JD Vance was cornered by a reporter who quizzed him about whether Donald Trump was using the GOP leadership contest to “toy” with him.
Vance, 41, and his political “best friend,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio, 54, are seen as the top two heirs apparent to succeed the president as the leader of the Republican Party and to lead the 2028 presidential ticket.
But with Rubio part of Trump’s delegation in China, Vance appears to have slipped back into second place in the running. A reporter grilled him on the power struggle during a press conference designed to promote his new anti-fraud task force on Wednesday.
CNN’s Kit Maher asked why the president has a habit of polling people on whether they prefer Vance or Rubio. “Why do you think he does that?” asked Maher. “Do you think it’s a little bit of toying with you both over your succession? Why do you think he brings that up?”
“Well, 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 joked, using humor to mask the serious nature of the question before sarcastically adding: “I just think that’s not at all what you would expect the president to do.”
He then adopted a more serious tone. “But no, look, I think the president, he’s 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,” he explained. “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.”
Newsweek White House correspondent Leonardo Feldman was the first to ask the question. Vance, who exclaimed, “Oh, man,” added, “There are a few things I want to talk about less,” and heaped praise on his “very dear friend” Rubio.
Earlier, Vance even admitted he feels lonely in the White House.
He was also at pains to remind reporters that it was only protocol that prevented him from joining the president for the bilateral talks.
“So as you know, the president just landed in China a few hours ago. I always, you may know that because of Secret Service protocols that I don’t travel outside of the country with the president of the United States,” Vance began, before comparing himself to the much-loved movie character Kevin McAllister.
“So on days like today, I sometimes feel like Macaulay Culkin in Home Alone. I walk into the White House, and it’s very quiet, and no one’s there, and it takes me a second to realize exactly what’s going on.”
Vance’s remarks come after Trump polled attendees of a dinner at his “Rose Garden Club” on the matter. Trump, speaking to an audience gathered for Police Week at the White House, decided to hold an impromptu popularity contest between Vance and Rubio.
“Who’s it going to be? Is it going to be JD? Is it going to be somebody else? I don’t know. Does anybody have—OK, let’s go. You ready?“ he began.
“Who likes JD Vance?” he asked. A solid round applause for the vice president, who was among those in attendance, followed. Trump later described it as “big.”
“Who likes Marco Rubio?” he followed up. Trump’s mention of the secretary of state, who was not present, generated a lighter round of applause, which he called “very nice.”
“All right, sounds like a good ticket,” Trump responded. This performance seems to be a version of what the president has been doing privately. Trump, CNN reported last month, has been asking friends and advisers to compare and contrast the two men.
Although Vance emerged as the winner of the CPAC straw poll in March, Rubio has made gains of late. Trump sent Rubio—not Catholic convert Vance—to the Vatican to meet with Pope Leo XIV last week. Rubio also got the nod when he filled in for White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt for last Tuesday’s press briefing.
