The 2028 GOP Nominee Is Going to Be JD Vance, Probably
Kurt Schlichter
I guess people are just really bored because there’s a lot of pointless speculation going on out there about who the Republicans are going to run in 2028. There are a lot of people playing up Marco Rubio, and that’s no surprise. Why shouldn’t he add the job of president to the 62 other jobs on his 49-page résumé? He’s been a terrific Secretary of State, helping guide what’s arguably the most important transformation of American grand strategy since World War II as we shift away from Europe, redefine the Middle East, and pivot to face off against our pacing threat, China, in the Indo-Pacific. But he’s not going to be the Republican nominee in 2028, with an asterisk that we will follow up on below. The nominee will be JD Vance, with that same asterisk.
Why is it going to be JD Vance? Just because it is. Trump’s been hinting at that, and what he says goes in the GOP. JD is his vice president. He’s the logical guy. And he’s the guy everybody assumes it will be. Consensus matters. So, he’s going to be the guy. The base is happy with that. Just look at the polls. He’s usually way far ahead, often followed by Don Jr., who’s not going to run and who probably shouldn’t even be in the polling. Trailing him is Marco Rubio. And then there are some other candidates, like Ron DeSantis, Ted Cruz, and Tom Cotton, down below, none of whom are going to win the nomination this time, though some of them, like Ted Cruz, might actually run. I don’t know why he’d run, but he’s an appellate lawyer, and they think in weird ways. Let’s just say the 2028 GOP primary is going to be about as exciting and shocking as Mike Pence’s wedding night.
JD Vance is smart, he’s got a compelling story, and the base loves him. His big advantage is that he is the vice president. That’s also his big disadvantage. As a vice president to Donald Trump, he’s not merely playing second fiddle. Trump isn’t a first fiddle. He’s an entire orchestra. It’s easy to get lost in the glorious chaos. But Vance has been getting big jobs. Trump sent him to negotiate with the Iranians. I guess the mullahs thought they would roll him since he has a reputation for being less hawkish. They got nothing from him. Now, he’s got the fraud portfolio, and he’s making the most of that. Fraud is going to be a huge deal this election cycle and in future elections. While the Democrat Party is a cynical machine, most Americans are still pretty Puritan about the whole corruption thing, even the liberal ones. The Learing Center scam backlash hits at the heart of what Democrats do, which is take public money and divide it up among their various constituencies. Normal people don’t like that. They consider it graft, not just the way business is done. In other words, the entire Democrat business model is at risk, and Trump has handed Vance the potential for being the face of reform. Lots of politicians have made a name for themselves cleaning up corruption, and Vance, with his constant press conferences, understands that this is a way to build out an identity of his own.
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https://townhall.com/columnists/kurtschlichter/2026/05/25/the-2028-gop-nominee-is-going-to-be-jd-vance-probably-n2676587
