Overview
- Senator Chris Van Hollen told the On NOTUS podcast that he is "kicking the tires" on a possible 2028 presidential run and argued Democrats must pursue dramatic change rather than rely only on inside-the-Beltway approaches.
- He has made recent visits to early primary states including Iowa and New Hampshire that his aides say were invitations from state party officials and that he describes as testing the political terrain.
- Van Hollen called for credible Democratic candidates to hold Israel accountable for human-rights and international-law violations and said candidates should refuse unconditional support and funding demands from AIPAC.
- A meeting with Kilmar Armando Ábrego García, a Maryland constituent wrongfully deported to El Salvador, shaped Van Hollen’s view on immigration and convinced him Washington’s conventional wisdom needs rethinking.
- Van Hollen, who serves on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has not launched a campaign; his public positioning could reshape 2028 Democratic debates by foregrounding economic populism and a tougher, rights-based foreign policy.