Jeff Kabaservice

Sam, in a way, Donald Trump has made the 2028 Republican presidential nomination part of his crowd routine.

He'll sort of say to a crowd, so what do you think?

Who should be the nominee?

Should it be Vance?

And then he'll hear the cheers there.

Yes.

Or how about Rubio?

I think he's just really doing it to sort of play up a bit of attention at this point.

It's really quite far out from 2028 and the nominating contest.

But on the other hand, you know, what Washington insiders call the invisible primary is already underway in both Republican and Democratic parties.

And you're starting to see some signs that different people are maybe jockeying for support for the nomination.

You know, he's suggested that Vance and Rubio do run on the same ticket.

Sometimes he'll say Rubio-Vance, sometimes he'll say Vance-Rubio.

But the reality is I don't think he or anyone else is committed to either of these potential candidates at this point.

For one thing, I think Donald Trump still, in his heart of hearts, harbours a desire that he could himself be the nominee.

So J.D.

Vance has had one of the more meteoric rises in American politics in recent decades.

I remember meeting him for the first time back around 2016, and he considered Donald Trump to be cultural poison akin to heroin.

He was an OG never-Trumper back then.

But, of course, he saw which way the political winds were blowing.