EXCLUSIVE — Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) is ending speculation that he might run for president in 2028, telling the Washington Examiner that he has no interest in competing for the Republican nomination.
“No, I have no intention of doing so, period,” Hawley said in a Tuesday interview.
He declined to elaborate further or even weigh in on the list of possible contenders. Vice President JD Vance is seen as the heir apparent should he decide to run, but could face a crowded GOP field. Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Rand Paul (R-KY) are among the Senate Republicans hinting at a run next cycle, when President Donald Trump will be term-limited.
“I have no insight to offer you on 2028, one way or another,” Hawley said at the Capitol. “I don’t know who will run or what will happen. We need to get through these elections first.”
Hawley has repeatedly broken with the Trump administration since the start of the new Congress, inviting questions over whether he might be positioning himself for higher office.
He’s long been an ally of the president and objected to the certification of the 2020 election. But that alliance has frayed at times, with Trump lashing out over his Venezuela war powers vote and a stock trading bill Hawley co-sponsored.
They continue to clash over the Food and Drug Administration’s decision to approve mifepristone, a pill that induces abortions. Hawley is one of the loudest anti-abortion advocates on Capitol Hill, and activists hope that someone in his mold runs in 2028.
In the interview, Hawley alluded to that community as he warned prospective contenders for president not to ignore the religious Right.
“I would just remind everybody that they are the backbone of this party,” he said of religious conservatives. “You cannot win anything without them. You cannot win a primary without them. You cannot win a general election without them. And I would caution anybody who thinks that you can do without them in our voting coalition — you will have a voting coalition of like 10% without religious conservatives, without evangelical Protestants, without conservative Catholics, without conservative Orthodox Jews. So, I’d be real careful about trying to marginalize that coalition.”
Cruz, in particular, has courted evangelicals and remains an outspoken supporter of Israel at a time when Vance and others in the administration have had harsher words for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Cruz, who competed with Trump for the GOP nomination in 2016, recently acknowledged he still aspires to be president and has taken steps to draw a contrast with the White House, both on the campaign trail and in Congress.
Paul, a libertarian who also challenged Trump in 2016, said earlier this year that he’s “50-50” on another presidential run and would decide after the midterm elections.
The early jockeying is taking place as the Republican Party begins to weigh what politics looks like in the post-Trump era and as the president’s approval ratings hover near a second-term low.
Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) drew speculation that he, too, might run this week when he announced that he would tour the country for a series of events focused on the economy and affordability.
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Scott told the Washington Examiner on Tuesday that he isn’t considering a campaign for president.
Outside of Congress, Trump officials such as Secretary of State Marco Rubio and War Secretary Pete Hegseth are regarded as possible contenders in 2028.
Ramsey Touchberry contributed to this report.