{"id":8163,"date":"2026-05-20T17:02:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T17:02:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=8163"},"modified":"2026-05-20T17:02:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T17:02:12","slug":"for-vance-and-rubio-the-road-to-2028-takes-a-turn-through-the-white-house-briefing-room","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=8163","title":{"rendered":"For Vance and Rubio, the road to 2028 takes a turn through the White House briefing room"},"content":{"rendered":"

By MICHELLE L. PRICE<\/strong><\/p>\n

WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 The earliest signals of a presidential race normally involve such subtle and behind-the-scenes positioning from candidates that it\u2019s been dubbed in political circles as the \u201cshadow primary.\u201d<\/p>

Read more The best free summer events across Southern California<\/a><\/p>\n

But the early Republican race to succeed President Donald Trump in just over two years\u2019 time seems to be already playing out in one of the most public forums possible: the White House press briefing room.<\/p>\n

Vice President JD Vance, who is seen as one of the GOP\u2019s strongest potential candidates for president in 2028, stepped up to the lectern on Tuesday, holding the spotlight for 54 minutes as he took questions from reporters.<\/p>\n

It was five minutes longer than the turn taken two weeks ago by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the person currently seen as Vance\u2019s possible chief rival \u2014 or running mate \u2014 in 2028.<\/p>\n

Vance and Rubio were tapped to fill in as temporary replacements for White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, who is on maternity leave. The chance to parry questions before news cameras on a wide range of subjects was a high-profile opportunity to reintroduce themselves to the public and try to make a nascent case that they should be elected commander-in-chief.<\/p>\n

But most importantly for any Republican seeking to run for office these days, it was a chance to try to perform well on television, a skill prized by Trump, whose endorsement can still make or break a candidate in a GOP primary.<\/p>\n

Trump has yet to publicly anoint a successor and has seemed to enjoy the prospect of a competition.<\/p>

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For now, Vance and Rubio maintain that they\u2019re good friends and have both demurred about whether they\u2019ll seek the White House in the next presidential race.<\/p>\n

In his briefing on Tuesday, Vance seized a moment to suggest he wasn\u2019t thinking about his future as a \u201cpotential future candidate,\u201d taking issue with a reporter who referred to him that way.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not a potential future candidate. I\u2019m a vice president,\u201d Vance said.<\/p>\n