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MAGA figures clash over who replaces Trump in 2028 as Erika Kirk endorses JD Vance
Trump has already served two elected terms, so he is constitutionally barred from running again.
MAGA figures clash over who replaces Trump in 2028 as Erika Kirk endorses JD Vance
JD Vance’s endorsement has shifted attention toward an emerging leadership contest on the right. [File photo] / Reuters
an hour ago

No one has formally declared their candidacy for the 2028 Republican presidential nomination, but a number of names are being bandied around as pretenders to the throne.

They include Fuentes and firebrand congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, who last month broke with Trump, saying his second term agenda was a betrayal of his voters.

Vice President JD Vance, who is due to speak at the gathering on Sunday, got a significant boost on Thursday when Erika Kirk endorsed him for a 2028 White House run.

"We are going to get my husband's friend JD Vance elected for 48 in the most resounding way possible," she said to cheers from the thousands-strong crowd. The next US president will be the country's 48th leader.

Former presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy, who ran for the Republican nomination in 2024, did not comment directly on Kirk's endorsement.

"We're at a fork in the road, and I think that there are competing visions for the future of the right," Ramaswamy told AFP. "I think it's great for us to have that conversation."

Carlson hits back at rivals

The Vance endorsement from Turning Point's new CEO is why Shapiro is annoyed, hinted Carlson, whose newsletter on Friday gloated "Sorry, Ben Shapiro, JD is America First."

"Trump created this amazing coalition, bringing in people who had never voted Republican before...and that coalition took over the most powerful government in the history of the world," Carlson told the audience on Thursday.

"So there's a lot of blood at stake here, as the question becomes, who gets to run it after, who gets the machinery when the President exits the scene.

"There are a lot of people in Washington, maybe even in this room, who aren't quite sure what they want, but they know they don't want — JD Vance."

RelatedTRT World - Trump rules out vice presidential run to stay in power after 2028

Candace Owens fuels controversy

The spat between two of the loudest voices in the conservative mediasphere comes as former Daily Wire host Candace Owens continues to cause waves with a series of provocative claims.

Owens, whose YouTube channel has 5.7 million subscribers, is involved in a bizarre fight with French President Emmanuel Macron over wild claims his wife Brigitte is actually a man.

She is also in a quarrel with Erika Kirk over unsubstantiated claims of a conspiracy involving the US and Israeli governments in the killing of her husband.

Kirk on Thursday sought to tamp down the divisions on the right, which she said had appeared after Charlie's death.

"When he was assassinated, we saw infighting. We've seen fractures," she said.

"We've seen bridges being burned, that shouldn't be burned."

RelatedTRT World - Trump admits no third term as president, but allies say he's not done yet
SOURCE:AP