JD Vance Blames Iran War for Republican Losses in Midterms

US Vice President JD Vance said on Wednesday that the reason his Republican Party did poorly in Tuesday’s midterm elections was because of the Iran war.

Mr Vance shared this in a post on X, saying, “The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said so last night.”

The war between the US, Israel, and Iran has caused petrol and diesel prices to rise. This has also led to a higher cost of living in the US and around the world.

PREMIUM TIMES reports that the Democratic Party won most of the elections held on Tuesday and took control of both chambers of Congress.

One thing our data analysts focused on was “composition.” They wanted to see if the voter makeup was close enough to 2024 for Republicans to win. Despite polls showing a Democrat landslide, the data kept telling us that in some states turnout was decent, in others it was great, and in no state was it terrible. There was real optimism on our team: our people were showing up.

So, I asked my smartest data guy if that meant we would surprise everyone. “No,” he replied. “We might perform better than the polls suggest. But the data shows that many Trump/Vance 2024 voters are angry and planning to vote for the other side. Our voters are turning out, but they may not vote for us.”

That seems true now. Our voters did show up. In Florida, for instance, the voting base was 9 points more Republican than Democrat, just a bit worse than what we expect in 2024. There were surely areas where we could have improved turnout. But the main issue is not turnout. The main issue is that many who voted for Trump/Vance in 2024 chose Democrats in 2026.

There will be plenty of arguing and blaming about what happened and why. One respected pollster told me that our economic messaging wasn’t sharp enough towards the end. I believe that’s true.

But the real reason we lost is clear to almost everyone.

Another pollster, one of the brightest in politics, told me yesterday we’d lose the generic ballot by 13 points. I felt negative going into Tuesday, but I was still shocked by this. His polling showed that many Trump 2024 voters were upset and planning to vote for Democrats. He asked those voters who left us what would bring them back. The top four answers, which covered almost all responses were:

1) End the war
2) Focus on cost of living/inflation
3) Put America First
4) Change our relationship to Israel

Our voters showed up. And these four reasons are why many of them voted for Democrats. This is from a pollster who accurately predicted the results. While many spent Monday criticizing Rachel Campos Duffy for calling for a diplomatic solution to the conflict, it turns out her advice was wise. (She’s also a great person.)

In the coming months, there will be a lot of gaslighting. Expect to hear various establishment politicians say the answer to our problems is amnesty. I’m open to the idea that we should change how we enforce laws, like focusing more on businesses that hire illegal workers. But anyone pushing amnesty is not being honest.

The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said so last night.

If you want to argue that it was worth it, that losing the Senate for the next six years was a fair cost, then go ahead. Argue it was worth paying. Agree or disagree, that’s at least a truthful discussion.

But everyone knows why we lost. And any honest talk about our future must start there.

I remain hopeful about our country. To those who are angry and want to say, “I told you so”: you’re right, you did tell us so. Channel that energy into electing Republicans who share your views. To those who are just upset about the results, you have every right to be. Let’s take that anger and work hard to save our country.