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Vance backs AOC
Vice President JD Vance said he believes Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will be the leading Democratic candidate for president in 2028 during an interview on “The Michael Knowles Show” released Tuesday.
“The Democratic representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York is the youngest candidate in the group”
Vance pushed back when the host argued conventional wisdom pointed more toward California Gov. Gavin Newsom, saying, “No, no.”
Vance also said, “I think it’s got to be AOC,” and he tied his view to what he described as Newsom’s comment to an audience full of black Americans about Vance being “low IQ, just like you.”
Asked by CNN about Vance’s comments, Ocasio-Cortez smiled and said, “I hope he is” the nominee.
Vance said the question of who leads the Democratic field would depend on where power is held in the party, contrasting Jon Ossoff with AOC.
Power, populism, and party
In the same CNN interview, Vance said, “I guess the question would be, ‘Who do you think really has the power in the Democratic Party?’” and he linked that to whether Wall Street and the left of center business community dominate or whether universities do.
Vance argued that if the answer is Wall Street and the left of center business community, then it would be Ossoff, and if it’s the universities, then it would be AOC.
Vance also said the Democrats are “just so dominated by the crazy people,” and he warned that Republicans should be more worried about economic populism.
The CNN report also described Trump’s recent focus on Democrats’ left flank, seizing on the electoral success of several democratic socialist candidates to claim the party was being taken over by “godless Communists.”
CNN reported that Donald Trump has openly mused about whether his vice president or Secretary of State Marco Rubio might succeed him.
2028 race already shaping
Other coverage framed the 2028 succession race as already underway, with Ouest-France describing early supporters of potential candidates appearing while the next presidential election is set for November 2028.
“Vice President JD Vance said that he believes Rep”
Ouest-France reported that Erika Kirk, widow of far-right activist Charlie Kirk who was assassinated on September 10 during an event on a university campus, expressed her support for Vice President JD Vance at the America Fest conference.
In that account, Kirk told the audience, “We will elect JD Vance, my husband’s friend, in the most resounding way possible in 2028,” as she led Turning Point USA’s annual conference opening speech.
The same Ouest-France piece said Donald Trump had been back for eleven months and that his project to “restore America’s greatness” was still in its early stages, according to an assessment he gave on Wednesday, December 17, 2025.
Separately, mezha.net reported that JD Vance told CNN that he would not accept conventional wisdom pointing to another candidate, and it quoted Vance saying, “No, no. I won’t accept that.”
