Kilmeade, Hume say Vance ‘not as popular as he thinks he is’ ahead of 2028
There's something telling about Kilmeade and Hume, both fixtures at Fox, openly second-guessing a sitting vice president's standing with the party. Vance's whole political identity is built on being Trump's loyal soldier, and that served him well in 2024. But the 2028 calculation is different. Republican primary voters may reward that loyalty while Trump is still the dominant figure, or they may decide they want someone who can win the general election without the baggage.
I'd want to see the polling behind Kilmeade's claim, because "not as popular as he thinks" is a specific assertion. There's also the question of whether anyone else clears the field. If Trump's inner circle coalesces around Vance, the doubts from media commentators may not matter much. But if a governor or senator with a cleaner lane jumps in, Vance's Trump association becomes a real liability.
The broader point is that every political heir apparent faces this test. The loyalty that builds a career in one election can become the weight in the next one. Vance's challenge is to hold the base while convincing the broader electorate he's his own man, and that gets harder the longer Trump stays in the spotlight.