Category: Daily Caller
Debate: Can JD Vance become the right’s great unifier — or does his VP role stand in the way?
The young conservative movement is experiencing a notable leadership gap amid ongoing chaos in the online right-wing space. Sure, there are passionate influencers and rising political voices, but no one has fully stepped up to unify and guide the broader coalition with a commanding presence.
One person investigative journalist and BlazeTV host Christopher Rufo thinks might be able to step into the role, however, is Vice President JD Vance. But Rufo’s co-host Jonathan Keeperman isn’t sure Vance is up for the job either.
In this episode of “Rufo & Lomez,” the hosts debate whether JD Vance can step up as the unifying leader the conservative movement needs amid escalating chaos.
“I’ve been so far a bit surprised that the vice president hasn’t tried to step into this role,” says Rufo, arguing that Vance has both the “charisma” and the “authority” to effectively lead the movement.
“I’ve known JD over the years. … It does feel like he has some hesitation or maybe even some fear,” he adds.
While Keeperman agrees that Vance “has all of the tools and charisma and … the right talking points” to be an excellent leader, his role as the vice president would actually be a hindrance.
“I don’t think JD Vance should actually do that in his vice presidential position. Not right now. I think it’d be a bit presumptuous. I think people might kind of see it as him stepping in to sort of correct a situation that I think needs to just happen organically,” he counters.
For one, Vance’s position prohibits him from “[speaking] candidly about the administration.”
“Whoever is going to step into this role has to feel credible to this audience, and part of that credibility is going to come from just speaking honestly about all of these different things happening in this ecosystem — whether it’s the different personalities, the ideas, the sort of ideology that’s animating Trump but also the specific actions that the Trump administration is taking,” Keeperman explains.
In other words, the kind of leader people will follow needs to be an outsider who can speak brutal truths about the current administration, and Vance, as Trump’s right-hand man, can’t be that person.
Secondly, President Trump is still the top dog, Keeperman explains. For his VP to assume the authority of this role as the leader of the conservative movement “might not sit well inside of this coalition.”
“Maybe you’re right,” Rufo concedes. “We need some sort of native figure to step up in the same way that Charlie Kirk did, in the same way that Tucker had done.”
To hear more of the conversation, watch the episode above.
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National Guard members killed in Syria attack returned to families in Iowa
Earlier this month, two National Guardsmen and an interpreter were killed after they were ambushed in Syria.
On Wednesday, the remains of the two members of the 1st Squadron, 113th Cavalry Regiment, were returned home to Iowa in a solemn Christmas Eve for their grieving families.
Both soldiers were posthumously promoted to the rank of staff sergeant.
The caskets of Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar, 25, and William Nathanial Howard, 29, were returned to Des Moines, Iowa, and greeted by their families on the tarmac.
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R), U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst (R), and U.S. Rep. Zach Nunn (R) joined senior leaders of the Iowa National Guard at the transfer ceremony, according to the Associated Press.
RELATED: Trump promises ‘big damage’ after 2 National Guard soldiers killed in Syrian ambush
Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images
The soldiers’ remains were first flown to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, where President Donald Trump paid his respects and met with family members of the deceased.
The Independent reported that both soldiers were posthumously promoted to the rank of staff sergeant.
Following the attack, President Donald Trump promised “a lot of damage done to the people that did it.”
Ayad Mansoor Sakat, of Macomb, Michigan, a U.S. civilian working as an interpreter, was also killed in the attack. He was buried in Michigan over the weekend, the AP reported.
Citing the Iowa National Guard, the AP said that soldiers’ funerals will take place in the coming days.
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‘All in’: TPUSA’s Andrew Kolvet sets sights on 2028 presidential candidate after AmFest
With the first Turning Point USA AmFest convention since Charlie Kirk’s death in September now concluded, TPUSA’s Andrew Kolvet offered his insights on the convention and the political path ahead.
Earlier this week, Kolvet told Fox News in an interview that Turning Point is “all in” for one of Charlie Kirk’s closest friends in politics.
‘Charlie was very close to the vice president and had basically endorsed him already for months beforehand.’
“We’re all in behind Vice President JD Vance. Charlie considered him a generational talent and somebody that could lead this nation forward,” Kolvet, executive producer of “The Charlie Kirk Show,” said.
Kolvet remarked that it was almost natural for the organization to support JD Vance given Charlie Kirk’s relationship with him. “Charlie was very close to the vice president and had basically endorsed him already for months beforehand. It was no surprise for us. It was no surprise for those who were close to us.”
RELATED: TPUSA straw poll shows dominant front-runner for 2028 nomination
Turning Point CEO Erika Kirk announced her endorsement of JD Vance during her speech at America Fest on the first day of the convention.
“We’re gonna ensure that President Trump has Congress for all four years,” she said. “We are going to get my husband’s friend JD Vance, elected for 48 in the most resounding way possible!”
Andrew Kolvet reiterated the organization’s support for the vice president while urging people to stay focused on the present: “We’re very happy for the here and now, so we’re going to let the next year play out, but heading into 2028, we’re excited to get behind him. And the machine that Charlie built and that’s still in place at Turning Point is going to be all in for the vice president.”
Vice President JD Vance gave a speech on unity on the last day of the convention, refusing to condemn dissident voices despite loud demands within the conservative movement.
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If voters don’t feel relief, the economy isn’t fixed
The concerns of many Americans about their economic well-being may be at the highest level since the Great Depression. Politico recently reported that 46% of Americans say their cost of living is the worst that they can remember, including over one-third of Trump voters. Nothing better exemplifies this than the many “30-somethings” who are unable to purchase a home.
Financial anxieties center around affordability, which is the proxy for evaluating whether the economy is meeting the public’s needs. Affordability is the degree to which households can responsibly pay for essential goods and services.
In the end, the nation’s affordability dilemma is about the confidence people have in the country’s economic future.
Gregg Ip, an economic commentator for the Wall Street Journal, says that affordability cannot be measured solely by economic data, but must also account for perceptions of financial security.
President Trump opined that concerns about affordability are a “hoax” created by Democrats for political purposes. Most Americans would disagree. While the runaway inflation of the Biden presidency has moderated, widespread concerns about affordability persist. According to a recent Politico poll, nearly half of the nation found the cost of their groceries, health care, utilities, and housing to be unaffordable. About half of the respondents said food costs are difficult to manage, and more than a quarter skipped medical appointments because of the cost.
In the 2026 midterm elections, it will be incumbent upon Republicans and Democrats to make an affordability agenda “job one.” These agendas should be the yardstick voters use to cast their vote for members of Congress and state officials.
The U.S. affordability crisis is multidimensional, requiring a dual-track strategy that combines structural reforms with immediate and affordable relief for the most vulnerable citizens. Each party’s affordability agenda should demonstrate when households will realize cost-of-living relief, avoid another round of inflation, provide market incentives for innovation, supply expansion and productivity gains, demonstrate distributional fairness, and stress choice over federal mandates.
Restoring an affordable economy will require that failed federal policies be reversed and the president and Congress focus on fixing long-term root causes.
To make goods and services more affordable, public policies should aim at increasing private-sector housing construction, modernizing domestic energy regulations, expanding production, encouraging competition in the health care insurance market, avoiding deficit spending that can rekindle inflation, rolling back regulations that increase consumer and business expenses, and devolving social and educational programs to the states to tailor taxpayer-friendly solutions to local challenges.
The nation’s affordability dilemma is not only about the price of goods and services. It concerns the relationship between costs, income, and the perception of financial security. In the end, it is about the confidence people have in the country’s economic future.
RELATED: All I want for Christmas is for Vivek Ramaswamy to stop embarrassing the GOP
Photo by Jon Cherry/Getty Images
When households and businesses feel “squeezed,” they lose faith that public or private institutions are protecting their interests. A September 2025 poll conducted by the Pew Research Center found that just 17% of Americans trusted the federal government to do the “right thing” most of the time. Similarly, the July 2025 Gallup survey reported that less than 30% of Americans had confidence in U.S. institutions.
The major impediments to addressing the high cost of living are deep ideological divides over causes and solutions. Progressives emphasize government mandates and regulations, subsidies, and deficit spending. Conservatives stress fiscal restraint and market-driven solutions. Adopting common-sense economic reforms requires compromise and the rejection of left and right extremism driven by grievances and rage.
There is no more important issue for voters than which candidates and parties will boldly tackle the affordability challenge. Success will be influenced by policies that encourage business investment and innovation and workers keeping more of their income.
Editor’s note: This article was originally published by RealClearPolitics and made available via RealClearWire.
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