Washington Examiner columnist Guy Benson said that any potential Republican 2028 presidential contenders are walking a political tightrope as they weigh their ambitions against the risk of angering President Donald Trump.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio dismissed speculation that he would leave the Trump administration to pursue a presidential run in a report published by the New York Times on Thursday.
“I think he’s got a lot of unfinished business in his current gig,” Benson said on Fox News’s America’s Newsroom on Friday.
Benson said he thinks Rubio wants to “stay put” and finish his work in the Trump administration, but suggested another contender is gaining momentum.
“I think [Ron] DeSantis is having a moment right now,” Benson said, noting that “Florida was maybe the only bright spot for Republicans on Tuesday night.”
In the Nov. 3 midterm elections, Republicans reinforced Florida’s status as a GOP stronghold, maintaining control of the state and winning several major statewide contests. Republican Byron Donalds won the governor’s race, while Republican Ashley Moody won the U.S. Senate seat.
DeSantis, the outgoing Florida governor, is “coming back with this idea of good governance, delivering for people, et cetera,” Benson said.
However, Benson noted that other Republican presidential contenders are being more cautious about publicly signaling their ambitions.
“The big question, especially for people closer to Trump in D.C., even if you have those ambitions looking ahead to 2028, do you want to telegraph them? Do you want to be public about them at all? Do you want to risk ticking off the guy who currently has the job and does not want to be seen as a lame duck president?” Benson said.
“That is some very careful stepping that I think a lot of people need to be thinking about if those are their plans, whereas DeSantis down there is sort of more unleashed,” he continued.
Benson also discussed the early maneuvering among potential Democratic presidential contenders, arguing that the party’s “big egos” could complicate the race even as Democrats feel they have “the upper hand, the momentum.”
“I think you have a very emboldened Left,” Benson said.
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Benson said progressives could use the midterm results to argue that the Democratic Party should embrace socialism and move further to the left.
“They’re going to make the case that this is now a Leftist party and it has to be led by the Left.”