CPAC’s annual straw poll showed that 61% of the more than 1,000 people surveyed selected Vance as the top choice for the 2028 presidential nomination, far ahead of his closest competitors.
Only 12% viewed Steve Bannon, a former aide to President Donald Trump, as the next GOP nominee, and 7% selected Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL).
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Both Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) received 3% of support, according to the poll.
Donald Trump Jr., the president’s son, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy all garnered 2% support.
Vance addressed the CPAC crowd on Thursday morning, where he received a standing ovation for defending his controversial remarks at the Munich Security Conference during his first international trip as vice president last week.
“I will take a standing ovation for a speech I already gave,” Vance joked.
The speech in Germany, stunned European allies who took umbrage with Vance’s remarks chastising the European nations over free speech rights and mass migration problems.
As Vance was in Europe, Trump made headlines for declining to say the vice president was his successor during an interview with Fox News’s Bret Baier.
Trump also held his first joint interview as president, not with Vance or first lady Melania Trump but instead sat down with Fox News’s Sean Hannity for a joint interview with Elon Musk.
As a naturalized citizen, Musk is ineligible to serve as president of the U.S. but Trump has repeatedly reiterated his support for the tech billionaire. Saturday morning, Trump took to Truth Social to champion Musk.
“ELON IS DOING A GREAT JOB, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE HIM GET MORE AGGRESSIVE. REMEMBER, WE HAVE A COUNTRY TO SAVE, BUT ULTIMATELY, TO MAKE GREATER THAN EVER BEFORE. MAGA!” Trump wrote.
Vance has remained a top surrogate for Trump and vigorously defended the administration, during his CPAC speech.
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Vance also touted the furious speed of the Trump administration in issuing numerous executive orders and Musk’s efforts to slash the federal workforce and trim federal spending through the Department of Government Efficiency.
“The president keeps us on a pretty breakneck pace. He always asks, What have we done today? What are we going to do tomorrow? What we’re going to do next week, because I think he realizes this is a special moment in time,” Vance said during his first few minutes on the stage.
