{"id":2599295,"date":"2026-05-06T07:18:01","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T11:18:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/vance-sells-iran-war-to-the-heartland-as-rubio-charms-washington\/"},"modified":"2026-05-06T07:22:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T11:22:15","slug":"vance-sells-iran-war-to-the-heartland-as-rubio-charms-washington","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/vance-sells-iran-war-to-the-heartland-as-rubio-charms-washington\/","title":{"rendered":"Vance sells Iran war to the heartland as Rubio charms Washington"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fvance-sells-iran-war-to-the-heartland-as-rubio-charms-washington%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2599295&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Two leading Republican contenders for the 2028 presidential nomination-Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance-defended President Donald Trump\u2019s Iran war in sharply different ways on Tuesday, underscoring contrasting styles within the GOP.<\/p>\n<p>Rubio defended the administration\u2019s strategy from the White House press room, condemning Iran\u2019s mining in the Strait of Hormuz as a \u201ccriminal act,\u201d while insisting the U.S. ceasefire stance remains intact. He framed U.S. actions as purely defensive-\u201cno shooting unless we\u2019re shot at first\u201d-and also played to the Washington media with a personable, joke-filled, televised appearance that drew praise from strategists as \u201ccompetence versus positioning.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Vance, campaigning on the ground in Ohio, oklahoma, and Iowa, focused less on tactical messaging and more on how the conflict affects families and costs at home. In des Moines, he spoke about burdens on military families from the war, including meeting Gold Star families at an Iowa airport, and connected that sacrifice to the concerns of ordinary voters (like farmers facing high fertilizer prices). He did not take press questions after his Iowa remarks.<\/p>\n<p>The reporting highlights that Rubio has been deeply involved in shaping and defending the foreign policy, while vance has drawn a more cautious image as he also plays a role in efforts to negotiate a peace deal with Iran. With Republicans balancing a need to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/iowa-governor-slams-biden-in-official-republican-state-of-the-union-response\/\" title=\"... Governor Slams Biden In Official Republican State Of The Union Response\">project strength abroad<\/a> against a base increasingly wary of overseas entanglements, the key question heading toward 2028 is which approach-Rubio\u2019s \u201cfixer\u201d focus on results or Vance\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >attention-grabbing populist style-resonates<\/a> most with voters.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<article class=\"fn-body\">\n<p>The presumptive front-runners for the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/republican\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"926\">Republican<\/a> presidential nomination in 2028 spent Tuesday defending President <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"4\">Donald Trump<\/a>\u2019s Iran war in dramatically different settings, offering an early glimpse into two competing political styles inside the GOP.<\/p>\n<p>Secretary of State <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/marco-rubio\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"51\">Marco Rubio<\/a> made the administration\u2019s case from the White House briefing room, where he condemned Iran over the use of mines in the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/strait-of-hormuz\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"21488\">Strait of Hormuz<\/a> and charmed a packed room of reporters during a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/children-are-more-smarter-than-ron-desantis-education-policies-democratic-teacher-turned-senator\/\" title=\"\u2018Children Are More Smarter\u2019 Than Ron DeSantis\u2019 Education Policies: Democratic Teacher-Turned-Senator\">nationally televised appearance<\/a>.<\/p>\n<section class=\"explore-more-section\" id=\"wex-recommended-widget\">\n<div class=\"magazine-container single\">\n<h1 class=\"magazine-title mt-2\">Recommended Stories<\/h1>\n<p>             <i class=\"fa-solid fa-play icon\"><\/i>         <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-grid\">\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/4556493\/vance-186k-dead-people-snap-benefits\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Vance says fraud task force found 186,000 dead people collecting SNAP benefits<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/world\/4556147\/cuba-china-pope-takeaways-marco-rubio-raucous-press-conference\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Cuba, China, and the pope: Key takeaways from Marco Rubio\u2019s raucous White House press conference<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/4556121\/marco-rubio-un-iran-resolution\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Rubio slams UN inaction over Iran mining Strait of Hormuz<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p>Vice President <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/jd-vance\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"7658\">JD Vance<\/a>, meanwhile, spent the day on the road in Ohio, Oklahoma, and Iowa campaigning for Republicans. During his latest event in Des Moines alongside Rep. Zach Nunn (R-IA), an endangered GOP lawmaker, Vance addressed the human toll of the conflict before a crowd far removed from Washington.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>While Rubio leaned into a forceful public defense of the administration\u2019s strategy, Vance framed the war through its impact on military families and rising costs at home \u2014 a split screen that highlighted not only two different audiences, but two different approaches to selling the conflict to Republican voters ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.<\/p>\n<p>During his briefing, Rubio stuck hard to the administration\u2019s narrative for launching the Iran war and its current argument that the ceasefire remains in place, despite Tehran firing at U.S. vessels in the Strait of Hormuz. Rubio even said the latter did not constitute a resumption of hostilities, but simply a \u201cdefensive operation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s no shooting unless we\u2019re shot at first,\u201d he stated at the top of his remarks. \u201cIf you hear stories about attacks and launching or firing back and forth, it\u2019s not back and forth. We are only responding if attacked first. This is a defensive operation, and that\u2019s what\u2019s occurring here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rubio said that the United States was engaged in countering a \u201ccriminal act\u201d at this point in the conflict with Iran. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is no international law that allows you to say, \u2018I\u2019m going to put mines in an international body of water and I\u2019m going to blow up ships that don\u2019t listen to us and try to go through,\u2019\u201d the secretary continued. \u201cThat\u2019s what Iran is doing. This is a criminal act, and someone needs to do something about it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Beyond detailing the latest on Iran, Rubio also launched a charm offensive that clearly played well with the packed room of Washington reporters. The rapid response White House account even shared an amalgamation of several television chyrons on Rubio\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/newsom-extends-southern-california-stay-at-home-order-for-at-least-another-three-weeks\/\" title=\"Newsom Extends Southern California Stay-at-Home Order For at Least Another Three Weeks\">press briefing<\/a>. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The eyes of the world are on the White House Press Briefing Room \ud83d\udc40 <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/1FkAHt8gz1\">pic.twitter.com\/1FkAHt8gz1<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RapidResponse47\/status\/2051744674910519603?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 5, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script> <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>The secretary peppered a number of jokes into his hourlong appearance. And unlike Leavitt or Trump, he even earned a number of audible laughs while poking fun at the press corps itself.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo many damn outlets here,\u201d he chuckled shortly into taking questions. \u201cI don\u2019t know who you all are.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rubio even joked about a viral video from over the weekend showing him DJ\u2019ing a wedding. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019re not ready for that,\u201d he slyly responded when asked to reveal his \u201cDJ name.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Republican strategist Dennis Lennox, who is based in the battleground state of Michigan, praised Rubio\u2019s performance among the Washington press.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNobody who isn\u2019t being paid to say otherwise watched Rubio\u2019s presser and didn\u2019t think, \u2018Can\u2019t we make him president right now?\u2019 What we\u2019re seeing is a master class in competence versus positioning,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>But while Rubio\u2019s appearance played out before cameras and reporters in Washington, Vance faced the more politically delicate task of defending the conflict before voters in a state where the costs of war are deeply felt.<\/p>\n<p>Vance told the crowd in Iowa that he knew a \u201clot of our farmers are struggling with high fertilizer prices\u201d because of the conflict. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re finding ways every single day to make sure that you guys and the farmers of this great state get access to the products that they need,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re working on it. We\u2019re working on it every single day.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Vance also addressed the human toll of \u201cthis operation in Iran.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>\u201cIowa has borne a heavier burden, maybe than any other state in the union,\u201d Vance said. \u201cThis great state has lost about half of our [killed in action], and I know that you all will join me in saying that we love them and we\u2019re proud of them and we\u2019re praying for them every single day.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Vance told the crowd that as he arrived in Iowa, he was greeted by two Gold Star families on the tarmac who lost loved ones in Iran and Syria. The vice president said the meeting was personal for him as he was accompanied by his 6-year-old son on the trip.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat would I say if this beautiful 6-year-old boy got older and decided, like his dad, to put on the uniform of his country,\u201d Vance said. \u201cI\u2019d be so proud of him, but on the other hand, I\u2019d be so terrified that what happened to those two families would happen to this boy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Vance said Americans often read about military casualties as \u201ca line in a newspaper,\u201d but forget the families behind those losses. He added America has an obligation to \u201cmake this country worthy of that sacrifice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Unlike Rubio, the vice president did not take questions from the press after the rally in Iowa. <\/p>\n<p>The events on Tuesday showcased the very different roles that Vance and Rubio, close friends and two of Trump\u2019s top lieutenants, have played throughout the conflict.<\/p>\n<p>Rubio, one of the staunchest hawks in the administration, has had his fingers all over Trump\u2019s foreign policy, especially on asserting U.S. influence over the Western Hemisphere. The secretary of state has also been a high-profile champion of the Iran conflict since the bombs first dropped in late February.<\/p>\n<p>Vance, on the other hand, has been more restrained. The vice president has defended Trump\u2019s decision to launch the war, but leaks from the administration also suggested he argued against the conflict in the days leading up to it. A veteran of the Marine Corps, Vance made a name for himself as a populist who opposed military intervention abroad during his tenure as U.S. senator from Ohio. <\/p>\n<p>Unlike Rubio, however, Vance has been tasked with negotiating a peace deal with Iran, alongside special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump\u2019s son-in-law Jared Kushner.\u00a0The role allows the vice president to position himself as both a defender of the conflict and a voice for ending it.<\/p>\n<p>The contrast underscored the balancing act facing Republicans as the Iran war stretches on: projecting strength abroad while reassuring a GOP base increasingly wary of foreign entanglements after two decades of conflict in the Middle East.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/4555991\/rubio-project-freedom-defensive-operation\/\">RUBIO: PROJECT FREEDOM IS A \u2018DEFENSIVE OPERATION\u2019<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>But looming over 2028 is which track from Vance and Rubio will resonate with voters. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cRubio is the fixer \u2014 calm, effective and focused on results \u2014 while Vance is captivated by the X primary,\u201d said Lennox. \u201cThe question for 2028 is which matters more to Republican voters, especially if the midterms are a disaster.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In 2028, Rubio and Vance defended Trump\u2019s Iran war differently<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3421,"featured_media":2599298,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/image-collage-bfh7htjbz-1778030136823.jpg?1778015882&amp;w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[75205,5438,15469],"class_list":["post-2599295","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner","tag-iran-war-2","tag-rubio","tag-vance"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/image-collage-bfh7htjbz-1778030136823.jpg?1778015882&amp;w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2599295","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3421"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2599295"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2599295\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2599300,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2599295\/revisions\/2599300"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2599298"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2599295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2599295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2599295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}