Americanswers! Vance vs Rubio… who will take over from Trump in 2028?
Americast
BBC
4.3 • 3.1K Ratings
🗓️ 11 May 2026
⏱️ 38 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
A viral video of Marco Rubio has sparked speculation over who might take over the Republican party in 2028. Whilst president Trump muses over his successor, reportedly asking his advisors whether they prefer “JD or Marco”, Anthony and Justin weigh up how both potential candidates might perform in a 2028 presidential run. Could Trump anoint a successor? And is it the Vice President, JD Vance’s to lose? Vance has the greater name recognition but could Rubio attract the Latino voters who were instrumental in securing Trump’s win in 2024? We also look at where the millions of dollars in campaign spending actually goes - why do election candidates in the US spend millions, and what sort of difference can it make? Also, democrats have suffered a major blow for taking back control of Congress in this November’s elections. In the space of ten days, the party has lost two big court cases - in Virginia and Louisiana - we’ll tell you why they matter and how the Democrats are looking to fight back.
HOSTS: • Justin Webb, Radio 4 presenter • Anthony Zurcher, North America Correspondent
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This episode was made by Grace Reeve, Purvee Pattni and Tom Gillett. The technical producer was Philip Bull. The series producer is Purvee Pattni. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts. |
| 0:06.1 | Marco Rubio v. J.D. Vance. |
| 0:08.2 | Who is the current favourite between them to replace Donald Trump at the top of the Republican ticket in 2028? |
| 0:16.5 | Well, there is news not only about the relative balance of those two, |
| 0:21.3 | but also potentially questions about other people coming to the fore. |
| 0:25.2 | So we're going to talk a bit about that. |
| 0:26.5 | Plus, Democrats have suffered a really big blow in their hopes to regain control of Congress. |
| 0:31.5 | It's because of a court ruling in Virginia. |
| 0:34.1 | Why does it matter so much? |
| 0:35.7 | We'll be talking about that too. |
| 0:37.2 | Answering your |
| 0:37.9 | questions. Welcome to America Answers. |
| 0:43.0 | Ameriast. AmeriCast from BBC News. You hear that sound? Oh, I think when I hear that sound, |
| 0:49.4 | it reminds me of money. We didn't start this war, but under President Trump, we are finishing it. |
| 0:55.2 | This is a big cover up, and this administration is engaged in it. This guy has Trump Arrangement |
| 1:00.0 | syndrome. I have four words for you. Turn the volume up. Hello, it's Justin in the worldwide |
| 1:10.5 | headquarters of Americaast in London, England. |
| 1:12.9 | And it's Anthony here in my home in Arlington, Virginia. |
| 1:16.1 | And we are not joined this time round by Matt Chorley, who's doing other things. |
| 1:19.5 | So Anthony and I are going to answer your questions just between the two of us to the extent that we can, |
| 1:23.9 | which means he will answer them very well and I'll do my best. |
| 1:26.9 | Anthony, let's start with this business of the Republican succession, because it is something that is increasingly on people's minds, and we've had this question about 2028 and what happens. So Goric in Malaga in Spain says, you guys are always on about possible democratic candidates. What about the Republicans? Will it boil down to a contest between J.G. Vance and Marco Rubio? |
... |
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