Vice President JD Vance won the straw poll at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest over the weekend, besting the likes of Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The poll asked the pro-Trump conference attendees who they would like to see succeed Trump in 2028 as the GOP’s nominee. Vance led the pack by far with 84.2%, while Rubio came in second with 4.8%, and DeSanits scored only 2.9% support.
Andrew Kolvet, a top TPUSA official, told Fox News Digital that the poll showed “the movement is all-in for JD Vance in 2028, winning the most support in the history of our poll.” Vance gave a highly controversial speech at the event on Sunday and urged the GOP to end “purity tests.” Vance spoke amid the backdrop of infighting in the GOP over the rising anti-Semitism and bigotry on the far right, and appeared to side with those in the party against pushing out influencers like white supremacist Nick Fuentes.
“There are bright dividing lines in the conservative movement right now, so we wanted to get clarity on where the base is on these hot-button issues in Turning Point Action’s official AmericaFest 2025 straw poll,” Kolvet continued, adding:
We wanted to get a real read on where the base is at after Charlie’s assassination, and a few things really jump off the page.
The poll also asked about Trump’s Cabinet members and found that only Attorney General Pam Bondi was lacking in support. Bondi has irked MAGA several times with her statements and actions regarding the release of the Epstein Files in recent months. Blake Neff, the producer of the Charlie Kirk show, added, “Trump’s Cabinet is very popular. Pam Bondi is the only member to have disapproval in the double digits, with about 29% having a negative view.”
The poll also asked about support for Israel, a hot topic this year in the MAGA universe. 53.4% of respondents said they see Israel as “one ally out of many.” Another third said Israel is America’s “top ally” while 13.3% said Israel is “not an ally” of the U.S.
__
