Vice President JD Vance said the Iran war was the main reason Republicans lost the midterm elections, arguing that many people who voted for Donald Trump and Vance in 2024 backed Democrats in 2026. His assessment was more direct than Trump’s public comments about the result, which also blamed factors including gasoline prices, candidates and Fox News.
Vance said Republican voters had turned out, but that turnout was not the central problem. He described conversations with pollsters who had found that some former Trump-Vance voters were angry and considering voting for Democrats. When asked what could bring them back, those voters most often cited ending the war, addressing the cost of living and inflation, putting America first, and changing the country’s relationship with Israel.
“The reason we lost is the war,” Vance wrote, adding that Trump had said as much the previous night. He said people could argue that the conflict was worth the political cost, but called for an honest discussion of why Republicans had lost.
Vance also acknowledged that Republican economic messaging may not have been strong enough. He cited a pollster’s warning that the party could lose the generic ballot by 13 points and said the pollster had correctly anticipated the results. Vance further argued that calls for amnesty were not a solution to the party’s problems, while expressing openness to changing enforcement, including by focusing more on businesses that hire undocumented workers.
Trump offered a different emphasis in comments to Fox News, saying Iran was part of the result but that gasoline prices were a factor. He also blamed Fox News, some Republican candidates and his absence from the ballot.
Vance closed by addressing voters who had warned Republicans about their concerns, saying they had been right and urging them to support Republicans who shared their views. He also called on those angry about the results to channel that frustration into political work.
Sources: The Hollywood Reporter.