Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said that he won’t be on board with a 2028 White House run by Vice President JD Vance, once again whining about the Trump administration’s tariffs on abusive foreign nations.
The Kentucky Republican found a sympathetic ear in journalist Jon Karl on Sunday’s edition of ABC’s “This Week,” where he discussed the just-released Epstein files, the second U.S. seizure of a Venezuelan oil tanker, and Vance, who is President Donald J. Trump’s heir apparent and the potential future leader of the MAGA movement.
Near the end of the segment, Karl brought up two prominent conservatives who have expressed their support for Vance, Erika Kirk, who has already endorsed him, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was quoted by Vanity Fair as saying, “If JD Vance runs, he’ll be the nominee, and I’ll be one of the first to support him.”
When asked by @JonKarl about a potential 2028 presidential bid for JD Vance, Sen. Rand Paul says: “I’m going to continue to try to lead a conservative free market wing of the party, and we’ll see where things lead over time.”@JonKarl: “And that’s not JD Vance.”
Sen. Paul: “No.” pic.twitter.com/MLEuattWiZ— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) December 21, 2025
“I know it’s early. What do you make of this? Is JD Vance the heir apparent here?” Karl asked.
Paul responded, “I think there needs to be representatives in the Republican Party who still believe international trade is good, who still believe in free market capitalism, who still believe in low taxes. See, it used to separate conservatives and liberals that conservatives thought it was a spending problem, we didn’t want less revenue, we wanted less spending.”
“But now all these pro-tariff protectionists, they love taxes. And so they tax, tax, tax, and then they brag about all the revenue coming in. That has never been a conservative position,” he added, misleadingly claiming that the tariffs are a tax. “So I’m going to continue to try to lead a conservative free market wing in the party, and we’ll see where things lead over time.”
“And that’s not JD Vance?” Karl asked.
Paul answered with an unequivocal “No!”
A sanctimonious scold along the lines of Mitt Romney, Paul has sounded a lot like a Democrat with his opposition to the Trump administration’s Venezuelan policy, especially the strikes on drug trafficking boats to prevent their deadly cargo from ending up on U.S. streets.
Back in September, when Vance backed the military strikes on narco-terrorists, Paul smugly invoked the classic American novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” to chastise the vice president.
JD “I don’t give a shit” Vance says killing people he accuses of a crime is the “highest and best use of the military.”
Did he ever read To Kill a Mockingbird?
Did he ever wonder what might happen if the accused were immediately executed without trial or representation??… https://t.co/VdnJbZkGfS
— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) September 7, 2025
X users reacted to Paul’s remarks.
“Hmm…no.” Yeah we will see about that, Atticus Finch. That smug look gets under my skin, not going to lie. pic.twitter.com/Bo3Kr5cdbB
— P.T. Ward (@HTWardish) December 21, 2025
a simple ideologue. Incapable of adjusting his strict set of rules/principles to…. THE REAL WORLD.
It’s actually sad… just stubborn midwit-level thinking. Despite having had a 1000 opportunities to adjust, he’s just Incapable/Unwilling.
Disappointing doesn’t start to cover it
— Casual Observer (@CObserving) December 21, 2025
Yeah. About the only thing I’m pro-Rand on these days is the Festivus report
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) December 21, 2025
He’s Libertarian. They don’t work with conservatives because beliefs are different. He’s just a fake
— mary t 🐘🥋🏈 🅰️ 🇺🇸 (@twilleym) December 21, 2025
Rand has no platform. And if one can be attributed to him, that’s the old line Bush Republican Party platform. Outsource, no tariffs, low taxes, low spending, and smaller government. That platform has been repeated ad infinitum with no results. And he’s been there throughout. He…
— SCinPL (@SCinPL) December 21, 2025
I used to think I could vote for him as president now I can’t stand listening to him turned himself into a useful idiot
— Robert Wilson (@rwaus61) December 21, 2025
Also in his chat with Karl, Paul reiterated his opposition to taking out the narco-terrorist boats.
“Look, at any point in time, there are 20, 30 governments around the world that we don’t like that are either socialist or communist or have human rights violations. We could really literally go through a couple of dozen. But it isn’t the job of the American soldier to be the policeman of the world. So, I’m not for confiscating these liners. I’m not for blowing up these boats of unarmed people that are suspected of being drug dealers,” he said.
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