JD Vance suffers body blow to his presidential hopes

Any hope that Vice President JD Vance may have harbored about replacing President Donald Trump in the Oval Office suffered a devastating setback on Thursday morning.

According to a report from The Hill, Vance, who has always suffered from likability problems within his own party, would lose to most of the Democrats predicted to be the opposing nominee in 2028.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio performed slightly better than Vice President Vance in multiple hypothetical 2028 presidential matchups against Democratic candidates, according to a new Emerson College and The Hill survey.

In five matchups against Democrats, Rubio outperformed Vance in all but one. Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg held a 5-point edge against both Republicans.

Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) and California Gov. Gavin Newsom both held 5-point leads over Vance, though their respective advantages over Rubio were 3 and 2 points. Former Vice President Kamala Harris held a 49-45 edge over Vance. Rubio, however, led Harris by 5 points.

Progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) trailed Vance by 2 points and Rubio by 5 points. Ocasio-Cortez was the only candidate to lose to both Republicans, The Hill is reporting.

The report added, "At least 6 percent of the 1,000 respondents were undecided in every matchup, with as many as 11 percent undecided in a hypothetical bout between Vance and Ocasio-Cortez."

Vance indicated in June that he will discuss a potential presidential run with his wife, Second Lady Usha Vance, after the November midterms.

While Trump has not publicly expressed a preference between Vance and Rubio for 2028, The Washington Post reported earlier this month that he recently told donors, "At the end of the day, we need to elect JD." Trump later said it was "way too early to even be thinking about that."