Although President Donald Trump has previously floated Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio as his heirs apparent in 2028, that plan is under threat as new Republicans mull a 2028 run, Newsweek reports.
Recent cracks in the MAGA base over the release of the files pertaining to late convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein and support of far-right influencer Nick Fuentes, among other things, may make it “difficult for Trump to rally his supporters around whoever he favors,” Newsweek explains.
And while Trump has previously floated the unconstitutional idea of running for a third term, that notion has been dismissed, and instead, he is “likely to attempt to cement his influence on U.S. politics by choosing a successor, and whoever follows him will be responsible for guiding the Republican Party through future elections and continuing MAGA policies and the president’s legacy,” Newsweek says.
A most recent poll by Polymarket shows Vance has a 56 percent chance of becoming the Republican nominee in 2028, while Rubio is a distant second, with an 8 percent chance. But now that others may enter the field, that could change.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), a former Trump loyalist turned foil, has dismissed rumors she will seek the presidency despite a most recent poll showing her chances improving.
Her odds, Newsweek reports, have increased from 2.7 percent in August to 4 percent in November, according to Polymarket.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), who has emerged as a vocal critic of Tucker Carlson, is also reportedly weighing a run, despite poor early polling in which he currently has 4 percent support, trailing Vance who polls at 42 percent according to a separate YouGov poll.
In that same poll, Trump’s eldest son Donald Trump Jr., came in distant second at 13 percent. Florida’s Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, whose 2024 presidential campaign was eviscerated by Trump, sits at 7 percent and Rubio is narrowly ahead of Cruz at 5 percent.
Calvin Jillson, a politics professor at Southern Methodist University in Texas tells Newsweek that Vance is still poised to be the frontrunner.
“The 2028 presidential race, with no incumbent in the fight, will likely draw at least a dozen contenders, maybe many more on the Democrat side. Though things could change in the coming months, Trump’s vice president, JD Vance, is a strong favorite for the Republican nomination” Jillson says.
“Rubio, Cruz, maybe Tucker Carlson, will wrestle him for it, but the question for Vance and Rubio is how they can stay close enough to Trump to win the nomination without staying so close that Trump’s baggage becomes theirs in the general election,” he adds.
Vance’s path to the nomination may not be smooth, though, Jillson says, adding that “only if the Trump administration founders will Cruz and Carlson become relevant. But if it happens, expect a cage match, as Trump might say, ‘like no one has ever seen before.’”
The post ‘Expect a cage match’: These Republicans threaten Trump’s succession plan appeared first on Raw Story.
