Posted on 06/11/2026 7:34:27 PM PDT by Red Badger
Chuck Todd reacted to a betting site naming Vice President JD Vance as the most likely successor to President Donald Trump by sharing his own prediction — that the president would pass the torch to someone who shares his last name.
We haven’t even survived the 2026 midterms but chatter about the 2028 elections — which will include an all-too-crucial presidential contest — is heating up.
A broad range of elected officials, political figures, and celebrities have had their names circulate through the rumor mills, and pollsters have been testing and comparing favorability ratings among different key demographics.
Vance, as vice president, is predictably on many commentators’ lists of potential contenders, along with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and prominent governors and senators from both sides of the aisle — plus several members of the president’s family. None of the other Trumps have held elected office before but that obviously did not stop the current president.
Lara Trump, the wife of the president’s son Eric Trump, had considered running for Senate in both Florida and North Carolina before ultimately sticking with a Fox News gig. However, she has not ruled out running for office herself and has said she expects other members of the family, including her husband and his eldest brother Donald Trump Jr., to consider throwing their red hats into the ring.
Todd discussed some predictions for 2028 from FanDuel Predicts in a clip of his podcast The Chuck ToddCast that he posted on his social media. The betting site currently has Vance as the favorite to be the next Republican presidential nominee.
JD Vance is currently the favorite to be the GOP nominee in 2028 on @FanduelPredicts, but I think a better bet would be someone with the last name “Trump.” pic.twitter.com/PBJTegvXlY— Chuck Todd (@chucktodd) June 9, 2026
Todd said FanDuel’s odds for the 2028 GOP primary and who the site “is even allowing you to bet on” was “interesting,” noting that Vance was the “frontrunner,” followed by Rubio “right behind him.”
Donald Trump Jr. was listed third by the prediction market, said Todd, but there was a “huge gap” between the odds for the Trump scion and his father’s two Cabinet members. Other names listed by FanDuel included Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina Gov. and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.
Haley and Ramaswamy’s odds were so poor, said Todd, that betting on them was “literally lighting money on fire,” so “don’t touch that.” He added that betting on DeSantis, who infamously crashed out of the 2024 presidential race after losing all 99 counties in Iowa but still seems keen on another attempt, would also be like lighting money on fire as well.
“I wouldn’t bet any of these,” Todd declared, noting that “historically” it would be a “pretty good bet” to put money on a sitting vice president who’s at “plus money.”
“But I don’t like these odds at the moment,” he continued. “I’d prefer a flyer on somebody with the last name of Trump.”
He listed Lara, Eric, Donald Jr., and Ivanka Trump as all names he’d bet on.
“Any of those four,” he said. “None of them are zero percent chances in my head.”
He urged FanDuel to “offer something up on the market that the Republican nominee will have the last name of Trump,” adding that “anything over +500, to me, would be worth [betting on].”
Watch the video above via The Chuck ToddCast.
Dear FRiends,
We need your continuing support to keep FR funded. Your donations are our sole source of funding. No sugar daddies, no advertisers, no paid memberships, no commercial sales, no gimmicks, no tax subsidies. No spam, no pop-ups, no ad trackers.
If you enjoy using FR and agree it's a worthwhile endeavor, please consider making a contribution today:
Click here: to donate by Credit Card
Or here: to donate by PayPal
Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794
Thank you very much and God bless you,
Jim
Chuck Todd....Yes Schmuck....we forgot you already.
Baron, but he’s too young.
The rest? Hard pass.
VPs don’t usually become Presidents.
Only 6 VPs were ever elected President......And we’re at 47 now...
Very few, Bush Sr, Biden, LBJ, Truman, Nixon.......
DonJr and Ivanka’s mother was not yet a citizen when they were born. Tiffany and Barron are too young,
There’s Eric..............
And Martin Van Buren
What an idiot. Just trying to raise eyebrows.
So? Obama’s father was never a citizen.
He’s thinking he Dan Sullivan in Alaska trick, the Dems will run somebody named Trump. It worked for Mark Warner in Virginia so nany years ago.
If you're counting only 6, I'm guessing those who became President while VP (LBJ, Truman, etc.) don't count.
I have John Adams, Jefferson, Van Buren, Nixon, Bush Sr, and Biden as the 6.
Todd’s a Democrat activist pretending to be a political journalist/analyst
I think it’s pretty much know Don Jr would likely make a political stab I. The right situation. However, we will have to see how it plays out. If the political establishment continues to act like Trump is a blip, and thinks they can go back to uniparty business as usual after he’s gone, then Don Jr may be the choice if he runs by a mojority of folks who never want to go back to that.
If republican establishment think Trumps done, so let’s go back to The Haley’s and the Cheney’s and the like… or those that “went along with Trump” start sounding like them, then I’d say it wouldn’t be impossible option.
However if those with Trump are truly with MAGA, and the populist movement, and aren’t blowing smoke, I think it will not be so simple for Don to make a successful play.
Though it would be another historic first if he did, as while fathers and sons have both been president no pair has done so back to back.
F. Chuck Todd.
The nominee will probably be Rubio or Vance. Given his performance recently I’d put money on Rubio.
The only Trump child that is a “Natural Born Citizen” is Tiffany.
All others had foreign, not US citizen, mothers.
Obunghole probably wasn’t either...
Well, Mitt wasn’t constitutionally qualified when he ran, and no one complained, and then the Kenyan came along. So ignoring the Constitution wouldn’t be groundbreaking.
They were born here. Their father is a citizen. They are eligible.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.