Vance says the ‘real reason’ for GOP rout was anger over Iran war
“The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said so last night,” Vance said in a lengthy post on X. Tierney L. Cross / Pool / GettyShareAdd NBC News to GoogleBy Rebecca ShabadHours after Democrats routed Republicans in the midterm elections, Vice President JD Vance blamed his party’s losses on Americans’ frustration over the U.S. war with Iran, which has driven up oil prices at a time when costs are already high.
“The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said so last night,” Vance said in a lengthy post on X.
“If you’d like to argue it was worth it, that losing the Senate for the next 6 years was worth it, then do so,” Vance wrote. “Argue it was a worthwhile cost to pay. Agree or disagree, that’s at least honest,” Vance added. “But everyone knows why we lost. And any honest conversation about where we go from here must start there.”
The vice president, a potential GOP 2028 presidential contender, cited an unnamed pollster whom he called “one of the smartest people I know in politics” who told Vance on Tuesday that in his polling voters identified four top issues that they said Republicans would need to address to win back their support.
Vance said they included ending the war on Iran, focusing on the cost of living and inflation, putting America first, and changing the U.S. relationship to Israel.
“Our voters showed up. And the above four reasons are why many of them voted for Democrats,” Vance said. “This is according to a pollster who nailed the results.”
Trump said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal Tuesday that the war was a factor in Republicans losing seats.
“Iran was a piece of it,” Trump said, defending the decision to launch the conflict. “I don’t think about it. I did the right thing. I would have done it again.”
The president had spent the final weeks on the campaign trail highlighting the war on Iran, claiming that the U.S. would make a deal soon with Tehran and that gas prices would come down quickly. In an interview on Fox News on Monday, Trump said, “When was the last time we fired anything? This isn’t a war. This is a very soft war.”
FOR SUBSCRIBERSIran says Americans rejected Trump’s war as the world reacts to the midterms rout FOR SUBSCRIBERSVoters rejected Trump’s ‘booming’ economy narrative and the AI that underpins it FOR SUBSCRIBERS‘No one is going to outwork Hakeem’: Jeffries’ rise to the cusp of history has been rapidFOR SUBSCRIBERSAI chatbots cited dozens of spoofed campaign websites before midterm elections, researchers sayFOR SUBSCRIBERSWhy Devin Booker is unlike almost any superstar in the NBAFOR SUBSCRIBERSThe Data Dive: Steve Kornacki charts where Democrats sliced into GOP strongholdsFOR SUBSCRIBERSWhat Democrats plan to do with House majority: Investigate Trump and tackle affordabilityFOR SUBSCRIBERSElection takeaways: The Trump coalition implodes. What comes next?FOR SUBSCRIBERS‘Everything is going to change’: Republicans begin grappling with how they lost so badly FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe battlegrounds our journalists are reporting fromFOR SUBSCRIBERSThe midterms are over, and Trump is over the midtermsFOR SUBSCRIBERSWhat is rhabdo? Rare muscle condition linked to marathon runner’s deathFOR SUBSCRIBERSDOJ is deploying a record number of monitors on Election Day FOR SUBSCRIBERSHow to watch election night: Key races, poll closing times, bellwether campaigns and moreFOR SUBSCRIBERSThe Data Dive: Steve Kornacki’s guide to early election night bellwethersSlide 1 of 1For SubscribersFOR SUBSCRIBERSIran says Americans rejected Trump’s war as the world reacts to the midterms rout FOR SUBSCRIBERSVoters rejected Trump’s ‘booming’ economy narrative and the AI that underpins it FOR SUBSCRIBERS‘No one is going to outwork Hakeem’: Jeffries’ rise to the cusp of history has been rapidFOR SUBSCRIBERSAI chatbots cited dozens of spoofed campaign websites before midterm elections, researchers sayFOR SUBSCRIBERSWhy Devin Booker is unlike almost any superstar in the NBAFOR SUBSCRIBERSThe Data Dive: Steve Kornacki charts where Democrats sliced into GOP strongholdsFOR SUBSCRIBERSWhat Democrats plan to do with House majority: Investigate Trump and tackle affordabilityFOR SUBSCRIBERSElection takeaways: The Trump coalition implodes. What comes next?FOR SUBSCRIBERS‘Everything is going to change’: Republicans begin grappling with how they lost so badly FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe battlegrounds our journalists are reporting fromFOR SUBSCRIBERSThe midterms are over, and Trump is over the midtermsFOR SUBSCRIBERSWhat is rhabdo? Rare muscle condition linked to marathon runner’s deathFOR SUBSCRIBERSDOJ is deploying a record number of monitors on Election Day FOR SUBSCRIBERSHow to watch election night: Key races, poll closing times, bellwether campaigns and moreFOR SUBSCRIBERSThe Data Dive: Steve Kornacki’s guide to early election night bellwethersSlide 1 of 1“We’re knocking the hell out of them. As soon as the war ends, fuel prices are going to drop like a rock,” he also said in an interview on a Kansas City radio show in late October.
The U.S. attack on Iran first began with strikes on the country, in collaboration with Israel, in late February. The president has said for months since that the war would end soon. He said over the last week that he had no immediate plans to strike Iran after the election.
Trump had reiterated in the numerous rallies leading up to the election that the president’s party has historically suffered during midterm elections.
While Trump partially blamed Tuesday’s outcome on the war, he suggested that most of all, it was because he himself was not on the ballot, despite telling voters to “pretend” he was. NBC News’ exit polling, however, showed deep dissatisfaction with Trump’s policies among voters.
“I wasn’t on the Ballot and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE!” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Tuesday night. Thank you for your attention to this matter.”
Rebecca ShabadRebecca Shabad is a politics reporter for NBC News based in Washington.
