Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL) says he will not back Vice President JD Vance for president in 2028, torching Vance's post-midterm diagnosis of the Republican Party's losses and comparing his remarks to 1932 Germany.
Fine's comments were reported by Fox News' Ryan Schmelz in a post on X. "I thought his message that he put out the day after the election was abhorrent and frankly smacked of the kind of thing you would read in 1932 Germany," Fine said, according to Schmelz. "He blamed the Jews for losing the election."
NEW: Rep. Randy Fine says he will NOT back VP Vance in 2028. @VoteRandyFine: "I thought his message that he put out the day after the election was abhorrent and frankly smacked of the kind of thing you would read in 1932 Germany... He blamed the Jews for losing the election."
The Florida Republican's charge follows a devastating midterm election for the GOP, which lost its majorities in both chambers of Congress beginning next year, with at least 30 House Republicans losing their races, according to Fox News Politics.
Vance Blames the Iran War
In a Nov. 4 post on X, Vance identified several concerns among voters who abandoned Republicans — inflation, America First priorities and the U.S. relationship with Israel — but singled out the Iran war as the main reason for the party's defeats.
"The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said so last night," Vance wrote, adding that Republicans needed to acknowledge the political cost of the conflict.
President Donald Trump defended Vance's critique, telling reporters he was fine with the vice president's assessment but would have wanted him to add that if they had to do it again, they would.
Fine's remarks go further than a policy disagreement. By invoking 1932 Germany and accusing Vance of blaming Jewish voters for the party's defeat, the congressman is making a charge that, if it spreads, would be politically radioactive for a sitting vice president.
Vance has long been viewed as Trump's heir apparent. That assumption is now being tested. The Wall Street Journal reported Nov. 7 that some of Vance's allies have urged him to consider sitting out the 2028 race after the midterm losses. The Washington Post reported Friday that others close to the vice president still expect him to run.
A Vance ally pushed back on the suggestion that the midterm losses have diminished his 2028 prospects, saying the vice president will decide whether to run on his own timeline. The ally argued Vance would be better served by winning a competitive Republican primary than being handed the nomination, expressing confidence in his ability to prevail if he runs.
Other prominent Republicans are beginning to draw support for potential 2028 bids, complicating the picture further.
The Jerusalem Post reported that allies say Vance is wrestling with the fracturing of the MAGA coalition, the demands of fatherhood, and whether any Republican can win while the Iran war drags on.
The Iran war has become the fault line inside the Republican coalition. Vance's explanation — that the conflict cost Republicans their majorities — is either an honest postmortem or, in Fine's telling, an unacceptable abdication. The vice president's defenders argue he is doing what a party leader should do after a loss: naming the cause. His critics, including a sitting Republican congressman, say he is blaming voters and, specifically, Jewish voters.
An Instagram post indexed to the vice president's remarks also circulated this week carrying the caption "Vice President JD Vance is blaming Republicans' abysmal ..." — a post, not a statement, and one that captures how the argument is being framed online.
For everyday Americans, the fight matters less as a personality contest than as a signal. Republicans lost at least 30 House seats and both chambers. The party's base is now watching its next-generation leadership argue over whether the war was the reason — and whether saying so out loud disqualifies you.
Fine's declaration gives that argument a name and a face. A sitting Republican congressman has now said, on the record, that he will not support the sitting vice president for the White House, and that his reasoning is a post-election message he considers beyond the pale.
Vance, for his part, has not responded publicly to Fine's charge. His advisers say he will make his decision on his own timeline. The midterm losses are counted. The 2028 primary is not.
Our Take
Here is what the establishment wants you to believe: that the midterm shellacking was a one-off, that the war was just a messaging problem, and that the anointed heir should get a pass because he is next in line. Randy Fine just shattered that fiction.
Fine is right about the stakes. When a party loses both chambers and 30 House seats, the answer is not a polite press release about inflation and Israel polling. The answer is an accounting. Vance gave one — and now one of his own colleagues says it was abhorrent and smacked of 1932 Germany. That is not a policy dispute. That is a character charge, and it will follow Vance into every primary state.
The Wall Street Journal says allies are urging Vance to sit it out. The Washington Post says others expect him to run. Both can be true, and that is exactly the problem: a frontrunner whose own coalition cannot agree whether he should run.
Patriots should watch two things. First, whether other Republicans in Congress follow Fine — one voice is a statement, two is a movement. Second, whether Vance answers the charge directly or lets his advisers do the talking. The base will forgive a lot. It will not forgive a politician who blames the voters for his party's defeat and then hides from a colleague who calls it out.
The 2028 race is not supposed to start the day after a midterm. It just did. And the first shot came from inside the tent.
