Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) on Wednesday fired back at Sen. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) after the Indiana senator responded to a social media post about Bacon weighing a presidential run with “LOL,” short for “laugh out loud.”
The dispute began Saturday, when Politics & Poll Trackers, a nonpartisan social media account that tracks polls in upcoming elections, shared The Hill’s story reporting that Bacon is mulling a 2028 White House bid. The same day, Banks shared the poll tracker’s post and wrote “LOL” in response.
Bacon answered late Wednesday night on social media. “MANY have worked with Jim Banks over the last 10 years,” he wrote. “He has an IQ and EQ of a BAKED potato. His moral compass is skewed to his political calculus at all times. His finger is always in the air… no moral compass. His finger always leans pro Russian.”
Banks then responded in a conversation with The Washington Sun’s Igor Bobic, who shared the exchange on social media Thursday. The Indiana senator called Bacon’s presidential ambitions “laughable.”
“Don Bacon has floated himself as a presidential candidate, which is laughable,” Banks told Bobic. “He’s a longtime irrelevant member of the House who has been an outspoken critic of President Trump, and he is so unpopular in his district that he couldn’t get reelected. So he’s quitting.”
Last week, Bacon said on the podcast “Our Republican Legacy” that he “would love to” run for president. He added that he would also “be happy to be the right-hand man or left-hand man to someone else that has the same values.”
“I do definitely want to be on a team, whether I’m the lead or part of the team, fighting for these values for our country because I think the United States needs them and I think they’re looking for them,” the Nebraska congressman said.
Bacon is set to leave elected office at the end of the year, having declined to seek reelection in his House district. He first expressed interest in potentially running for president after announcing his retirement last year. “If there’s an opportunity, and I can make a difference, a unique difference, I would like to keep serving,” he told NBC News at the time.
No Republican has formally launched a bid for the GOP’s 2028 nomination yet. Multiple potential candidates, including Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and former Vice President Mike Pence, have already ruled out a run.
Vice President Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have been seen as potential heirs apparent to President Trump after his second term ends in 2029. Rubio told Colombian news station RCN last week that he has “no plans at this time” to run in 2028. Vance, meanwhile, received chants of “48” while speaking at the Republican National Committee’s Dallas midterm convention.
An Emerson College and The Hill survey released in August found that Rubio performed slightly better than Vance in five match-ups against Democrats. The sole match-up where both Trump administration officials lost was against former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
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