Megyn Kelly Predicts Fox News Will Back Marco Rubio, Not JD Vance, in 2028

Megyn Kelly predicted on Friday that Fox News will line up behind a Republican other than JD Vance for the 2028 presidential nomination, even if Donald Trump endorses his vice president. She named Secretary of State Marco Rubio as the network's likely favorite.

The forecast came on The Megyn Kelly Show, after Kelly played a Fox & Friends segment criticizing Vance for declining to endorse Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Kelly said the segment showed which way the network was leaning.

"The Fox News brigade is definitely going to be behind someone not named JD Vance. JD is not going to get the support of Fox News," Kelly said.

Yes. 100%. I believe that. I think they will want Marco."

This is Kelly's own forecast, not reporting. Fox News has not endorsed or ruled out any 2028 candidate, and Kelly cited no source inside the network. She named Rubio twice. Most of her argument was about Israel.

Trump Endorsed Netanyahu. JD Vance Did Not.

The dispute started last Sunday, when Trump endorsed Netanyahu on Truth Social ahead of Israel's October 27 election, ABC News reported. Trump called Netanyahu "a Great Warrior Prime Minister" and praised him as a partner against Iran. The endorsement split some of Trump's own allies.

This week, journalist Mark Halperin asked Vance for a yes-or-no answer on whether he also endorsed Netanyahu. "I endorse American candidates, and that's where I'm focused on is the midterm. So I'm not getting involved in Israeli elections," Vance said. When Halperin pressed him, Vance added: "I'm not anti-endorsing it. I'm not pro-endorsing it." (WJLA reported the exchange.)

In the clip Kelly played, Fox & Friends hosts called the answer an unforced error. They said it fed the perception that Vance is somewhat anti-Israel. They also pointed out that Vance had campaigned for Hungary's Viktor Orbán, so he could not claim to stay out of foreign elections. Orbán lost in April, WJLA reported.

Kelly did not respond to the Orbán point. She rejected the hosts' claim that Vance had volunteered the snub: "So it's not true that he went out of his way," she said. She noted that Halperin had put the question to him directly.

Megyn Kelly Defends Vance's Answer as 'Smart Politics'

Kelly said she likes the Fox & Friends hosts, but she sided with Vance. "I love those guys, but they were not happy with that answer," she said. She described the vice president as "pro-Israel but with limits."

"He doesn't have to say anything about it, and it's smart politics not to say anything about it," Kelly said.

Kelly also brushed aside Texas Senator Ted Cruz, after a Fox anchor listed him as a possible 2028 candidate. "Ted Cruz has zero, zero chance of becoming the Republican nominee," she said.

Greenwald said Netanyahu does not have the edge going into Tuesday's vote. "He's probably going to lose. He's favored to lose," he said.

Where JD Vance Stands in the 2028 Republican Primary Polls

Vance leads the Republican field by a wide margin. He has 38.7 percent in PolitiKool's polling average, more than twice Rubio's 16.7 percent. Donald Trump Jr. has 14.1 percent, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis 7.1 percent and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. 5.1 percent. Cruz is not among the top five in PolitiKool's average.

Republican voters are split on Israel. A *New York Times*/Siena poll in May found that 38 percent of potential Republican voters wanted the party's next presidential nominee to move "in a new direction" on Israel, JTA reported. A Politico/Public First poll in April found that nearly half of MAGA Trump voters backed Israel's government, compared with 29 percent of non-MAGA Trump voters, JTA reported.

Greenwald argued that this split works for Vance. "I think that's a winning argument since conservative voters are primed to think of themselves as America first," he said.

What Happens Next

Israel votes on Tuesday, a week before the U.S. midterms. Kelly said Vance would keep calling Israel an ally while putting domestic issues first. In her view, he does not want to lose the pro-Israel wing of the GOP.

She said the bigger question is who will control the party after Trump. "It's going to be very, very interesting to see who wins control of the party," Kelly said.