IN THE RIGHT-WING BUBBLE, THEY DON'T THINK J.D. VANCE IS A LOSER

J.D. Vance might not be the 2028 Republican presidential nominee, and he might lose the general election if he is the nominee. But if you think he's too juiceless and unlikable to win support even among Republicans, you haven't peered into the right-wing bubble.

You might think Vance's appearance on The View yesterday was awkward for him, or even a disaster -- the headline in Britain's Independent was "JD Vance Went on The View and Got Absolutely Torn to Shreds by Middle-Aged Women." AP's lede was this:

Vice President JD Vance, appearing Tuesday on ABC’s “The View” to promote his newly released memoir on faith, was put on the spot from the first question, peppered for nearly an hour on Jeffrey Epstein, the economy, immigration and other issues facing the Trump administration.

You might think that Rupert Murdoch's media properties are likely to put their collective thumb on the scale for Marco Rubio in 2028, based on this Axios preview of the new Maggie Haberman/Jonathan Swan book:

In a scene from the forthcoming "Regime Change," President Trump asks a guest at a private dinner last year to compare Vice President Vance to Secretary of State Marco Rubio.... this time, the judge was Rupert Murdoch.

And with Vance and Rubio sitting awkwardly at the table, Murdoch was notably more effusive about Rubio....

Trump asked Murdoch who he liked best between Vance and Rubio, with the president adding: "They're both great."

Trump: "What do you think of JD?"

Murdoch: "Well ... I think JD has the potential to be great."

Trump: "And what do you think of Marco?"

Murdoch answered immediately: "Marco is brilliant."

But much of the right-wing media admires Vance because he battles the libs and fights the culture wars. Here was the lead story at Breitbart earlier this morning:

Vice President JD Vance and other Republicans have criticized Major League Baseball (MLB) for warning players against wearing Bible verses during Pride Night.

... The incident occurred last Friday when Giants right-hander Landen Roupp displayed “Gen 9:12-16” on his Pride Night hat, which was followed by relievers JT Brubaker and Ryan Walker also featuring Bible verses on their official Pride Night hats.

“The writing on the cap violates our rules, and consistent with normal practice, we have warned the players about future violations,” Pat Courtney, MLB’s chief communications officer, told The Athletic on Monday.

Vice President JD Vance responded to a Sports Illustrated post on X reporting the reprimand.

“Trump won, we don’t have to do this anymore,” said Vance.

And on the subject of that appearance on The View, Vance is getting praise from legacy right-wing sites like RedState (headline: "JD Vance Ventures Onto 'The View,' Serves Up an Unforgettable Schooling") as well as from contemporary Republican influencers:

Other Republican candidates might seem more personable or presidential, but Vance likes to bang heads with Trump critics -- probably less out of loyalty to Trump than because he simply likes fighting with liberals. He enjoys the culture war. Nobody's asking him to weigh in on baseball's Pride Night -- he just did it, apparently for the sheer joy of fighting.

Marco Rubio will do this kind of thing if he's asked to, but Vance clearly enjoys it more. He didn't need to go on The View -- I'm sure he could have limited himself to a few mainstream-media TV appearances where he wouldn't face questioning from a team of hostile interviewers. He wanted this. That's why I still think he's the candidate to beat in the 2028 Republican primaries.