Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky has not been afraid to, at times, buck President Donald Trump and his entire wing of the GOP, and his latest comments are no exception.

While appearing on ABC’s This Week on Sunday, Paul was asked about the future of the Republican Party and whether he would support current Vice President JD Vance as the ‘heir apparent’ GOP nominee for president.

‘We saw Erika Kirk endorse JD Vance already for 2028 for president,’ said host John Karl, who filled in for regular host George Stephanopoulos on Sunday.

‘That was interesting. But also interesting was, so did Marco Rubio — who in that article in Vanity Fair, said that ‘if JD Vance runs, he’ll be the nominee, and I’ll be one of the first to support him.’ I know it’s early. What do you make of this? Is JD Vance the heir apparent here,’ Karl continued, pushing Paul for an answer.

Paul then set out to draw an ideological line between himself and Vance, without mentioning him by name.

‘I think there needs to be representatives in the Republican Party who still believe international trade is good, who still believe in free market capitalism, who still believe in low taxes,’ Paul responded.

‘See, it used to separate conservatives and liberals that conservatives thought it was a spending problem, we didn’t want less revenue, we wanted less spending. But now all these pro-tariff protectionists, they love taxes. And so they tax, tax, tax, and then they brag about all the revenue coming in. That has never been a conservative position. So I’m going to continue to try to lead a conservative free-market wing in the party, and we’ll see where things lead over time,’ Paul continued.

Karl then doubled down on his previous question, asking, ‘And that’s not JD Vance?’

 Paul replied ‘no,’ ending the interview with an abrupt but decisive answer. 

Erika Kirk, wife of the late conservative activist and Turning Point USA (TPUSA)  founder Charlie Kirk, pledged to support her slain husband’s friend JD Vance in the 2028 election during the kick-off of TPUSA’s America Fest conference, better known as AmFest. 

Kirk made the early announcement on Thursday during the organization’s first America Fest conference since the murder of her husband.

Erika, 37, told the crowd that she wanted to see a huge victory for the Vice President, who is due to speak at the event in Phoenix, Arizona, later on Sunday.

‘We are going to get my husband’s friend, JD Vance, elected for 48 in the most resounding way possible,’ Kirk said in reference to him becoming the 48th president after Donald Trump.

Her comments were met with rapturous applause and cheers, which briefly drowned her out, even though the Vice President has not yet unveiled any plans to run.

JD Vance and his wife Usha honored the late Kirk by flying his casket from Utah to Arizona on Air Force Two following his campus assassination at Utah Valley University.