Justin Webb

Marco Rubio vs. J.D. Vance. Who is the current favorite between them to replace Donald Trump at the top of the Republican ticket in 2028? Well, there is news, not only about the relative balance of those two, but also potentially questions about other people coming to the fore. So we're going to talk a bit about that. Plus, Democrats have suffered a really big blow in their hopes to regain control of Congress. It's because of a court ruling in Virginia. Why does it matter so much?

We'll be talking about that too. Answering your questions. Welcome to America Answers.

Hello, it's Justin in the worldwide headquarters of AmeriCast in London, England. And it's Anthony here in my home in Arlington, Virginia. And we are not joined this time round by Matt Chorley, who's doing other things. So Anthony and I are going to answer your questions just between the two of us to the extent that we can, which means he will answer them very well and I'll do my best. Anthony, let's start with this business of the Republican succession, because it is something that is increasingly on people's minds. And we've had this question about 2028 and what happens.

So Gorek in Malaga in Spain says, you guys are always on about possible democratic candidates. What about the Republicans? Will it boil down to a contest between JG Vance and Marco Rubio? Will there be a strong candidate out of left field? Will Trump anoint anyone? And on a side note, Gorek asks, how significant is it that both Vance and Rubio are practicing Catholics?

in a country which culturally seems predominantly Protestant. Thank you, he says. Before we get to that question, let's hear from both of them, from Rubio and from Vance, because they've both gone viral in the last week or so. Though Vance, not for very happy reasons for him, Rubio, much the opposite. He was very much doing well. So let's hear JD Vance stumbling a bit and then

Niin, ja Senaattisessa hän ei oikeastaan tehnyt niin hyvin, eikö hän? Hän meni loppuun, mutta hän ei tehnyt niin hyvin kuin hän varmasti pitäisi olla tehnyt Senaattisessa rauhassa. Toisaalta hän on jotain kysymyksiä siitä, millaisia poliittisia taitoja hän on. Ja toivottavasti vicepresidentin rauhassa hän oli Trumpin tikkissa, joten hän on elänyt tai on pahannut Trumpista. Ja Rubio, minun mielestäni...

Sinä mainitsit, että hän meni vuonna 2016. Hän tuli pummeltuna vuonna 2016, eikö hän? Yksi Donald J. Trump. Ja luulen, että silloin itse asiassa tuntui, että se on loppu Rubion kanssa. Hän on erittäin kestävä.

Eikö hän ole? Ja sinä ymmärrät, onko hän itse asiassa hieman parempi käsityksestä kuin J.D. Vance. Hän on hieman suurempi henkilö, hieman parempi henkilökohtaisesti, mutta itse asiassa hän voi olla hieman vahvempi.

Yeah. J.D. Vance, meanwhile, is in a difficult spot, isn't it? Because it's pretty obvious he doesn't really approve of the Iran war, and he needs to make people aware of that, but at the same time he needs to be loyal to the president that he's serving under, etc., etc. And what that does to his...

Yleensä voidaan ajatella, että hän olisi se, jota hän anointoi, vaikka voidaan puhua hieman siitä, kuka Trumpi anointoi, mikä oli hyvin hyvä kysymys. Jos hän ajatteli, että hän olisi ollut sellaisessa positiivisessa, niin viimeiset tapahtumat eivät ole hänestä mitään hyötyä, eivätkö he? Kuten se asia, jota puhuimme aiemmin, että hän on Kamala Harrisin positiivisessa, niin sinä olet hyvin yksinkertaisesti yhdistynyt johonkin, joka voisi mennä poliittisesti.

And the other part of the question about them both being Catholics. Interesting that, isn't it? And in a still largely Protestant country. I mean, there is this strand, isn't there, on the broader American right, where Catholicism is very much part of what is absolutely in fashion, if I put it like that. They're not out of the mainstream of religion.

right wing thinking, which is enormously associated with the Catholic Church, although it's worth saying not necessarily with this particular pope. But in the wider nation, does it matter one way or the other, do you think, when it comes to either of them being the actual candidates?

What about other people? Because that was also part of the question, wasn't it? The idea that it's not necessarily those two, which of course again we've discussed a little bit in the past. We're obviously going to turn to it much more in the future, but the questioner rightly saying we concentrate on quite a range of Democrats. We've only really talked about those two on the Republican side and there could well be

Itse asiassa meillä on kysymys Huen Cheshiresta, jossa kysymys on, että voisiko marjori Taylor Green olla hyväksynyt vicepresidenttiin? Voiko hän vahvistaa ristiriitaa diehard MAGA-ympäristöjen ja moderatiivisten republikaanien välillä? Hän oli tietenkin suuri Trumpin ympäristö, joka sitten meni siitä, ja on nyt lähtenyt kongressiin. Hän on hyvin yllättänyt häntä, ja hän on hyvin yllättänyt häntä. Minusta on toisia ihmisiä, eikö niin?

Se on todella mielenkiintoista Donald Trumpin junioreista, eikö? Jos se on hän, ajattelemme, että isä häntä tuottaa, ja perhe ja kaikki rahaa menevät hänelle. Siinä on oikeastaan vain ruumi, jota olisin ajatellut, toisella puolella, eikö? Jos osallistuu puolueille, joissa joku voisi mennä kohdennettomaksi kandidaattori, joka uskoo, että tällaiset prinsipuolet ovat tulevaisuus republikaan puolueen, niin on Trumpin puolue, joka on perhe-puolue.

Just a final thought on this, before we get to other questions, Anthony. The other thing that Rubio did at that press conference, I mean, in a sense is not impressive, because it's a language that he knows, but he gave one answer, didn't he, or part of one answer in Spanish. And I did wonder when he was doing that, if there's one constituency of people,

who were incredibly positive about Trump last time round, probably made the difference in a way to him winning, but have gone very, very cold on him in the period since they took him over the edge last time round. It's Hispanics and people who naturally, not necessarily would conduct their daily lives in Spanish, but they're certainly approachable in Spanish. And it's interesting that he, of course, was just reminding us that that's a language he can converse in.

ja joku, joka voisi kapitalisoida sitä ja yhteyttäisemmin. Ehkä J.D. Vance, joka on imigratiohjelmassa, voisi. Mennään Suomalaisuuden päätöksentekoon Virginiaan. Tämä ei ole Suomalainen päätöksentekoon. Tämä on Virginiaan suomalainen päätöksentekoon, joka on tehty päätöksiä, joita en ole varma, että näin nähtiin tulevaisuudessa. Tämä on potentiaalisesti hyvin huonoa asiaa demokraatille, eikö niin? Haluan kertoa sinulle, Anthony, mitä tapahtui ja mitä he sanoivat.

What difference does that make nationally then, Anthony? Are we saying now that they're, I don't know, less likely to take the House? Because you mentioned California. They've still got the California ones in the bag, haven't they? And the Republicans have got the Texas ones in the bag. How does it balance out?

Yes, so on the subject of that second of these two decisions, so separate decisions, you've got the Virginia State Supreme Court and you've also got, you've just been telling us about the Supreme Court, the actual Supreme Court decision on the Voting Rights Act and we've had an interesting question about that.