Attendees pray during AmericaFest, the first Turning Point USA summit since the death of Charlie Kirk, in Phoenix, Arizona, U.S. December 20, 2025. REUTERS/Cheney Orr
The Republican Party continues to face significant headwinds in planning a future without Donald Trump, as a new report from Politico Friday found that young Republicans are not happy with the president's most likely 2028 successor.
While nothing is official this far out from the next presidential race, and even though Trump has mused occasionally about an illegal third term, Vice President JD Vance has generally been viewed as the most likely Republican nominee in 2028. Despite this notion, Vance presents a serious conundrum for the party moving forward, as poll after poll has found him to be considerably unpopular with voters of nearly all stripes.
This is especially true for younger, Gen Z Republican voters. On Friday, Politico released the findings of a focus group conducted among "nine young men who supported Trump in 2024," revealing major discontent with Vance as a hypothetical 2028 nominee, citing his connection with the failures of the second Trump administration and with the Washington D.C., establishment.
"I feel like it’s just time for someone new, especially for the Republican Party,” Alexandre M. of Maryland said. This participant was particularly bothered by Trump’s handling of the Epstein files, and suggested that this would represent major baggage for the Vice President, “because JD Vance was also pushing that as well."
Another voter, Sam Z. of Minnesota, argued that due to his unpopularity, Vance would not be electable in 2028, an election where the GOP will already be on the back foot in the face of voter revolts against Trump.
"I don’t think Vance can win, because I think he’s too connected to the current political establishment in Washington, which I think has a very negative approval rating right now,” they explained. “If you look at what he was about in 2018, 2019, 2020, and you look at what he’s about now, it’s very, very different… Somebody younger running in office would be awesome. So that’s the one thing I wouldn’t mind for Vance. But overall, I just don’t think [he] can win. I think he’s kind of flip-flopped on a lot of issues."
When pressed for who they might like to see run for the nomination, the focus group put forward a few different names: Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton and Florida gubernatorial candidate James Fishback.
When asked who would be in favor of Vance's 2028 candidacy, only one of the nine participants raised their hand, according to Politico. Later on, this participant said that, despite raising their hand, they were actually unsure about Vance, though they did note that his experience as Vice President would give him an edge.