Vice President JD Vance is facing intense criticism on social media from fellow Republicans, which his allies say appears to be part of a coordinated effort to ruin his chances in the 2028 election, according to a Washington Post report published Friday.
“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,” wrote reporter Natalie Allison.
She continued, “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 [President Donald] Trump, Vance allies and critics say.”
Vance hasn’t confirmed that he will run for president but has been viewed as a potential heir to the MAGA movement. Trump himself said earlier this year that a 2028 Vance ticket, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio as his running mate, would be a “dream team.”
Support for Vance has been “dropping like a rock” among likely voters in New Hampshire’s Republican primary, however, CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten said Thursday, citing a new University of New Hampshire poll showing only 36% would vote for him if the election were held today, compared with 53% in February.
“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,” Allison wrote in the Post.
Vance made some major claims on the “Joe Rogan Experience” podcast last week, including that his administration “screwed up” and “mishandled” the release of files on Jeffrey Epstein — and that Israel is “manipulating” public opinion in the U.S. to prolong the ongoing Iran war.
Vance said there is a “very discreet, extremely well-funded campaign” that aims to poison U.S.-Iran negotiations to end the war. Trump’s “America First” base largely opposed Middle East entanglements during his 2016, 2020 and 2024 campaigns.
“Pro-Israel conservatives erupted,” Allison reported Friday. “A Washington Post analysis of conservative influencers’ posts on X found that criticism of Vance spiked immediately after his appearance on Rogan’s podcast … from prominent commentators including Ben Shapiro.”
A close Vance ally who spoke with the Post said it’s “obvious to anyone with an IQ above 70” that the slew of attacks is “totally inauthentic and probably coordinated to a certain extent.”
Alex Brandon/Associated Press
She said this view was “echoed” by two other people with knowledge of Vance’s strategy.
Jon Schweppe, a Vance supporter who previously worked for Trump’s Federal Trade Commission, told the Post that detractors are “trying to create a divide” between Vance and Trump and are waging a campaign to ensure he won’t be the GOP nominee in 2028.
“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 told the Post. “But it’s absolutely organized.”