Jul 24, 2026
The GOP Clown Car
The vice president has faced a barrage of attacks recently that are unusual for their intensity and how early in the political calendar they are taking place.
As JD Vance prepares to make a decision about his 2028 plans, the vice president is facing a barrage of online attacks from within his party, criticism his allies say appears to be part of a coordinated attempt to poison the well for him politically.
His detractors have adopted the “Never Vance” slogan and flooded social media, especially over the past week, with attacks including claims that Vance is “unfit” to be vice president due to his efforts to negotiate a peace deal with Iran. They have asserted, without evidence, that Vance is making policy decisions not supported by President Donald Trump. They have likened him to former president Barack Obama and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont).
The sustained public hostility from Vance’s own side of the aisle is unlike that faced by other vice presidents in decades, both in intensity and in the early timing — two years before the party will choose its next presidential nominee. The unusual nature is a product of the central role that social media plays in today’s political discourse, as well as the high stakes as Republicans prepare to select a new standard-bearer after Trump, Vance allies and critics say.
Vance’s political team remains dismissive of the social media onslaught and its impact on Republican voters, believing that many of the attacks are not organic, a close ally of the vice president told The Washington Post — a sentiment echoed by two other people with knowledge of Vance’s strategy. The ally and other advisers spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.
Vance’s allies are keenly aware of and monitoring the online attacks, but his team says the criticism sends a signal to the conservative base that establishment Republicans and opponents they label as neoconservatives hate Vance. That, they say, could ultimately strengthen his standing in a GOP primary.
“Loud Washington establishment voices form an online cacophony,” said Steve Cortes, a conservative commentator supportive of Vance, “but they do not remotely represent the consensus views of Republican voters.”
Vance, whose brand of politics is populist and skeptical of foreign wars, has remained the front-runner in 2028 Republican primary polling. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the favorite of many more traditional, business-minded Republicans, has gained ground in recent months, however, although Rubio has insisted he will support Vance if he runs.
The knives have long been out for Vance within the GOP, since before Trump selected him as his running mate. At the time, hawkish donors and conservative media personalities lobbied for Trump to reject Vance in favor of Rubio or Doug Burgum, now secretary of the interior.
Polling of Republican voters shows Vance’s favorability within the party as roughly on par with Trump’s.
Intense criticism from some Republicans, largely over Vance’s foreign policy views, has ebbed and flowed since the start of the second Trump term. The criticism reached a first peak in the fall as neoconservatives and pro-Israel activists portrayed Vance as antisemitic for sympathizing with figures who expressed skepticism over the U.S. relationship with Israel. More recently, attacks ticked up again after Vance sat for a nearly three-hour interview July 15 on Joe Rogan’s widely watched podcast.
During the show, Vance described himself as a “reasonable moderate” in the debate over the U.S.-Israel relationship. He also cited a recent Time report about an online pro-Israel influence operation run by a former Trump campaign official, through which Vance said he was being attacked “in dishonest ways” by paid influencers.
“You know, my response to that is, ‘Well, go to hell,’” Vance told Rogan. “I’m going to do what I have to do for the American people. I represent Americans first, and that’s the way that I’ve tried to do this job.”
Pro-Israel conservatives erupted. A Washington Post analysis of conservative influencers’ posts on X found that criticism of Vance spiked immediately after his appearance on Rogan’s podcast.
Critical posts poured in from prominent commentators including Ben Shapiro, Marc Thiessen and Batya Ungar-Sargon, as well as online right-wing influencers and little-known X users whose anti-Vance posts quickly gained traction. Some of the users who pledged to oppose Vance and support Rubio in 2028 had profiles that strongly suggested they aren’t American voters and are based in other countries.
It was “obvious to anyone with an IQ above 70″ that the barrage of attacks has been “totally inauthentic and probably coordinated to a certain extent,” the close Vance ally said.
The upsurge in online criticism “hasn’t been reflected in any data correlating with Vance’s image among GOP voters, which currently tracks President Trump’s image to a T,” the person said. “If it were organic, authentic or effective,” Vance’s favorability rating with Republican voters would have cratered over the past nine months, since the intense online criticism first peaked, the person said. “And that just hasn’t happened.”
A spokesperson for the vice president said Vance’s only focus is “fighting for the president’s agenda and delivering wins for the American people,” and that he is not concerned with social media.
Vance allies have pushed back publicly against some of the attacks, at times calling attention to common language used among those posting insults.
Jon Schweppe, a Vance supporter and senior adviser at the American Principles Project, who worked for Trump’s Federal Trade Commission until earlier this year, posted a chart on X last week that showed the vice president’s favorability among Republicans had remained steady despite an “anti-Vance op.” His post quickly received dozens of replies from accounts that didn’t follow him — all attacking Vance. Schweppe described the response as curious, since his post had not been shared by any high-follower accounts.
“Primary season — I guess it’s beginning before the midterms this year,” Schweppe said, adding that Vance’s detractors are “trying to create a divide and separate him from the president.”
“There’s going to be folks within the party structure, within the influencer structure, who are going to try to knock him down a few pegs in hope that a challenger can emerge to beat him, and that’s just what we’re seeing,” Schweppe said. “But it’s absolutely organized.”
The intense focus on the vice president is unusual. Trump’s first vice president, Mike Pence, didn’t face intense backlash from Republicans until the final weeks of his term, as the president and his supporters blamed Pence for failing to act to overturn the 2020 election results. Before that, Pence had been widely liked by Republicans, with few prominent conservatives raising their heads to harshly criticize him.
For a significant stretch of her vice presidency, Kamala Harris faced a version of the succession anxiety now surrounding Vance. Democratic donors, strategists and commentators questioned whether her low favorability ratings, uneven political performance and widely reported management problems left her prepared to become president — an especially consequential concern given President Joe Biden’s age.
But there are significant differences: Vance is confronting a public, ideological revolt from prominent figures within the conservative coalition. The criticism of Harris, by contrast, generally was framed around competence and electability with jabs at what critics considered misstatements and gaffes. Few major Democratic figures publicly demanded that Biden remove her.
Marc Short, who served as chief of staff to Pence in the White House, acknowledged that the attacks against Vance are far more intense than what Pence endured for nearly four years in office — at least until Trump turned against him at the end of his term.
Pence, however, was adamant throughout that term not to show any distance between himself and Trump, even to staff or other Cabinet officials, Short said. Vance has at times signaled a different perspective regarding the war with Iran, he noted.
Trump has confirmed that Vance is “philosophically a little bit different” than him on Iran, and “maybe less enthusiastic about going” to war, although Vance has publicly expressed support for Trump’s decisions.
“I think that there’s been a difference in the way that the current team has made clear their policy differences,” Short said. “So I think that does create more scrutiny when you do that.”
For months, speculation has been building over who will inherit the Republican mantle after President Trump leaves office. The conversation has only intensified as Trump has quietly asked allies at dinners and closed-door meetings whom they prefer.
While it’s still early, here are our rankings for the Republican nomination.
JD Vance
The vice president, for now at least, is the heir apparent to Trump.
Most recently, he took the lead role in negotiations on a long-term peace deal with Iran that would curb that country’s nuclear ambitions. It was a war Vance was hesitant to have, allies have said, and the negotiations in recent days have been overcome by new fighting between the U.S. and Iran.
Last month, Vance released a new book, “Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith,” and subsequently appeared in a string of interviews further boosting his profile.
Vance remains the front-runner in all of the early polls, with one survey from Echelon Insights showing him leading Secretary of State Marco Rubio by 27 points. That, at least temporarily, put to rest any speculation that Rubio is the favorite among Republicans.
But it remains to be seen how the on-again, off-again war in Iran and inflation will translate in the 2028 election and how Vance will be tethered to them.
“There are a lot of factors,” one Republican strategist said. “How the war plays out, what the economy looks like in a couple of years, what the end of the Trump administration looks like, but also who Trump wants to carry his legacy.”
Marco Rubio
As secretary of State, Rubio has become one of the administration’s prominent voices on foreign policy, including the war in Iran and the U.S. military operation to capture former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.
But his stature in the administration and within the party has grown exponentially, and some say that would work in his favor if he chooses to launch a 2028 presidential bid.
While polling indicates Vance is on top of the field, there are some Republicans who say the secretary of State will emerge as the front-runner in due course, particularly for those who say the party will move away from the MAGA movement when the Trump administration ends.
“Certainly it feels like Marco is situated to have the best chance of victory come 2028, but here’s the question I ask: What’s the nomination worth?” one Trump ally said. “If the Democrats nominate a noncrazy, if they nominate a centrist, it may be tough for us after four years of Trump.”
Republican strategist Susan Del Percio agreed with that assessment.
“Rubio becomes the strongest candidate because people remember him before he was secretary of State, and while he has to be loyal to Trump, he has a record that precedes that,” she said.
Ted Cruz
The Texas senator has been eyeing the presidency since the 2016 race, and some say he could be a good alternative for Republicans who want something different from Vance and Rubio.
Since his first White House run, Cruz has built an impressive governing resume including serving as chair of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, where he has helped shape Republican policy on artificial intelligence and transportation issues.
He has also built a broader audience through his popular podcast, “Verdict,” providing him with a direct pipeline to his listeners across the country.
Still, Del Percio and other Republicans say while Cruz could at the very least launch an exploratory committee, it’s unlikely he’ll gain much traction.
“I don’t see it happening now, but it doesn’t mean it can’t,” Del Percio said.
Ron DeSantis
After losing the 2024 presidential campaign, the Florida governor lost some political capital. But he has been quietly building a story he could tell on the campaign trail if he does make another bid for the White House.
“Who took a state that had more Democrats than Republicans by 300,000 when he got elected and now has 1.5 million more Republicans? Who had a state that had a trillion-dollar economy and now has $1.8 trillion?” DeSantis said at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Los Angeles.
Asked at the conference if he would run in 2028, the governor replied, “You never know.”
But Republicans say the term-limited governor, who leaves office in January, won’t have a platform to command attention, so “he’s going to have to get creative,” one strategist said.
Donald Trump Jr.
While most Republicans say 2028 is really a race about two men — Vance and Rubio — early polls consistently show Trump’s eldest son in the top five of Republican contenders. And Republicans acknowledge that it makes sense.
“It’s still very much Trump’s party and voters want someone who is most like Trump, and so why not his own blood?” one strategist said. “You can’t dismiss him.”
Donald Trump Jr. has repeatedly said he has no plans to run in 2028, but he does remain among the most influential voices in the MAGA movement through both endorsements and his loud megaphone on social media.
Sarah Huckabee Sanders
The Arkansas governor and former White House press secretary has been seen for some time as a presidential hopeful — particularly by those who would like to see a woman at the top of the ticket.
Republicans say she can point to her education overhaul in Arkansas that increased pay for teachers, as well as her income tax cuts in her state.
But Sanders has been hesitant to say she’s interested in wading into 2028 waters, saying she is focused on her state.
Asked by Politico about the 2028 race, she said, “It would be a mistake to focus on ’28 until we get finished with the ’26 midterms.”
That Stupid War
Total hubris.
Donald Trump unleashed a series of expletives in an explosive rant about his war in Iran during a recent Oval Office meeting, according to those who overheard the tirade
Donald Trump flew into an expletive-laden rant in the Oval Office as he increasingly loses patience over the war he started in Iran, according to someone who overheard the angry meltdown.
The 80-year-old president, whose marriage to Melania is at its lowest point due to a 'disturbing' reason, initially said the war would be over in a matter of weeks, but the conflict is now close to entering its fifth month with no end in sight. As Trump's attempts to wind down the war continuously fail, his anger reportedly bubbled over during a recent Oval Office meeting.
The president launched into a raging tirade against Iran's leaders, referring to them as "scumbags" and "lunatics," while also spitting out a series of expletives during the White House meeting, a person who heard the comments told The Wall Street Journal. It comes after Trump's 'diaper nurse' left devoted letters to the president in his room with intimate messages.
Trump, who was slammed for a 'disgusting' act towards the families of dead US soldiers, has been attempting to end his war, which has cost the lives of 18 US service members and sent gas prices soaring, for months.
In April, he announced a ceasefire in the conflict, and in June he said the US and Iran had signed a memorandum of understanding to reopen the Strait of Hormuz after claiming for months that he was close to a deal with Iran.
But both of those agreements have crumbled, with fighting quickly resuming. American forces carried out their 13th consecutive night of strikes against Iran, the US military confirmed early Friday.
As renewed fighting reignites global economic chaos and results in the deaths of more American soldiers, Trump has grown increasingly doubtful that he will be able to produce lasting peace by negotiating with Iran, people familiar with the matter said.
The president, whose 'backup Trump' was spotted waiting behind him in shocking footage, is convinced that Iran only understands military force, and he is now in "revenge mode" against Tehran, according to a senior administration official. Trump sees continuing strikes as one of the few good options he has left, the official said.
At the same time, some of the president's advisors are reportedly concerned that the Iran war is consuming Trump's presidency and tarnishing Republicans ahead of the upcoming midterms they are already worried about their prospects in.
Despite the unpopularity of the war in the US and the widespread damage it has caused in Iran and to the global economy, the latest round of fighting has no clear off-ramp. The conflict has flared again over the past week, as the US has pounded Iran while Tehran has attacked ships in the Strait of Hormuz and targeted US assets and allies in the region.
The strait, which is a crucial passage for the world’s energy supplies, is at the center of the latest fighting since Iranian attacks can effectively shut the waterway, sending fuel prices soaring worldwide and causing widespread economic turmoil.
The Iranian-allied Houthi rebels added further pressure this week by targeting two Saudi tankers in the Red Sea, making good on a threat to cut off an alternative route for the region’s oil. Iran’s Health Ministry said 55 people have been killed and over 600 wounded in strikes in recent weeks, as fighting escalated.
As the US has bombed Iran, Tehran has targeted several countries in the region that host American troops. Bahrain sounded sirens twice on Friday; there were no immediate reports of damage. Brent crude, the international standard, topped $100 a barrel in the wake of the latest round of attacks, though it has since come down.
Belle
Like pretty much everything Republicans do these days, their push for "legislation" is little more than "Let's pull some shit that makes the rubes think we're trying to do something useful, but is really just the usual fuckery intended to make Democrats look bad, and keep us on the gravy train for a while longer."
Jul 23, 2026
Mr Global
The triple whammy:
- The Strait of Hormuz is closed
- The Bab el-Mandeb is closed
- Russia's main oil hub at Novorossiysk is closed
Some very important arteries of world trade - particularly, but not limited to, oil - are being strangled.
The ships can make it through the Suez Canal, but the canal is too shallow to accommodate the big ones, so they have to go half full or the shippers have to down size their boats.
Delivery to Asian customers will take an extra 40 days, and the shippers are sending half the volume to customers who aren't lowering their demand.
Again:
How is this not being leveraged by Democrats to push harder for a conversion away from The Dirty Fuels Cartel?
Lucas Bean
Confirming that you have to draw them out of the cult. Trying to yank them out usually just strengthens their resolve to remain.
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