Vice President JD Vance blamed the Iran war for costing the Republican Party control of the House and Senate in his first comments since the midterm election results showed the nation rebuking President Donald Trump’s administration.
In a lengthy social media post, Vance dismissed criticisms that the economy pushed GOP supporters to vote for Democrats and instead claimed that the unpopularity of the war catalyzed the Democratic beatdown Tuesday night.
The statement marks the first post-midterm moment in which Vance, widely seen as the 2028 Republican front-runner, is creating daylight with the administration’s policies, particularly the unpopular war.
“The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said so last night,” Vance wrote Wednesday morning 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. Argue it was a worthwhile cost to pay. Agree or disagree, that’s at least honest. But everyone knows why we lost. And any honest conversation about where we go from here must start there.”
Democrats will have at least 54 Senate seats and at least 228 House seats, effectively hampering the last two years of the Trump administration.
Polls had repeatedly shown that the Iran war, cost of living, economy, and tariffs were top issues for voters before Tuesday, which Vance acknowledged in his lengthy post.
In the wake of the GOP’s rout, Vance may need to put increased distance between himself and the Trump White House. Some Republicans are even quietly beginning to hope that Secretary of State Marco Rubio will actually challenge Vance for the nomination in the aftermath.
“To the people who are pissed off and want to say, ‘I told you so’: you’re right, you did tell us so,” Vance wrote. “Take that energy into electing Republicans who share your worldview.”
Vance and Trump furiously crisscrossed the nation in support of Republican lawmakers before Tuesday, projecting confidence that the GOP would win. But in his post, Vance admitted that pollsters showed the situation was more dire than usual.
“Another pollster—one of the smartest people I know in politics, told me yesterday we’d lose the generic ballot by 13 points,” Vance wrote. “I felt negative going into Tuesday, but even I was shocked by this. In his polling, he saw that a lot of Trump 2024 voters were angry and planning to vote for Democrats.”
The vice president’s comments are notable because Trump tapped him to help lead peace deal negotiations with Tehran, along with special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner.
The war, which started at the end of February, led to high gas and diesel prices, angering farmers in red-leaning Kansas, Ohio, and Iowa and helping Democrats flip key seats in these states.
HOW SHIFTING DEMOGRAPHICS HELPED DEMOCRATS FLIP THE HOUSE AND SENATE ACCORDING TO EXIT POLLS
Vance remained adamant that amnesty for illegal immigrants was not the solution to the GOP’s woes. Exit polls seem to suggest he may be right. NBC’s exit polls showed Democrats winning voters on every issue aside from immigration.
“In the next few months, there’s going to be a lot of gaslighting,” Vance wrote. “Expect to hear any number of establishment politicians say the solution to our woes is amnesty. I’m open to the idea that we should change enforcement—by focusing more on businesses that hire illegal labor, for instance. But anyone pushing amnesty is lying to you.”