# TN HOUSE REP-ELECT KENNY CODY: Vance is still MAGA's guy for 2028

By Kenny Cody · Published 2026-11-09 · Opinion › Politics · https://humanevents.com/opinion/tn-house-rep-elect-kenny-cody-vance-is-still-maga-s-guy-for-2028

> America first is still the path forward.

Let's be honest: Tuesday, November 3, realigned the [GOP](https://humanevents.com/opinion/human-events-first-america-the-new-right-roadmap-to-victory-in-2028). As we suffered losses across all ends of the [spectrum](https://humanevents.com/opinion/posobiec-welcome-to-the-socialist-revolution), the entire nation shifted to the Left as [Democrats](https://humanevents.com/news/polish-member-of-eu-parliament-warns-americans-that-voting-democrat-may-lead-to-70-years-of) across the country took gubernatorial races, legislative seats at both the federal & state levels, and dominated the midterm elections for our biggest shellacking of the 21st century. Republicans have to look in the mirror now and figure out what they want their party to be: a return to Bush-era Republicanism and elitist policies, or a rejuvenation of America First [nationalism](https://humanevents.com/opinion/posobiec-welcome-to-the-socialist-revolution) that the new era can be proud of.

Unfortunately, the first subset of loser-mentality conservatives are already emerging from the woodwork to lay their base for an anti-Trump, anti-MAGA presidential nominee in 2028. Starting on Tuesday night, establishment Republicans began to turn their swords on Vice President JD Vance, as he stated the obvious about what cost the Republicans the midterms: the absence of Trump on the ballot, the Iran War, and affordability.

Vance [stated](https://www.google.com/goto?url=CAESbAHEIkXXRjEQ-zajZkSpDlfQl1Dr347rBjenF4AD4M9HIYCzQXLyCy8P8VDR40qFiXtlVm0aCI4UH5QvXvF-rdotkGD6amIuKKNo4PE15OPEMamxDc69FN8A8r43RySBfrn7qoF2d2iDwDfeMw) the obvious data points that everyone knew were going to cost Republicans: apathy, the economy, and the lack of energy without Trump. With this, some GOP pundits & figures have already accused Vance of separating himself from the President and laying the blame for the midterms at the feet of him and Trump as well. Both points are far from the truth. First, Vance mentioned Trump in his X post, stating that Trump himself said the war, whether it was the right decision or not, was one of the main reasons behind the midterm losses. Even after the post went up, Trump answered media questions and said he agreed with his Vice President and that it was a "good [post](https://www.google.com/goto?url=CAESzQEBxCJF19cx1NFKaecitXGM-y54RWvE2OFolhg7FyGQ3AVEVTiJptBG8ckdguMEMinlxJ3f9RXBdw_Aroy8Ra554hYR9UKLDgt3zm-ylKVf51-s7ob9kFQIE_BnNNjNMz3qD611cMcXYGjA7WM2Zd1kyyBpSmrItuu8U8LiCsrkusdHXw7i_iVm5tDqDpOlNs2qTB5E79mnmx7G8WKDFIcks7KrkXmNRW1BW4podPfBSEQvH3RvhJkTltLQlMaBscP7tlJk7lDjTtciJNqE)." So not only is the premise of a faux divide between Vance and Trump wrong, but the President himself spoke out in favor of Vance's perspective.

This is an attempt by Washington elite neoconservatives to overtake Vance as President Trump's successor. The man MAGA supported, the late great Charlie [Kirk](https://www.google.com/goto?url=CAESZwHEIkXXjAk7ekajC-h_hYY6NyTYkZk3nZCJT51IhVRnKRQ7ILQCjXIOT-Jr3PipDI0UXF1RsLHOFBa-LU5N0tSB1ts793EKQtkKlD9q-ZC77i8IaGd5jX4TWUmeULYFLdOfYbOZwK0) helped shape, and who has been loyal as one of Vance's German Shepherds to President Trump, is still the rightful nominee for the Republican Party in 2028. Vance embodies the America First movement: practical economic policy, common-sense foreign policy, unabashed and unrelenting social conservatism rooted in Christian conservatism, and an embrace of the working, middle-class as a voting bloc and a meaningful demographic of American culture.

The losses of November 3 do not change the direction the Republican Party needs to take, America first is still the path forward. But we need to realign by energizing the same base that Donald Trump brought to the dance that delivered us many of the victories Republicans are still reaping the benefits from. Continuing the MAGA movement is what the Republican Party needs to do instead of tossing it aside, as the establishment desires to harken back to country club conservatism of the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s. Those who nominated John McCain and Mitt Romney should not be responsible for crowning the next leader of the Republican Party in America, and surely do not owe us any advice on how to win elections.

The MAGA movement is the reason the Republican Party is still alive, and Vice President Vance is still the future of that movement and the only hope for a Republican victory in 2028.

If Vice President Vance is to get the nomination in a couple of years, the same conservatives who backed Trump over the past decade must rally behind Vance. We should not let the consultant class that led us down the McCain-and-Romney path tell us how to win with a figure who will take us back to our losing ways.

When and if Vance wants this, he'll have my backing and endorsement, and I hope the rest of MAGA can get on board.

*Kenny Cody is the Tennessee House representative-elect for District 11.*

[Watch on Rumble](https://rumble.com/embed/v7fm8uu/?pub=2n05b)