Vance breaks silence on midterms: ‘The reason we lost is the war’

Vice President Vance on Wednesday blamed the ongoing Iran war for the Republican Party’s abysmal results in the midterm elections, brushing off other issues that appeared to tank GOP candidates, including the Trump administration’s harsh immigration policies.

“The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said so last night,” Vance said in a lengthy social media post.

“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,” he continued.

“But everyone knows why we lost. And any honest conversation about where we go from here must start there.”

The president’s son, Donald Trump Jr., shortly thereafter agreed with Vance’s assessment, writing on X above the original post: “Every word of this is [100, 100, 100 percent].”

President Trump earlier had partially blamed the Iran war for the GOP’s sweeping midterm losses , even as he stood defiant and said he would have done it again.

Trump told The Wall Street Journal that the Middle East conflict, now in its eighth month, “was a piece of it” in an election night interview .

Asked later Tuesday about Vance’s post and whether he knew it was coming, Trump said: “I know how he feels about [the Iran war]. I think it was fine. I thought it was good.”

Speaking to reporters in the White House ballroom, which is in the midst of construction, Trump said he knew the war would impact voting but “whether it impacted it or not Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon, and they will never have a nuclear weapon.”

He added that the war will end “whenever I want it to, but it’s gotta be done right.”

Administration officials have quickly sought to deflect blame for Republicans’ trouncing, the likes of which has not been seen by either party in a midterm election in the last 50 years. The results are widely seen as a referendum on Trump’s presidency.

The war has sent gas and diesel prices soaring in the U.S. and globally since it began in late February, increasing voter frustrations after the president campaigned on ending foreign wars and lowering prices in 2024.

A longtime skeptic of U.S. intervention abroad, Vance has sought to publicly distance himself from the deeply unpopular conflict ahead of a possible 2028 presidential run. Early in the war , it was reported that he was dubious of and opposed to the U.S. striking Tehran as Trump mulled whether to do so.

After the war began, Vance publicly defended Operation Epic Fury, though in recent months he has attempted to steer clear of the topic.

In his post to X on Tuesday, he insisted that despite the major GOP losses, “data analysts on our side” showed in the lead up to voting that “in some states turnout was merely OK, in other states it was downright amazing, and in no state was it catastrophic,” adding that “there was a genuine sense of optimism on our team.”

But he said the main problem wasn’t turnout but that “many people who voted for Trump/Vance in 2024 voted for Democrats in 2026” due to anger over the Iran war, cost of living and inflation, not focusing on putting America first and the current U.S. relationship with Israel.

In pointing their fingers back at Trump, Republican lawmakers have said the war, the administration’s tariff policies, overfocusing on pet projects such as the White House ballroom and supporting weak candidates for the midterms ruined the GOP’s chances of keeping control of Congress.

The result was Republicans losing at least seven Senate seats, Decision Desk HQ (DDHQ) projected. Two Senate races, Mississippi and Alaska, remain uncalled as of Wednesday morning.

The GOP also lost 30 seats in the House, with more than 20 races left to be projected, according to DDHQ.

“There will be a lot of infighting and arguing over what happened and why that is. One of the pollsters I really respect told me that our economic messaging wasn’t sharp enough down the stretch. I’m sure that’s true,” Vance admitted.

He predicted “a lot of gaslighting” in the next few months from establishment politicians saying “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,” he claimed.

Despite the gargantuan losses, Vance said he remained hopeful for the U.S.

“To the people who are pissed off and want to say, ‘I 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,” he wrote.