The vice president, a likely 2028 contender, said voters who backed Trump in 2024 turned on the party. He urged an honest conversation.
WASHINGTON – Vice President JD Vance said Wednesday that Republicans lost control of Congress because of voters’ opposition to the war with Iran, in his first public comments since the party’s midterm defeat.
“The reason we lost is the war,” Vance wrote on X. “The president himself said so last night.” He added that anyone who thinks it was worth it, and that “losing the Senate for the next 6 years” was worth it, should argue so, “but everyone knows why we lost.” He said any honest conversation about where the party goes next “must start there,” CBS News and the Associated Press reported.
Vance said the problem was not turnout, but that many people who voted for Trump and Vance in 2024 voted for Democrats in 2026 because of anger over the war, the cost of living and inflation, and a sense that the party was not putting America first, The Hill reported. He did not point to the administration’s immigration policies as a cause. Fox News said he also cited US relations with Israel.
Vance was initially among the administration’s most skeptical figures on the war but later took a public role in peace negotiations over the summer, and both he and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have been tied to the conflict through those talks. Trump launched the war in late February, promising it would last four to five weeks. The post fed speculation about the 2028 Republican nomination, in which Vance is a leading contender.
Republican lawmakers have blamed other factors, including tariffs, the White House ballroom project and weak candidates. Trump said Wednesday that Vance’s assessment was “largely true” but that he has no regrets about the war.
This report draws on information from CBS News, the Associated Press, The Hill, Fox News and NewsNation.