Sunday on ABC’s “This Week,” Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said Vice President JD Vance did not believe in free-market capitalism.
Host Jonathan Karl said, “I have to ask you about a political question. We saw Erika Kirk endorse JD Vance already for 2028 for president. That was interesting, but also interesting was, so did Marco Rubio, who in that article in Vanity Fair, said that if JD Vance runs, he’ll be the nominee and I’ll be one of the first to support him. I know it’s early, what do you make of this? Is JD Vance the heir apparent here?”
Paul said, “I think there needs to be representatives in the Republican Party who still believe international trade is good, who still believe in free-market capitalism, who still believe in low taxes. It used to separate conservatives and liberals: conservatives thought it was a spending problem; we didn’t want less revenue; we wanted more spending. Now all of these pro-tariff conservatives love taxes; they tax, tax, tax and brag about the revenue coming in. That has never been a conservative position. I’m going to continue to try to lead a conservative free-market wing of the party, and we’ll see where things lead over time.”
Karl said, “And that’s not JD Vance?”
Paul said, “No.”
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