While the Democrats have their sights set on regaining control of the U.S. House of Representatives in the midterms next year, those interested in throwing their hat in the 2028 presidential primary ring are already starting to make their case.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker made his way to New Hampshire over the weekend to call for “mass protests” and “mobilization” against Republicans, while his California counterpart, Gov. Gavin Newsom, is sharpening his media skills with his new podcast. Meanwhile, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-NY) has been attracting crowds alongside Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) on their “Fighting Oligarchy” tour.
So, do any of the three have what it takes to top the Democratic ticket? On Tuesday’s show, Megyn was joined by Tucker Carlson, host of The Tucker Carlson Show, to handicap the field and discuss the chances of Vice President J.D. Vance inheriting the torch on the GOP side.
On Pritzker
Speaking in the Granite State, which just so happens to be home to the first-in-the-nation primary contest, on Sunday, Pritzker made headlines for saying Republicans “cannot know a moment of peace.”
The billionaire blue state governor said President Donald Trump and the people “he has elevated” are “an affront to every value this country was founded upon,” which led to his call to action. “Never before in my life have I called for mass protests, for mobilization, for disruption — but I am now,” he declared. “These Republicans cannot know a moment of peace.”
“They have to understand that we will fight their cruelty with every megaphone and microphone that we have. We must castigate them on the soapbox and then punish them at the ballot box,” Pritzker continued. “They must feel in their bones… that we will relegate their portraits to the museum halls reserved for tyrants and traitors.”
Pritzker and his family have been major donors to a variety of organizations and institutions focused on radical gender ideology, which Carlson should be disqualifying in and of itself. “For him to say, ‘I’ve never called for disruption before’… that is actually all you’ve done,” he explained. “All you’ve done is advocated for the destruction of children and families, for the trans-ing stuff, for the destruction of your state through your total mismanagement of it.”
And then there is what has happened in the Land of Lincoln under his leadership. “What have you done for the state of Illinois, which is bankrupt? There has been an exodus of normal people, people with jobs, people with families. They are on the west coast of Florida right now,” Carlson said. “That state is wrecked. It’s not all his fault, of course, but why don’t you tell me three things you’ve done to improve Illinois? There aren’t any.”
In Carlson’s view, that begs the question: “How could someone like that, or Gavin Newsom, or anyone else with an unbroken record of destruction… say, ‘Hey, give me a bigger job’?”
On Newsom
Speaking of Newsom, the Golden State governor is widely expected to make a presidential run in 2028 and the launch of his new podcast, This Is Gavin Newsom, is doing nothing to quiet the rumors. The show has caused controversy, however, due to his selection of guests.
Prominent MAGA voices like Charlie Kirk, Steve Bannon, and Michael Savage all made appearances, and Carlson revealed he was asked as well. “Obviously, I know Gavin Newsom… I am from the state of California… and I have been bothering him for years to come on my show. He was kind of open to it, and then he whipped around and was like, ‘No, you should come on mine,'” he recalled. “I was like, oh, I would love to because I would love to debate him about what he has done to my state.”
But he thought better of it. “Then I watched a parade of people go on – some of whom are good friends of mine, by the way – and I realized… the point of this is not to have a real conversation or to answer questions,” Carlson explained. “The point of this is to rehabilitate.”
While Carlson believes Newsom is a “deeply, deeply unhappy person… who kind of externalizes everything,” he admitted he plays the game of politics well. “He is also a talented person who will say anything, which, in politics, is an advantage,” he noted. “There is no line at all with him. None.”
Even so, Carlson does not believe Newsom is, as Megyn put it, the Dems “great white hope” for 2028 because he thinks identity politics will win out. “He is pretty white. I mean, it is the anti-white party… They have been systematically disenfranchising white people from the country they were born in… That’s what ‘diversity’ is – it is everybody but white men,” he said. “So, for the party that set up this… anti-white system to nominate another white guy – I mean, maybe. But I think they would be much happier with AOC.”
On AOC
To that point, the 35-year-old progressive ‘Squad’ member from New York is now old enough to be president, and some have looked at her nationwide tour with Sanders (complete with bougie first class air travel) as a way for her to up her profile on the national stage.
Despite her potential, Carlson said he doesn’t currently take Ocasio-Cortez that seriously. “I think she is an amazing performer; I think she is attractive; I think she is different; I think she has got a ton of talent,” he noted. “I am… complimenting her sincerely, but I think she is too much about herself.”
That would be an impediment, in his view, in a White House bid. “I think that it takes enormous self-discipline to get through a presidential campaign, and I don’t know that she has that,” he added. “The problem with AOC is there is a kind of unseriousness about her.”
On the GOP Side
Ultimately, he thinks someone with “native talent” is “going to come out of nowhere” and take the cake for the Dems. When that person does, he believes the sitting vice president will likely be his or her opponent. “Things are so dynamic it is hard even to know where things are going a lot of the time, but if the Republican Party still has standing in the eyes of voters… J.D. is the obvious choice,” Carlson said.
“He is the most articulate explainer, I think, of Donald Trump’s ideas; he is the most powerful and effective vice president in my lifetime, for sure; and he has managed to do that while remaining completely loyal and on the same page as Donald Trump and not undermining him,” he continued. “That is always the tension between the president and vice president – the vice president has his own aspirations and so he is sort of subtly undermining the president. That has not happened at all, and I don’t expect that it will.”
Carlson said that makes him the most logical choice, especially when you consider the alternatives. “I mean, it is certainly not going be Nikki Haley,” he concluded. “Like, let’s be real.”
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with Carlson by tuning in to episode 1,060 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s Triumph (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.