Game-changing events could reset the 2028 Republican ‘The Apprentice’ nomination

The official start of the 2028 presidential election cycle is just four months away. Yet the race for the Republican nomination already feels stale and boring with only two choices: Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

This week, insider reports say Trump is favoring Vance, though neither is very popular.

Last month, two national polls showed Vance leading Rubio, 42 percent to 15 percent, among Republican primary voters. An end-of-June poll found Vance at 35.4 percent, compared with Rubio’s 16.5 percent. No other prospective primary candidates reached double digits.

Equally revealing was a mid-June Navigator Research study asking registered voters about “favorability.” Vance earned 52 percent unfavorable, compared to Rubio’s 40 percent. Although Trump stood at 58 percent unfavorable, given his dominance over the Republican Party and the MAGA voter base, expect the president to play a leading role in determining the unlucky winner of the first post-Trump-era GOP nomination.

“Unlucky” because Trump will gleefully, strategically, and artfully create situations that test Vance’s and Rubio’s loyalty to him and his policies. Inevitably, watch them dodge the roadblocks and hand grenades Trump throws into the primary race. Trump is already doing that, as a Hill headline last month read, “Trump jokes he’ll blame Vance if Iran deal doesn’t work out.”

In May, Vance defended Trump’s proclivity for fostering a succession rivalry between Rubio and himself, saying, “I just don’t think it sounds like the President of the United States to have a televised competition for who would succeed........

© The Hill