▶ Watch Video: Trump emphasizes “I wasn’t on the ballot” after Democrats take House, Senate
Washington — Vice President JD Vance said Wednesday that he believes Republicans lost control of both chambers of Congress because of voters’ opposition to the war in Iran and suggested that the conflict may not have been worth the cost of losing the GOP’s hold on the Senate.
In his first public comments since Democrats’ rout of Republicans in the midterm elections, Vance said Republicans must be honest about the impact the war had on their campaigns in order to determine the best path forward for the party.
“The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said so last night,” Vance wrote in a 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. 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.”
The vice president said many voters who backed President Trump and him in the 2024 presidential contest cast their ballots for Democrats in 2026 for four reasons: to end the war with Iran, focus on the cost of living and inflation, put America first and change the U.S. relationship to Israel.
“Our voters showed up,” Vance wrote. “And the above four reasons are why many of them voted for Democrats.”
The vice president highlighted Fox News host Rachel Campos-Duffy’s call to reach a “diplomatic resolution” to the conflict with Iran, saying that her recommendation was “sound.” Vance spent much of the spring leading U.S. negotiators in talks aimed at ending the conflict and reached an ill-fated agreement with Iran to halt the fighting that soon fell apart.
In his post, the vice president said an unnamed data analyst told him that voters who backed him and Mr. Trump in 2024 were angry and would vote for Democrats in the midterms. He said that analysis “looks prophetic now.”
“Our voters did show up,” he wrote. “In Florida, for example, the electorate was 9 points more Republican than Democrat, just a couple points worse than 2024. Undoubtedly there were places we could have done better on turnout. But the main problem is not turnout. The main problem is that many people who voted for Trump/Vance in 2024 voted for Democrats in 2026. “
Vance also said it’s likely the GOP’s economic messaging “wasn’t sharp enough” in the closing weeks of the campaign.
“I remain hopeful about our country,” he said. “To the people who are pissed off and want to say, ‘II told you so’: you’re right, you did tell us so. Take that energy into electing Republicans who share your worldview. To the people who are just pissed at the results, you should be. Let’s take that anger and get back to the work of saving our country.”
Democrats are expected to hold at least 54 seats in the Senate following wins in 10 of 11 battleground states. The Senate elections in Alaska and Mississippi are unresolved and rated as toss-ups. CBS News estimates Democrats will control between 251 and 268 seats in the House when all votes are counted.
Mr. Trump launched the war in Iran in late February and had pledged at the time that it would last only four to five weeks. But it has since stretched into its eighth month, leading to a spike in gas prices.
In an interview with Fox News on Tuesday, the president suggested that the war with Iran was partially to blame for Republicans’ losses, but he said “people understand the importance of what I’ve done.”
Still, Mr. Trump has repeatedly defended his decision to go to war with Iran and told CBS News on Tuesday that Tehran must not be able to develop a nuclear weapon.
The president said the war will end “when I say it ends.”
The U.S. launched limited defensive strikes on Iranian targets in the Strait of Hormuz on Monday. Twenty-three U.S. service members have been killed during the conflict, and 865 have been wounded, according to the Defense Department.