Okay, I’m gonna make a batshit crazy prediction:
J. D. Vance is going to resign as Vice President.
I have zero inside knowledge. Less than zero. So this isn’t really a prediction, but more a thought experiment about an abhorrent group of thirsty, power-mad thugs.
Here’s how it threads: Trump, one of the most unpopular Presidents in the history of polling, already has been losing chunks of his MAGA base for all manner of reason, but especially because of his coddling of the rich, the Epstein files, his economic malfeasance, and especially his foreign adventurism. The war on Iran is possibly the final straw – a straw made harder to drink from every day this conflagration continues, with every American soldier killed and every American plane lost. Many (possibly most?) contemporary Republicans think MAGA is a necessary constituency to win the Presidency. So close association with this unpopular war loses MAGA in 2028.
In my thought experiment, Vance calculates the following: Stick his top 2028 competitor, Rubio, with this unpopular war. Resign, and become the Prince of MAGA, undercutting not just Rubio (whom they don’t trust anyway, because, you know, he speaks Spanish), but real MAGAtts like Cruz and Cotton. Sure, risk Trump’s wrath – but Trump’s a lame duck, addled, gonna lose Congress in November. Vulnerable on the right, he might be a good enemy to have. Especially if part of your gambit is spilling the beans on his incontinence. Sorry – I mean incompetence. Or both. Plus, it gives you two years to run a campaign, while everybody left in the administration is gonna be saddled with failed nation-building, Congressional investigations, the implosion of DHS, etc. etc.
In short, a perfect time to for an unprincipled principal to resign on principle.
Randall Rothenberg is a former media and marketing reporter, advertising columnist, and science and technology editor for The New York Times; CEO emeritus of the IAB, the digital marketing industry trade association; and the author or co-author of several books on politics and media, including It Takes Chutzpah: How to Fight Fearlessly for Progressive Change, with U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (Grand Central Publishing, 2025).
