WASHINGTON — Vice President JD Vance sized up some of his potential Democratic competition in 2028 Wednesday night, suggesting that “the dumbest candidate” between former Vice President Kamala Harris and California Gov. Gavin Newsom would get the party’s presidential nomination.
“I mean, look, the Democrats have a couple of big issues,” Vance told Fox News’ “Jesse Watters Primetime.”
“One is that they lean so far into wokeism that they can’t see the obviousness of the fact, which is that Kamala Harris is not qualified to be president of the United States. That’s why she got the vice presidential nomination [in 2020]. That’s why she got the presidential nomination [in 2024]. This is who Kamala Harris is.
“Now, the flip side is, I think you have an unbelievably corrupt and incompetent governor in Gavin Newsom,” Vance went on. “The fact that those are the two front-runners just suggest how deeply deranged the Democrat Party is. Let them fight it out, we’ll figure it out.”
Newsom and Harris are the top two Democratic contenders in a hypothetical nationwide primary, according to the RealClearPolitics polling average, with the Golden State governor getting 23.6% support and the ex-veep receiving 21.4% backing.
The New York Times reported last month that the relationship between the two Bay Area natives was tense, with the two needling each other over Newsom failing to return Harris’ call the day President Joe Biden ended his bid for a second term.
Ironically, the two were both sworn into their first high-profile office on Jan. 8, 2004, with Newsom becoming San Francisco’s mayor and Harris the city’s district attorney.
In contrast to the Democratic race, Vance is the runaway favorite to take the Republican standard in the next presidential election.
The RealClearPolitics polling average shows the VP with a 37.8 percentage-point lead over his closest hypothetical rival, Donald Trump Jr.
The 41-year-old has publicly said he intends to focus on the 2026 midterms, then sit down with President Trump to discuss the 2028 race after the Nov. 3 vote.
“They have nothing to actually run on or govern on,” Vance said of Democrats’ pitch to voters. “Their entire obsessive focus of that party is they hate Donald Trump. So if they ever get power, are they going to, you know, lower Americans’ taxes? No. Are they going to make your life more affordable? No. Are they going to solve the crime crisis? No.
“What they’re going to do is they’re going to spend all of their time and all of your money trying to get Donald Trump,” he added. “I think it’s ridiculous. I think it’s ridiculous that’s what they’re running on. But the American people are going to make this determination. I think the American people should vote for the people who want to make their life more affordable and want to make their neighborhoods safer. That’s what we’re trying to deliver every single day.”
Vance also waved off concerns about Democrats’ focus on affordability, despite polls indicating Trump is underwater on those kitchen table issues.
“No, I’m not worried about that for the simple reason that the cost-of-living crisis, and it is real for a lot of American families, was caused by the Democrats,” Vance said.
“We haven’t even been in office for a year and you’ve already seen prices start to come down. You’ve seen rent start to come down. You’ve seen groceries leveling off. Is there more work to do? Absolutely.”
