NYT columnist drops scorched-earth takedown of 'ridiculous' 2028 GOP field

The GOP is lining up a number of "ridiculous" presidential hopefuls for 2028, according to one prominent New York Times columnist, who argued that these potential candidates show how the party has failed to learn the real "lesson of Trump" from his 2016 victory.

In the latest analysis video shared to his personal YouTube channel, columnist Jamelle Bouie reiterated his belief that Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth are "ridiculous" as 2028 GOP contenders, incapable of recreating Trump's appeal to voters. Vance, in particular, he lambasted as a "sweaty and pathetic" figure in the Trump administration who has "no juice" when it comes to politics.

"I have a lot of contempt for those two guys, and I just don't think their presidential ambitions are going to go very far," he summed up.

Bouie noted, however, that this is often countered by others who warn not to laugh off certain GOP hopefuls, given that many laughed off Trump's chances in 2016. This, he argued, misses the point of what Trump actually had in his first presidential race.

"I think that's wrong. I think that is the wrong conclusion to draw from Trump's political success," Bouie said. "I think a lot of people who didn't think Trump could win did so because they could not see his appeal. They looked at him, and they said, 'How could this guy possibly get any traction?' And they're taking that lesson that they were wrong about that and applying it now to every Republican you might run. But the lesson of Trump isn't actually that you should never dismiss anyone's chances ever when it comes to, say, winning a Republican primary. The lesson of Trump is to take seriously what voters are telling you about the people they say they like. Take seriously that that person might have real political skills and talent, and Donald Trump clearly did."

Trump, he explained, had spent decades prior to his 2016 campaign, becoming ubiquitous to many as an American cultural figure, first as a mass media symbol of success in the 80s and 90s, and then as a game show host with The Apprentice in the 2000s. By the time he announced his candidacy in 2015, he already had a pre-established base of supporters who believed, however misguidedly, that he was a strong businessman with outsider political potential.

"All of those things together made him a truly formidable opponent," Bouie said. "It's understandable that it was hard to see because he was and is a buffoon and an idiot and a bigot, but nonetheless, those are real political assets. And that's the reason to have not dismissed Trump."

He added further: "Does any Republican right now have anything comparable to that? Absolutely not. Does any Republican right now even have the kind of popular base and support that could allow them to challenge Trump? Let's say Trump endorses someone else and they want to win. Could they do anything to stand against Trump? Probably not."

Hegseth, he noted, also has the downside of presiding over the Iran war, "quite possibly the most consequential strategic defeat in American history."

"That is not a guy who wins a presidential nomination," Bouie argued. "You don't generally win elections having lost wars. Very hard to do... Vance is the vice president, which gives him a huge leg up against any competitor. Vice presidents very often do win nominations. But as I said before, Vance has no juice. In the one election he's run in, he ran pitifully behind every Republican statewide and was dragged across the finish line by Donald Trump."