Vance blames the Iran war for Republican losses in midterm elections; Trump partly agrees

In brief

• Vice President JD Vance says the war against Iran was the main reason Republicans lost in the congressional midterm elections.
• Vance says many Trump voters from 2024 backed Democrats because of dissatisfaction with the military policy.
• President Donald Trump partly agrees, citing higher gasoline prices, but defends the war as necessary to prevent an Iranian nuclear weapon.

Vance points to Iran war as main factor in midterm losses

Vice President JD Vance said the war with Iran was the main reason Republican candidates lost in the congressional midterm elections (Вэнс заявил, что в поражении республиканцев на промежуточных выборах «виновата» война США против Ирана – NV). In a post on X, he wrote that many Americans who backed Donald Trump and his team in the 2024 presidential race voted for Democrats this time because they were unhappy with the administration's military policy ("Програли через війну": Венс зробив гучне зізнання після провалу республікагців на виборах – TSN).

Before the vote, Republican strategists studied the make-up of the electorate and turnout, trying to determine whether they could repeat their 2024 results. Vance said an analyst he consulted had warned that some Trump and Vance voters were disillusioned and planned to back other candidates. Turnout among Republican supporters was high, but that did not translate into votes for Republican candidates.

Vance gave Florida as an example. There, he said, the electorate was nine percentage points more Republican than Democratic, only a few points below the 2024 presidential result.

Trump agrees in part, defends the war

Trump told reporters that the war and the rise in gasoline prices were largely behind the party's defeat, saying the conflict had pushed fuel costs up in the short term (Трамп согласился с Венсом в том, что война с Ираном и подорожание бензина стали причинами поражения республиканцев на выборах – NV) (Війна з Іраном коштувала республіканцям голосів на виборах: Трамп відповів, чи шкодує про неї – TSN). He said he knew the war would carry political risks, but argued that Iran could not be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons, whatever its effect on the vote.

Asked when the war would end, Trump said it would end when he chose. He also blamed Republican candidates for failing to carry the enthusiasm of his rallies into their own campaigns.

On the prospect of impeachment after the Democratic gains, Trump said he was not worried, arguing that such a move would damage the Democratic Party because it would have no legitimate grounds.