McConnell’s campaigns for the U.S. Senate in 2002, 2008, and 2014.

The 84-year-old hasn’t been seen since going to the hospital after a fall on June 14. On July 7, Jennings said he spoke to the aging lawmaker for 20 minutes on the phone. McConnell’s first, now-infamous “proof-of-life” photo was released by his office on July 12. A second was released earlier this week.

But people aren’t convinced, with some even propagating conspiracies that he is, in fact, dead. The second release did little to quell these theories.

On Thursday’s The Source with Kaitlan Collins on CNN, Jennings was once again grilled about McConnell’s mysteriously long hospital stint. “Have you spoken to him recently on the phone?” Collins asked him.

“Uh, no, I haven’t spoken to him,” Jennings stated. “I talked to him early on. And I’m in touch with his office, but I haven’t spoken to him recently.”

Karen Finney, a Democratic strategist, then created an awkward silence by holding up her phone and asking whether they should call McConnell live on air. “We could– should we– do we want to FaceTime him?” Finney said. “No? Ok,” she said after an awkward silence where Jennings didn’t budge.

“Ok, on that note, Scott Jennings, Karen Finney, thank you both for being here,” Collins added after another long pause.

This is the third time Jennings has been dared to call up his old boss. Just a few days ago, on Tuesday evening, Kentucky governor Andy Beshear said Jennings should do it in the name of transparency.

“Listen, if he supposedly had a 17-minute conversation with Scott Jennings, he can call in and have a three-minute conversation with you. He can go to camera and just let us know he’s doing all right, which is what we all ultimately hope for,” he said on the same show with Kaitlan Collins.

“But it is incumbent upon him to have enough respect from the people of Kentucky and the United States of America to do the bare minimum and be honest and transparent.”

He said that the photos released by McConnell’s office had stoked doubt and added of Jennings, “To be fair, Scott Jennings works for CNN. He can go on air, dial him up, put him on speakerphone, and we can put all the speculation to rest.”

Just hours after Jennings’ supposed call with McConnell on July 7, he joined Kasie Hunt’s panel on The Arena, where the host asked him to call the senator. Jennings laughed off the request, rambling about his history with McConnell.

“I think it’s a fair question about transparency,” he eventually admitted. Hunt pressed once more. “Well, let him know. Our phone lines are open here at The Arena should he wish to call in,” she said.