With former President and current President-elect Donald Trump unable to run for the White House again in 2028, Vice President-elect J.D. Vance is heir to the America First movement and the Republican Party’s strong MAGA base. It seems that.
But while Vance, 40, is considered the frontrunner in the race for the next Republican presidential nomination, the chairman of the Republican National Committee is in line with the party’s traditional role of remaining neutral in open and contested presidential elections. He said he would firmly maintain the major.
“We will do that,” RNC Chairman Michael Whatley said in an interview on Fox News Digital.
Mr. Vance will have a very difficult time making it through the 2028 Republican presidential primary, as Mr. Trump’s support within the party has a firm grip on the next president.
RNC Chair spotlights President Trump’s role in 2026 midterm elections
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect J.D. Vance attend the 125th Army-Navy football game at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Maryland, on December 14, 2024. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
“We’re going to have four more years of Trump, and then we’re going to have J.D. Vance for eight more years,” Donald Trump Jr. said on the campaign trail in October.
The younger Trump, a strong ally of the vice president-elect, is extremely popular among the MAGA crowd.
“The vice president is going to sit in Knotweed, there’s no question about that,” longtime Republican consultant Dave Carney recently told Fox News Digital.
Mr. Carney, who has worked on numerous Republican presidential campaigns over the past 40 years, said Mr. Vance is “the man to beat.”
Vance is the Republican front-runner in 2028, but check out other potential candidates
David Kochel, another longtime Republican strategist with extensive experience in presidential campaigns, said Trump’s “size and scope” of the Electoral College and last month’s popular vote victory meant that Vance He said that he is the most likely candidate, and said, “It is implied that the torch will pass.” From Donald Trump. ”
Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) speaks at a campaign rally in Newtown, Pennsylvania, Monday, November 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
“There’s no shortage of people watching this, but most of the people watching this recognize Trump’s victory and the relative strength of the movement,” Kochel said.
However, Kochel said, “No one is going to follow J.D. Vance completely. There will be a contest. There always will be.”
“I’m very excited about the seats that exist within the Republican Party right now,” Whatley said in an interview a week after President Trump asked him to continue as RNC chairman.
“You think about all the Republican governors, all the Republican senators and congressmen, all the leaders around the country who have been involved in this campaign and will be part of the president’s cabinet,” he said. Added.
Whatley argued that the president-elect’s “America First movement is bigger than Donald Trump. He’s the tip of the spear. He’s the vanguard of this movement. But it’s a very big movement right now.”
RNC Chairman Michael Whatley said President-elect Trump has “completely reshaped the Republican Party.” We are now the party of the working class. ” (Peter Kramer/NBC via Getty Images)
“Donald Trump has completely reshaped the Republican Party. We are now the party of the working class. We are now the party of the working class. We are now able to communicate with all voters, work with all voters, “This is a party that speaks to people about the Republican Party.” So, as we move into 2028, we are in a great position to continue the momentum of this agenda and this movement. ”
Unlike its rival Democratic National Committee, which has upended the traditional presidential nominating calendar for the 2024 cycle, the RNC has not made any major changes to its primary lineup, with its first two contests in the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire. The primary was maintained.
Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley is interviewed by Fox News Digital at RNC Headquarters in Washington, DC on December 12, 2024 (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
When asked about the 2028 calendar, Whatley said, “I haven’t talked to anyone on our side who wants to change the calendar. I’m not aware of any Democrats doing that during this election cycle. “But I don’t know if it really helped them.” many. “
Click to get the FOX News app
“We’re very happy with the current calendar, but we’ll be having those conversations for 2028,” he added.
Paul Steinhauser is a political reporter based in New Hampshire.
Source link
