Gov. Glenn Youngkin of Virginia said on Sunday that Vice President JD Vance would be a “great, great presidential nominee,” adding his voice to the growing number of prominent Republicans who have pointed to Mr. Vance as a likely 2028 nominee and successor to President Trump.
Mr. Youngkin, whose term ends in less than a week, has often been floated as a future presidential contender himself. But in an interview on “Fox News Sunday,” the governor sidestepped questions about his political future and instead praised Mr. Vance.
“I agree with President Trump, I agree with Marco Rubio: I think Vice President Vance would be a great nominee,” Mr. Youngkin said.
As Republicans begin to contemplate a future after Mr. Trump, who is constitutionally ineligible to run for re-election in 2028, some in the party have begun lining up behind Mr. Vance as the heir to his MAGA movement. Mr. Rubio, Mr. Trump’s secretary of state and a 2016 presidential candidate, has ducked questions about his possible White House aspirations and praised Mr. Vance.
And Erika Kirk, the widow of the conservative activist Charlie Kirk, endorsed Mr. Vance at a Turning Point USA event last month, promising that she would help “get my husband’s friend JD Vance elected for 48 in the most resounding way possible,” referring to the 48th president.
Still, the glowing words for the vice president from Mr. Youngkin and Mr. Rubio — offered many months before the Republican presidential primary race ramps up — do not rule out future campaigns against him. And Republicans may be loath to be perceived as stepping out of line and undermining Mr. Trump’s most obvious successor at this early juncture.
Pressed twice by Jacqui Heinrich, the Fox News interviewer, about whether he would run for president, Mr. Youngkin did not offer a direct answer.
“As I’ve said, I’m finishing,” Mr. Youngkin replied, referring to the end of his term. “I think the most important thing we can do, just like Vice President Vance said recently, is stay focused on the here and now.”
Kellen Browning is a Times political reporter based in San Francisco.
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