(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Vice President JD Vance is widely assumed to be the heir apparent to lead the Republican Party and run for president in 2028. However, MAGA leader Steve Bannon is planning to challenge Vance, according to the Daily Mail.
“Love him… but Vance is not tough enough to run in 2028,’ an unnamed source close to Bannon told the Daily Mail.
Bannon is known for pushing a more populist brand of politics that emphasizes protecting American workers and industries. Bannon is also highly critical of the tech industry and its push to flood the country with cheap tech labor.
Vance, on the other hand, is close with the financial side of Silicon Valley. Billionaire Peter Thiel, who co-founded PayPal and Palantir Technologies, bankrolled Vance’s run for U.S. Senate, and Vance has called Thiel his “mentor.”
However, both have one thing in common: They’re connected to deceased sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
Vance is linked to Epstein primarily through Thiel. The two were business partners.
“In 2015 and 2016, Mr. Epstein put $40 million into two funds managed by Valar Ventures, a New York firm that was co-founded by Mr. Thiel. Today that investment is worth nearly $170 million,” the Times reported in June, citing a confidential financial analysis of Epstein’s estate.
Bannon, for his part, has more direct ties to Epstein. Epstein had two framed photos of Bannon in his Manhattan mansion, including a selfie of the two. Bannon interviewed Epstein in 2019 and purportedly has hours of unaired footage.
Is that Steve Bannon and Woody?
— _NamrokNamrok_ (@_NamrokNamrok_) August 5, 2025
Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
