Pro-Trump politico Scott Jennings tapped for LA Times editorial board

Scott Jennings, who has made waves as a spirited defender of Donald Trump on CNN, has been asked to join the Los Angeles Times editorial board.

LA Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong announced the move in a post on X this week.

“Growing the board with experts who have thoughtful balanced views and new candidates are accepting the challenge to join us!. Way to go Scott and thanks for accepting,” Soon-Shiong wrote.

Jennings, a Dawson Springs, Kentucky, native, did not immediately respond to a request seeking confirmation of the new role.

The recruitment of Jennings follows the newspaper’s decision to decline to endorse in the 2024 presidential election, a choice that inspired anger among progressives across the country. Soon-Shiong told media writer Oliver Darcy in an interview this week he wanted a revamped editorial board he could rebuild “from scratch” to represent “all voices.”

Soon-Shiong, a billionaire entrepreneur, physician, and biotech innovator, made his fortune through groundbreaking work in cancer treatments and pharmaceuticals. His health care-focused companies, NantHealth and NantWorks, were central to his wealth. In 2018, he purchased the Los Angeles Times and San Diego Union-Tribune for $500 million.

Soon-Shiong praised Jennings for his interactions on CNN and said he was impressed by his “respectful and thoughtful” tone on the cable network, often when arguing against several other liberal commentators, according to Darcy’s account of his interview with the mogul.

Jennings joined the LA Times first as a contributing columnist in the fall of 2019. His columns often focus on political and cultural issues, including analyses of Republican politics and significant events in the U.S. political landscape

His ascent as a television pundit has been supercharged during the last year, averaging a dozen different CNN segments a week.

This year marked the first time in more than a century the Los Angeles Times abstained from endorsing a candidate in the presidential election. The Washington Post, owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, also declined to endorse in the White House contest, setting off a similar firestorm within journalism circles.

With the decision to endorse neither President-elect Donald Trump nor Vice President Kamala Harris, Soon-Shiong signaled he wanted his newspaper to maintain a neutral stance and prioritize non-partisan analysis of policies. The move led to internal backlash and considerable public criticism. and Mariel Garza, the editorials editor, resigned, citing the non-endorsement as a betrayal of journalistic responsibility.