With the US midterm elections a month away, the Republican Party appears to be struggling, and vice-president JD Vance and GOP senator Ted Cruz are publicly feuding over who will lead the party in 2028. According to polling, Vance is the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination in 2028, but he is also one of the least popular vice-presidents in history, according to CNN analyst Harry Enten.
Public Spat Over Party Direction
Cruz told MS Now in August that Vance was not a shoo-in for the nomination, saying the party was still figuring out the best candidate and needed "to decide who we are, what do we believe". In response, Vance said in an interview with NBC News on Friday: "It is really obvious to me that, at this very moment, Ted Cruz is running for president. At this moment, I'm not. I'm trying to help elect Republicans."
Cruz denied he was thinking about 2028 yet and suggested Vance may have a chip on his shoulder. "In my experience, people engage in political bomb-throwing when they're feeling insecure," Cruz told Politico on Saturday. "So he's welcome to make whatever comments he likes."
Past Controversies and Memes
The article recalls Cruz's past controversies, including fleeing to Cancún during record-breaking freezing temperatures in Texas, and his official Twitter account "liking" a pornographic tweet, which was described as "a staffing issue, and it was inadvertent". A 2016 poll found that 10% of voters in Florida thought Cruz was the Zodiac killer, and 28% were not sure.
Vance has also been the subject of viral rumours about having sexual relations with a couch, which were completely unfounded. Both men have had similar journeys regarding Trump: in 2016, Cruz called Trump a "serial philanderer" and a "pathological liar", while Vance wondered if Trump was "America's Hitler". Now, Vance is vice-president and Cruz is a staunch Trump ally.
Potential Trump Dynasty
MS Now's Rachel Maddow thinks the president may install a family member as his successor. "If he wants [his family] to not end up in jail or prosecuted or having their … gains investigated … he's got to make sure that the next president is also a Trump," Maddow said on a recent podcast. Trump himself has said "there could be" a Trump dynasty and seemed to suggest his daughter-in-law Lara may be his successor.
