MAGA influencer Steve Bannon has rejected the idea that Vice President JD Vance is President Donald Trump’s natural heir as the head of their populist conservative movement.

Speaking at the Semafor World Economy conference in Washington, D.C., Trump’s former White House chief strategist was asked about Vance’s positioning and opted against backing him, saying instead: “MAGA has President Trump, and as you know, I’m a huge advocate of President Trump’s third term.”

The 47th president cannot serve an unprecedented third term without engineering a major constitutional change that would require the approval of the House of Representatives and Senate.

When the event’s moderator Ben Smith asked Bannon if he was “just saying that to mess with JD,” the War Room podcast host and ex-Breitbart editor answered, “No, not at all,” before addressing the audience directly.

“I think you guys all paid your taxes here yesterday. Is there anyone in the room who would not vote for President Trump and what he’s trying to do with his economy?”

The question drew a laugh from attendees, who were largely journalists, lobbyists, and political insiders, but Bannon’s clear reluctance to support Vance is noteworthy amid ongoing MAGA discontent over the war in Iran.

Many of the movement’s loudest voices have argued that it is both futile and contrary to Trump’s election promises, causing him to lash out at the likes of Megyn Kelly, Candace Owens, and Alex Jones.

Ben Shapiro also came out against Vance earlier this week after he attempted to build a bridge with young conservatives opposed to the conflict at a poorly attended Turning Point USA event at the University of Georgia.

The VP, who reportedly advised against Operation Epic Fury behind the scenes, attempted to appease the administration’s critics in the crowd by saying he recognized that “a lot of young voters don’t love the policy that we have in the Middle East” and urging them not to “disengage” and to instead “get more involved.”

Shapiro responded on his self-titled show by warning Vance to take their objections seriously and that he should not just assume he can simply inherit Trump’s coalition if he becomes the Republican presidential nominee in 2028, pointing to Hillary Clinton’s inability to garner the same level of support as Barack Obama when she ran in 2016.

He went on to say Vance had been “relegated to placating the crazies” like Tucker Carlson and podcaster Theo Von, who had spoken out against the war and warned the former Ohio senator that his credibility was on the line.

All of which came in the middle of a bad week for Trump’s deputy, who led failed peace talks with Iran in Pakistan, saw his endorsement of Viktor Orban in Hungary’s elections backfire spectacularly and then had to defend the president’s attack on Pope Leo XIV at a time when he has a new memoir forthcoming about his conversion to Catholicism.

Trump appears to have been unimpressed with Vance’s performance on the world stage and has privately been asking allies for their verdict on him, according to CNN.