The nice thing about staying silent in the MAGA civil war: Your hands are clean because you didn’t pick sides. No animosity; no bad blood. Therefore, the warring factions all think/hope you’re secretly with them. It’ll make unifying the party in 2026 and 2028 far easier.
By staying silent, audiences project their hopes and aspirations onto your brand.
And that’s smart PR for Vice President JD Vance, the GOP’s 2028 frontrunner, because whatever audiences hope he’ll be is almost certainly better than what he actually is. That’s not a knock on JD Vance, but a PR principle: Very rarely does reality match fantasy, because in our heart of hearts, we yearn for the moon and stars. We dream of perfection.
It’s why we develop crushes.
There’s a PR benefit to being a Rorschach inkblot, where audiences see whatever they want. Hey, be all things to all people for as long as you can. (Let ‘em fall in love with you before you disabuse ‘em of their fantasies!)
But it’s not all rainbows and unicorns: Audiences may also project their fears and phobias. A blank canvas, alas, doesn’t necessarily become a masterpiece. Sometimes it becomes a monstrosity.
And that’s a vulnerability your enemies will exploit.
In 1988, after serving two terms as President Ronald Reagan’s veep, George H. W. Bush still needed to battle tooth and nail to wrest the GOP nomination. Nothing was handed to him on a silver platter.
2028 will be no different: If JD Vance wants to be our nominee — and I suspect he does — he’ll have to fight for it.
Because it’s his for the taking. Vance is far and away the current frontrunner, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio the only other potential candidate even in the ballpark.
Other (semi-)likely GOP challengers: Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, Glenn Youngkin, Tom Cotton, Josh Hawley, Tim Scott, Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
Unfortunately for DeSantis (and the rest of the pack), JD Vance is overwhelmingly popular with Republican voters. According to the latest UMass Lowell/YouGov poll, his GOP approval rating is a sky-high 74%. That’s higher than any other Republican surveyed, except for President Donald Trump (77%).
In a crowded field, nobody else will have a chance unless Vance’s numbers drop.
And that’s why it’s inevitable that a competitor will play the “guilt by association” card. It’s a PR classic — because it works.
The closer the relationship, the deadlier the attack.
And in the same poll, Americans were asked what they thought of Tucker Carlson. The ex-Fox News host’s overall approval rating was just… 17%.
But “overall” doesn’t matter in a GOP primary. What matters is what Republican voters think.
And among Republicans, where Tucker Carlson had a 90% name recognition, only 31% had a favorable opinion!
That’s noteworthy for two reasons:
- In a different poll (JL Partners/Daily Mail) from last month, Carlson had a 24% overall approval rating and 41% Republican approval. That indicates a seven-point drop overall — and a ten-point drop among Republicans — over the past month!
- The latest UMass Lowell/YouGov poll was completed on March 30, prior to President Trump’s fiery April 9 Truth Social denunciation of Carlson. Which means, in all probability, Carlson’s GOP approval is even lower today!
Here’s CNN’s data guru Harry Enten’s take:
Tucker Carlson has been in absolute free fall among the GOP. His net favorable has dropped by 47 points.
— (((Harry Enten))) (@ForecasterEnten) April 10, 2026
Meanwhile, Trump crushes Tucker among the GOP. Trump's net favorable is 54 pts higher than Carlson's.
When you up against Trump, you in the grinder to quote Good Burger. pic.twitter.com/oz30tsWGhW
If Carlson was still working in cable news, these numbers would be career-ending. When that many people in your core audience have abandoned you, the cable news model no longer works. In a closed system with limited options, you’ve gotta be able to keep the herd.
But online? In a world of infinite clicks and downloads?
Getting attacked by the president is like manna from heaven!
Why do you think click whores such as Alex Jones are leaning into it (NSFW):
"You Shit All Over Me & Rub It In... If You Think I've Been On Your Ass Now, Say One More Thing & I'll Show You How The Cow Ate The Cabbage!"
— Alex Jones (@RealAlexJones) April 10, 2026
Alex Jones Debates Going TOTAL Scorched Earth On President Trump Despite This Historic Opportunity We Have To Save The Country & The… pic.twitter.com/P2gsU2xW8N
Which means, Carlson has zero incentive to dial back his lunacy. In an “attention economy,” having the president call you out is good for business.
Good for merchandise sales, too. From Mediaite: “Tucker Carlson Is Selling Anti-Trump Merch Mocking POTUS Amid Bitter Feud.”
Calling all nut jobs, troublemakers, and third rate podcasters! New merch just dropped: https://t.co/PICYxuIV5A@TuckerCarlson @megynkelly @RealCandaceO @RealAlexJones @mtgreenee https://t.co/O8s6DRpC29 pic.twitter.com/XOKveI5h41
— Tucker Carlson Network (@TCNetwork) April 10, 2026
Which means that Carlson will continue to attack the Trump administration.
But what’s profitable for Carlson is poisonous for Vance. The more attention Carlson receives for bloodying Donald Trump — MAGA’s most beloved leader — the more MAGA’s grassroots activists will hate Carlson’s guts.
It’s threatening to open a new line of attack against the vice president:
- JD Vance is a Tucker Carlson clone. They share the same Groyper worldview. (Hey, why do you think Vance hired Carlson’s kid?) Voting for one is the same as voting for the other.
- Where does Vance gets his ideas from? Tucker Carlson, of course. That’s why he refuses to criticize him. Do you REALLY want Tucker Carlson whispering in the ear and setting foreign policy for the next president?
- Whereas other high-profile Republicans (like Ted Cruz and Mike Huckabee) had the courage to denounce Carlson’s bigotry and insanity, Vance stayed suspiciously quiet. Either he’s a moral coward — or he secretly agrees with Carlson.
Are these attacks fair? Nope: There are pragmatic explanations for Vance’s silence, including the fact that President Trump prefers to be his own attack dog. Besides, it’s unwise to kick every sleeping dog; Vance shouldn’t be tarred and feathered for following the 11th commandment.
Interpreted differently, Vance’s desire to being a unifying figure reflects positively on his character, because a 2028 nominee whom Tucker Carlson, Ben Shapiro, Joe Rogan, Mark Levin, RFK Jr., and Nicki Minaj all back is far more likely to win than one that isn’t.
But attacks don’t have to be fair to be effective. They just have to be plausible.
Because of Vance’s steadfast silence, the attacks are plausible. And the more he stays silent, the more plausible they become.
In political PR, personal relationships matter. For JD Vance, they’re all-important: His greatest political asset is his relationship with Donald Trump.
That’s what makes him the 2028 frontrunner.
His greatest political liability is his relationship with Tucker Carlson.
That’s what makes him vulnerable.
One Last Thing: 2026 is a critical year for America First. It began with Mayor Mamdani declaring war on “rugged individualism” and will reach a crescendo with the midterm elections. Nothing less than the fate of the America First movement teeters in the balance.
Never before have the political battle lines been so clearly defined. Win or lose, 2026 will transform our country.
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