Pro-Trump writer not sold JD Vance will secure MAGA mantle, shares advice how VP can hold support in 2028
Pro-Trump writer Batya Ungar-Sargon offered some skepticism that Vice President JD Vance will take on the MAGA mantle from President Donald Trump, suggesting a "gap" between the two of them on policy could be a hurdle for the VP down the road.
"I don't think it's JD. I know everybody else does. I'm just not sure," Ungar-Sargon told Fox News Digital in an interview.
"I don't like to make predictions because I'm always wrong," she said. "And I'm for sure wrong about this because everybody else thinks that he's going to be a shoo-in. But I really think that there are certain issues where it's very clear that he and President Trump are not on the same page. And I just wonder if those gaps are going to become, you know, smaller or wider."
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Ungar-Sargon pointed to Trump's own comments during his sit-down with Fox News' Bret Baier during the Super Bowl interview last month when he was asked whether he viewed Vance as his successor in 2028.
"No, but he's very capable," Trump responded to Baier. "I think you have a lot of capable people. So far, I think he's doing a fantastic job. It's too early. We're just starting."
"I think the fact that President Trump has been unwilling to say, ‘Yes, he is my heir apparent’ despite choosing him as VP when he was asked point blank, he said no… but I guess we'll see," Ungar-Sargon reacted.
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The journalist praised the GOP's "deep bench" of potential candidates, particularly the "young talent," including 40-year-old Vance.
"I think JD is totally brilliant and I think he has a very bright future ahead of him. I'm just not sure if he is the inheritor of this movement," Ungar-Sargon said.
When asked what issues she thought Vance and Trump weren't aligned on, Ungar-Sargon called abortion the most significant one that Vance needs to pivot towards his boss.
"I saw [Vance] giving a speech… and he kept talking about the unborn," Ungar-Sargon recalled. "I know that there's a huge segment of the right who really identifies with that issue. And I, of course, admire and respect that. I just think that that's not enough to win. And I think that there's a lot of Americans kind of much more in the middle on this issue who really appreciate President Trump's approach."
The Free Press columnist credited Trump for having "neutralized" abortion as a political issue during the 2024 election, citing a recent poll showing Americans not listing abortion among top issues.
"And people will say, 'Oh, that's because it's not an important issue to Americans.' And I would say to them, no. It's because President Trump neutralized it, because he told Americans, ‘I feel about it the way that you do,'" she said. "That's a real danger zone for the GOP going forward."
Vance's standing appears to be strong among the GOP base. As Ungar-Sargon noted, he trounced all other Republicans in the straw poll conducted at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) last month, earning a whopping 61% support among attendees.
That said, she speculated that a member of Trump's cabinet could emerge as a "dark horse," including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was notably a former GOP rival of Trump's during the 2016 election, as well as Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.
Fox News' Annie McCuen contributed to this report.