{"id":880,"date":"2026-05-19T23:04:59","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T23:04:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=880"},"modified":"2026-05-19T23:04:59","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T23:04:59","slug":"vance-and-rubio-step-behind-the-lectern-and-deeper-into-2028-territory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=880","title":{"rendered":"Vance and Rubio step behind the lectern \u2014 and deeper into 2028 territory"},"content":{"rendered":"

Press briefings by the two potential presidential hopefuls offer a view of their contrasting styles.<\/strong><\/p>

Read more Senate advances resolution to block further strikes on Iran<\/a><\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
Vice President JD Vance in the press briefing room at the White House on May 19. (Jacquelyn Martin\/AP Photo\/Jacquelyn Martin)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

The White House briefing room has turned into an unlikely testing ground for the next generation of Republican presidential hopefuls, as two potential 2028 contenders have <\/b>leveraged turns at the lectern to improve their national profiles.<\/p>\n

Tuesday\u2019s White House briefing gave Vice President JD Vance an opportunity to demonstrate not only that he could fill in for press secretary Karoline Leavitt, but that he could project himself as a future leader of the Republican Party. Vance followed Secretary of State Marco Rubio, whose <\/b>turn at the lectern<\/a> two weeks ago prompted a flurry of news stories about his ambitions and glowing reviews from some Republicans suggesting he looked like presidential material.<\/p>\n

The two men are part of a rotating cast of administration officials who are scheduled to fill in for Leavitt while she is on maternity leave.<\/p>\n

Both struggled with command of the room and how to decide whom <\/b>to call on while dozens of reporters clamored for a question. They tried to describe journalists by what they were wearing \u2014 \u201cwhite jacket\u201d or \u201corange,\u201d Vance said, acknowledging that \u201cthe pointer finger is not as precise as I thought it was.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rubio apologized for not knowing the names of the reporters. \u201cCan you put name tags on?\u201d he had asked at one point, drawing laughter from the packed room. \u201cThat would help.\u201d<\/p>\n

The parallel briefings offered a preview of the distinct styles<\/a> of two men poised to shape the future of the Make America Great Again movement once President Donald Trump\u2019s grip on the party loosens. Trump has at times stoked a rivalry but also repeatedly suggested they could run as a ticket.<\/p>\n

Both Vance and Rubio are staunch defenders of Trump who will inherit the legacy of the administration\u2019s policies, but each represents different elements of the president\u2019s coalition. They <\/b>could offer competing visions for where the Republican Party goes next.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, first off, I\u2019m not a potential future candidate, I\u2019m a vice president,\u201d Vance said in response to a reporter who referred to him as a future candidate. \u201cAnd I really like my job, and I try to do as good of a job as I can.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rubio told Vanity Fair<\/a> last year that if Vance runs, he would \u201cbe one of the first people to support him.\u201d He reiterated that comment in recent days in an interview with NBC<\/a>, saying Vance \u201cwould be a phenomenal candidate\u201d and that he would <\/b>support him if he runs.<\/p>\n

Vance has similarly denied any rivalry between the two, telling reporters last week<\/a> that Rubio is a \u201cvery, very dear friend\u201d and that he is not focused on what office he will seek next.<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
Secretary of State Marco Rubio had his turn at the lectern on May 5. (Jacquelyn Martin\/AP)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

The briefing room sessions may have played to Rubio\u2019s advantage. From the moment he entered the room by cautiously poking his head out from the doorway, he repeatedly defused reporters\u2019 questions with humor. Most of the questions during his 49-minute session focused on the future of the administration\u2019s broadly unpopular war in Iran and provided the secretary of state with a platform to show off his deep knowledge of foreign affairs.<\/p>

Read more Live updates: Georgia governor primary election results 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

He also was ready with a campaign-style sound bite when a reporter from a conservative Christian news network asked him about his hope for America. The resulting viral moment was swiftly clipped by his social media account and promoted by influential members of his party, including Republican megadonor Elon Musk.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, Vance remained at the lectern several minutes longer than Rubio, taking questions for 55 minutes.<\/p>\n

The vice president, however, faced a series of questions about past positions he has taken \u2014 how he squared Trump\u2019s multimillion dollar stock market transactions in 2026 with his past calls to ban public officials from trading stocks, for example. He was also questioned about his past comments about people who assaulted police officers on Jan. 6, 2021 needing to face consequences and why he wouldn\u2019t rule out offering settlements for those same individuals from the administration\u2019s new $1.8 billion \u201canti-weaponization fund.\u201d<\/p>\n

The vice president tried at times to insert levity into the briefing and also drew some laughs. But one of the most notable moments \u2014 an exchange that was clipped and shared by the White House and Vance officials on social media \u2014 was his criticism of a reporter who delivered a lengthy statement about Trump\u2019s alleged corruption as he asked Vance a question about stock trading.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to just observe there are different ways to ask a question,\u201d Vance remarked. \u201cOkay, you can just ask a question, and try to get your answer, or you could do, like, a speech, where you say, \u2018You know, Mr. Vice President, you know, you\u2019re a terrible human being, and so is the president, so is the entire Cabinet.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then I\u2019m like, what\u2019s your question? And then your question is, \u2018How dare you?\u2019 Come on, man. Have a little bit of objectivity in the way that you ask these questions.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was the type of stick-it-to-the-media moment that Trump and his aides have embraced over the past decade, and a contrast with the inspirational clip that went viral for Rubio.<\/p>\n

At another point, Vance spoke at length condemning religious and political violence, declaring that \u201ca fundamental principle of all the great faiths is we are all children of God, and because of that, we are endowed by certain rights that are unique to our status as human beings.\u201d<\/p>\n

The message was the kind that, like Rubio\u2019s, could easily be touted by Republicans in a general election campaign as an effort to unify Americans. But it did not achieve the kind of traction online Tuesday that Rubio\u2019s stated vision for the country did.<\/p>\n

As Vance walked out of the room at the end of the briefing, a reporter in the back shouted a final question: \u201cWhat\u2019s America to you?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cMarco Rubio,\u201d she added with a laugh and shrug, trailing off as she tried to add context.<\/p>

Read more Admiral accuses lawmaker of \u2018inappropriate\u2019 remark at Iran war hearing<\/a><\/p>\n

Vance continued walking.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Parallel briefings by the two men offer a view of their contrasting styles.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":877,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-880","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nVance and Rubio step behind the lectern \u2014 and deeper into 2028 territory - Moving Insider USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=880\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Vance and Rubio step behind the lectern \u2014 and deeper into 2028 territory - Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Parallel briefings by the two men offer a view of their contrasting styles.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=880\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-19T23:04:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/172c8c3bf67939d4c7fcd33b564d0c63-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1706\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=880#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=880\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"headline\":\"Vance and Rubio step behind the lectern \u2014 and deeper into 2028 territory\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-19T23:04:59+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=880\"},\"wordCount\":1094,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=880#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/bc45c992de8316664a15eacc7cca59fa-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=880#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=880\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=880\",\"name\":\"Vance and Rubio step behind the lectern \u2014 and deeper into 2028 territory - Moving Insider USA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=880#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=880#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/bc45c992de8316664a15eacc7cca59fa-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-19T23:04:59+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=880#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=880\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=880#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/bc45c992de8316664a15eacc7cca59fa-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/bc45c992de8316664a15eacc7cca59fa-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1706},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=880#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Vance and Rubio step behind the lectern \u2014 and deeper into 2028 territory\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Moving Insider USA\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Vance and Rubio step behind the lectern \u2014 and deeper into 2028 territory - Moving Insider USA","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=880","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Vance and Rubio step behind the lectern \u2014 and deeper into 2028 territory - Moving Insider USA","og_description":"Parallel briefings by the two men offer a view of their contrasting styles.","og_url":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=880","og_site_name":"Moving Insider USA","article_published_time":"2026-05-19T23:04:59+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1706,"url":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/172c8c3bf67939d4c7fcd33b564d0c63-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=880#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=880"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/#\/schema\/person\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03"},"headline":"Vance and Rubio step behind the lectern \u2014 and deeper into 2028 territory","datePublished":"2026-05-19T23:04:59+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=880"},"wordCount":1094,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=880#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/bc45c992de8316664a15eacc7cca59fa-scaled.jpg","articleSection":["Interesting"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=880#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=880","url":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=880","name":"Vance and Rubio step behind the lectern \u2014 and deeper into 2028 territory - Moving Insider USA","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=880#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=880#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/bc45c992de8316664a15eacc7cca59fa-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2026-05-19T23:04:59+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/#\/schema\/person\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=880#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=880"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=880#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/bc45c992de8316664a15eacc7cca59fa-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/bc45c992de8316664a15eacc7cca59fa-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1706},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=880#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Vance and Rubio step behind the lectern \u2014 and deeper into 2028 territory"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/","name":"Moving Insider USA","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/#\/schema\/person\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com"],"url":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/880","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=880"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/880\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/877"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}