Vice President JD Vance said Wednesday that the war with Iran was the main reason Republicans lost both chambers of Congress in Tuesday's midterm elections.
"The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said so last night," Vance wrote in a long post on X, NBC News reported.
Vance was pointing to an interview President Donald Trump gave The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday night. Trump said the war was a factor in the party's losses but added that he would have done it again, according to The Hill.
Turnout was not the core problem, Vance wrote. Many people who voted for the Trump-Vance ticket in 2024 backed Democrats this time. He gave four reasons: they wanted the war over, they were squeezed by the cost of living and inflation, they wanted America put first and they wanted a change in the U.S. relationship with Israel, The Jerusalem Post reported.
He spoke directly to Republicans who supported the war. "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," he wrote.
Trump weighed in later. He told reporters it was "largely true" that the war hurt Republicans but said the conflict was still worth it, CNN reported.
Gas prices have climbed since the fighting began. Democrats used that to compete in Republican territory and flipped Senate seats in Texas, Kansas and Iowa, The Hill reported.
Vance defended the military operation in public after it started but had largely stayed away from the subject in recent months. Before the first strikes, he said there was "no chance" of a long U.S. war in the Middle East.
The administration announced new sanctions on Iran on Wednesday, CNN reported.