Ben Shapiro advises Marco Rubio not to run in 2028 to protect his presidential aspirations

Ben Shapiro advised Marco Rubio not to run for president in 2028. In a conversation with Patrick Bet-David, the famous conservative host and analyst analyzed the upcoming Republican primaries and noted that, for the secretary of state's aspirations, the smartest move would be not to compete against Vice President JD Vance.

Looking ahead to 2028, when Donald Trump will no longer be on the ballot due to the two-term limit, all eyes are on the vice president and the secretary of state. Both have held commanding leads in opinion polls and betting markets.

In this context, the founder of The Daily Wire spoke with Bet-David on the "PBD Podcast," where he was asked about the upcoming Republican primaries.

Shapiro said that, for Rubio, the best course of action would be to avoid a head-to-head primary with Vance, even if he were to emerge victorious: "Here are your choices: You run against JD and lose, you're done. You run against JD, you win, it's a rough election cycle and the country is in the mood for something new, and you lose," Shapiro said.

"You don't run, JD may pick you as his VP candidate, JD loses, you're next. JD does not pick you and JD loses, you're also next," he added.

Given this scenario, he asserted that Vance is the best-positioned candidate to become the Republican presidential nominee in 2028: "Unless the notion that somebody's gonna run from the outside and, you know, be able to overtake JD in the primaries, I think that's probably a pipe dream."

"Again, I have nothing against JD Vance on a personal level. I disagree with some of the political stances that he's taken. I encourage him to take different political stances openly and privately. He disagrees with me a lot of the time. That's his prerogative. Right? It's a free country," he continued.

However, Shapiro said that Vance would not be the Republican best positioned to win the general election. In his view, Vance would not be able to match Trump's numbers among different demographic groups. "I do not think there is a single group that you can name in American politics with which you will overperform Trump," he stated.