Kathrine Frich
He completely shut off, when asked.
When a political party suffers a heavy loss at the ballot box, the blame game starts almost overnight.
Before the dust even settles, ambitious insiders usually begin quietly eyeing the top job for the next cycle.
Sometimes, the loudest signal comes from what a politician suddenly refuses to say out loud.
Shutting down questions
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is abruptly refusing to answer any questions about the 2028 presidential race, according to the Irish Star.
After Republicans lost control of both the House and Senate in last week’s bruising midterm elections, speculation has surged over who will eventually succeed President Donald Trump.
When a reporter started to ask Rubio about the Republican Party’s future and his past remarks regarding Vice President JD Vance, the secretary of state cut in immediately.
“I don’t know why you’re wasting your time. I’m not going to talk about 2028 any longer. I’m just not going to talk about 2028,” Rubio said.
Even as the journalist pointed out the question was about his own earlier comments, Rubio doubled down.
“I’m not going to discuss 2028. I’m not going to discuss it in any form or fashion,” he snapped. Asked why he spoke about it months ago but not today, he replied: “Cos I have that choice. I can make it. There are things I don’t talk about anymore.”
Backing away from Vance
That sharp exchange mirrors what he recently told The New York Times, where he stated: “I literally will not talk about 2028 anymore. I just won’t do it.”
It marks a total reversal from May, when Rubio told NBC News that if his good friend Vance ran for president, “I’ll be the first person to sign up and support him.”
Behind the scenes, allies tell The Independent that Rubio is already laying the groundwork for a 2028 White House bid and may soon resign from Trump’s cabinet. One Washington insider told The Independent that he needs to “distance himself from the Iran war and pin that one on Trump.”
Another ally told The Independent that stepping down makes sense because “Rubio is the leading candidate at the moment to be the [Republican] nominee.
He’s definitely ahead of Vance.” Meanwhile, Republican voters in Port Huron, Michigan, recently told Fox News Digital they liked both men, praising Rubio as “no-nonsense, similar to Trump.”
