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US Vice President JD Vance has blamed the war with Iran for the Republican Party’s sweeping defeat in the midterm elections, saying the conflict was the main reason voters turned against the party.
In a lengthy social media post on Wednesday, Vance said many voters who supported President Donald Trump and him in the 2024 presidential election switched their allegiance to Democrats in Tuesday’s midterm polls.
“The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said so last night,” Vance wrote.
He argued that Republicans needed to address four major issues to regain voters’ support: ending the war with Iran, tackling the rising cost of living and inflation, prioritising the America First agenda, and reconsidering the US relationship with Israel.
Vance also said that some Trump supporters had become frustrated with the administration’s policies and were planning to vote for Democrats.
His remarks came after Trump acknowledged that the Iran conflict had partly contributed to the Republican setback, although he defended the decision to launch the war, saying he would do it again.
The vice president’s comments marked a notable public divergence from Trump’s position on the war, as Democrats secured control of both chambers of Congress in the midterm elections.
Vance called for an honest assessment of the election results, arguing that the political cost of the war must be part of any discussion about the Republican Party’s future.
