LEILA FADEL, HOST:
The results from the 2026 midterm election might still be getting finalized, but whether you're ready for it or not, the 2028 campaign is already beginning. And though it's early in this process, after last week's results, the path forward for some possible Republican candidates, like Vice President JD Vance, could be complicated. NPR White House correspondent Deepa Shivaram is with us now to discuss. Good morning, Deepa.
DEEPA SHIVARAM, BYLINE: Hi. Good morning.
FADEL: So we've heard from the vice president since these losses about what he sees as the reason the Republicans lost so badly. But has he made any public statements?
SHIVARAM: Yeah. So he hasn't done anything in public since election night. We are actually, though, expected to hear from him later today for an event on veterans' small businesses. But you're right. After the election, he did post a lengthy explanation on X that was sort of his take on why Republicans had such a bad night. Two big reasons, he says, is because of the war with Iran, which Trump started, and the U.S.' relationship with Israel. Hasn't been explicitly critical of the president, but it definitely highlighted some of the rhetorical differences between the way Vance has talked and engaged with voters about the high costs that came with the war versus the way Trump did.
On the campaign trail, Vance would acknowledge the pain that people were feeling from high costs because of the war. And in that post on X, he outright, you know, was saying that the war was a problem for Republicans. Trump has also said the war was a reason that Republicans lost, but he also says he has no regrets and would do it again. And that's a big difference between the two.
But overall, the post just shows how Vance is trying to figure out his political future here. And if he is running for president in 2028, he'll have to navigate gaining support from voters while also still doing his job as No. 2, standing with the president, even though the president and his decisions are really unpopular.
FADEL: Now, Republicans have tried to break from Trump in the past, and it never really worked. I mean, he's a figure with a certain popularity. But for 2028, given these losses, is there a chance to see a different approach from potential GOP contenders?
SHIVARAM: Yeah. I mean, this is Trump's last term as president. So it's possible that Republicans might try to move beyond the politics of Trump and try to do things in a non-Trumpcentric way for the first time since 2016, right? There are potential contenders, like Florida governor Ron DeSantis, who's a good example of someone trying to do that. The problem they're going to run into, though, is that during this 2028 campaign, Trump still has the megaphone. I talked to Joe Grogan about this. He was the former head of the Domestic Policy Council in the first Trump term.
JOE GROGAN: It's not just about winning the nomination. It's about charting a new course in the context where Trump still has the megaphone. And how do you take what is viewed as the successes of Trumpism and make it into your own voice? And then how do you walk away from policies that are viewed as unpopular or unpalatable and chart a different direction?
SHIVARAM: And that different direction might be kind of hard, especially for Vance, when his boss is, you know, let's say, someone who's not really open to criticism and demands loyalty.
FADEL: Yeah. And it's an ongoing problem that vice presidents have in politics. They end up having a lot of baggage based on the president they worked so closely with.
SHIVARAM: A hundred percent. That's the exact problem that Kamala Harris found herself in in 2024. One of her biggest missteps was staying too close to President Biden, not doing anything differently, saying that she would do anything differently. And now, as Harris weighs whether she's going to run again in 2028, she's having to try and reestablish her political identity. I will say that's not something Vance really, you know, has to do. He's someone who's been rejiggering his political identity for years. For example, he used to call himself a Never Trumper and once he started running for office, you know, took all that back.
FADEL: That's NPR's Deepa Shivaram. Thank you, Deepa.
SHIVARAM: Thanks.
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