Political analyst Mark Halperin said Tuesday that Vice President-elect JD Vance’s willingness to conduct interviews across a variety of platforms gives him “a huge advantage” over other possible 2028 presidential contenders.
Vance participated in interviews on CNN, CBS News, NBC News, a New York Times podcast and comedians Theo Von and Joe Rogan’s podcasts during the 2024 campaign. Halperin, on “The Morning Meeting,” suggested Vance should continue leveraging media appearances as vice president, noting other potential candidates generally lack his competence.
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“I think one of the smartest things JD Vance could do to consolidate his position … is to go on those shows regularly. He can do it. He can develop personal relationships with those people, and people in the media, contrary to popular perception, are human beings,” Halperin said. “And if the vice president of the United States is stopping by your podcast every month and giving you time, you’re gonna be favorably disposed towards that person.”
“And again, unlike [Vice President] Kamala Harris, I don’t think there’s a show in America JD Vance would turn down by saying, ‘You know, I can’t do it,’ or, ‘I’m worried about the reception I’d get.’ That’s a huge advantage for him,” he continued. “And if you look at the other people who are talked about as potential presidential candidates in both parties, [Democratic Pennsylvania] Governor Shapiro has been going on Fox News. He’s pretty confident about going places. The others, less so, and their performance level is just not that great.”
Harris did not appear on “The Joe Rogan Experience,” unlike President-elect Donald Trump and Vance. Second gentleman Doug Emhoff’s senior adviser Jennifer Palmieri asserted on Nov. 13 that “some of” the Harris campaign’s “progressive staff” opposed the vice president appearing on the show due to concerns of potential “backlash,” the Financial Times reported.
“I hear all the time from people who aren’t that into politics when they’re talking about moments from the campaign that are resonant for them, for Donald Trump, it’s positive moments going on different podcasts, particularly the alternative ones,” Halperin added. “And for Kamala Harris, it’s going on ‘The View’ and saying ‘nothing comes to mind.’”
Harris told “The View” co-hosts in October that “not a thing comes to mind” regarding how she would govern differently than President Joe Biden, receiving widespread criticism.
Former CNN political analyst Chris Cillizza speculated Monday about the possibility of Donald Trump Jr. running for president in 2028. He suggested that Trump Jr. could inherit his father’s “political movement” rather than Vance due to the president-elect’s family loyalty and his son’s political talent.
“Look, I just think there will be an attempt at some point to hand off Trumpism, and Donald Trump will want to be in control of that handoff,” Cillizza said. “And the fact that his eldest son is standing right there, is someone who has shown that he gets the MAGA base in a way very few Republicans do, who has shown that he, in his own right, is extremely popular online, who gets the kind of social media trolling that goes hand in hand with being a Trump supporter, that he is related by blood to Donald Trump — these are all things that I think you cannot rule out Don Jr. of running in 2028.”
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