There’s nothing the Washington press corps loves more than speculation. That’s probably because they’re not very good at being honest about the present. Making up scenarios about what may or may not happen in the future is much more fun, you see, and it never requires you to be correct.
So it comes as no surprise that a member of the press took something that President Trump said recently about his potential successor and turned it into high-stakes political drama for the GOP – namely, who’s it gonna be, Vice President JD Vance or Secretary of State Marco Rubio?
Vance was speaking at a news conference discussing the insane amounts of Medicaid fraud he and his team have found since Trump put him in charge of it, when he got the question about a potential Vance/Rubio ticket in 2028.
The answer was flawless:
“There are few topics that I want to talk about less than what office I’m going to run for years down the road, when I’m having a good time and trying to do good work in the job that the American people already elected me to do,” Vance said.
“I love Marco. I think he’s a great Secretary of State. He’s become a very, very dear friend. But I think both of us are very much focused on accomplishing the American people’s business right now.”
“If I was the American people, there are few things that I would hate more than a person who’s barely been in one office for a year and a half, who’s angling for a job two and a half years down the road. Let’s do a good job now. We are. We just got to keep at it.”
? JUST IN: JD Vance gives the PERFECT answer when asked about running for president in 2028 with Marco Rubio, showing exactly the kind of man he is
“I LOVE Marco!” ?
“But if I was the American people, there are a few things that I would hate more than a person who’s barely… pic.twitter.com/g3TtN6yiPU
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) May 13, 2026
It comes in mens and womens and lets your friends know you're happy to express your views and don't care what anyone thinks! Cheers!
His response quickly went viral, as it should have.
But that wasn’t the end of it. Not long after, another reporter pushed further asking the VP if he believes that Trump is “toying” with him and Rubio regarding a successor.
That answer was even more to the point:
“I just don’t think it sounds like the President of the United States to have a televised competition for who would succeed him as his apprentice,” Vance said.
“I think the president has always been fascinated by politics. If you talk to him, he was fascinated by politics 30 years before he ever ran for office, so I think it’s natural for him to joke around with us a little bit, to play around with the idea.”
“But I can tell you, the president is as focused as any of us on making sure we do as good of a job now for the American people.”
That statement shifted the entire speculation narrative — from a rivalry between Vance and Rubio to a media fixation that neither man is particularly interested in addressing at the moment.
Well done, Mr. Vice President, well done.
