Ex-GOP says one of Trump's closest aides has made himself unelectable

U.S. President Donald Trump uses a gavel after signing the sweeping spending and tax legislation, known as the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act," at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 4, 2025. REUTERS/Leah Millis TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

A former adviser to the last Republican president, George W. Bush, argued on Wednesday that the current Republican president, Donald Trump, has become politically toxic to one of his potential successors, Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

“Marco Rubio will never, ever be the President of the United States, but because of the terribleness of [Vice President] JD Vance, he has become sort of a flavor of the month,” Steve Schmidt said in a Substack post. “And because of the corruption of the corporate media, Marco Rubio is taken and treated seriously. He's treated like a statesman.”

Schmidt elaborated on this opinion by drawing from a recent Rubio interview with CBS Evening News anchor Tony Dokoupil, who Schmidt called "the clown anchorman ... whose ratings are in a state of collapse at the network destroyed by Bari Weiss.” Schmidt added that, although Rubio’s supporters say he has done well in handling American foreign policy, the former Florida senator in fact does not have a particularly robust foreign policy portfolio.

“At the end of the day, Marco Rubio, the Secretary of State, is not leading the negotiations in Pakistan — JD Vance is,” Schmidt said. “And he's accompanied by the President's son-in-law, who may be one ... of the most corrupt individuals in the history of the country. ... These men are raking in billions in corrupt acts around the globe and they're leading the negotiations. The man who the Saudis deposited $2 billion of cash into his investment fund despite him having no investment experience.”

He concluded, “The overlord of the Gaza Peace Project, Jared Kushner — and Marco Rubio, subordinated to them, doesn't like being called out on it.”

Schmidt’s monologue existed in the context of Trump reportedly pitting Vance and Rubio against each other as potential successors in the 2028 presidential election.

“Every now and then, while talking to officials in the Oval Office, with friends over dinner, or on the patio at Mar a Lago, President Trump pauses and muses aloud about a subject quietly captivating the Republican Party,” The New York Times reported earlier this month. “What do you think? JD or Marco?”

Citing multiple sources with inside knowledge of the White House, the Times added that “Mr. Trump’s advisers say he is simply having fun polling people, and that 2028 is not at the top of his mind at all. Still, it would be hard for Mr. Trump to ignore that lately, the two men he refers to as ‘kids’ are taking on bigger profiles as the midterm elections approach.”

Despite these reports, Vance and Rubio reportedly get along and the Secretary of State has pledged to support the Vice President if he runs for president. As Rubio told Vanity Fair last year, “if JD Vance runs for president, he’s going to be our nominee, and I’ll be one of the first people to support him.”

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