GOP insiders expose JD Vance's 'ultra sneaky' move

Vice President JD Vance hasn't announced if he plans to run for president in 2028, but Republican insiders have pointed to a recent "ultra sneaky" move that could reveal more about his decision.

Vance and his wife, second lady Usha Vance, have been "cultivating their image as ultra-MAGA-friendly religious family folk," with Vance's upcoming book "Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith" and with Usha's new children's story podcast, Radar reported.

By doing so, the vice president has tried to get closer to faith-based voters and "bolster his standing as an early Republican contender among Bible-thumpers ahead of the 2028 presidential election," insiders told Radar.

"Another party insider said the vice president's long-standing relationship with religious communities could be 'seriously strengthened' by the publication, particularly among Catholic voters looking for a candidate whose faith is central to his public identity," Radar reported.

President Donald Trump has received mixed responses among Catholics and Protestants in recent polling. And as a result, Vance has been looking for ways to step out of the president's shadow and prepare to reestablish his independence from the Trump administration, which could be tricky, Christopher Devine, a vice-presidential scholar at the University of Dayton, told Radar.

"A vice president, while angling for leadership in his own right, has to avoid challenging the leadership of the current president that they serve under; that is incredibly difficult," Devine said. "And to the extent we have a track record over the last 70 years from Nixon on, rarely has it gone well."