US Vice President JD Vance says Iran war is 'the reason we lost' midterms

Why This Matters

Key context: <p>US Vice President JD Vance said on Wednesday that the Iran war had doomed Republicans in the <a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/2042019/democrats-win-us-congress-in-midterm-rout-of-trump">midterm elections</a>, moving to distance himself from the unpopular conflict ahead of a possible 2028 White House run.</p> <p>“The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said so last night,” Vance said in a lengthy post on X — apparently referring to President Donald Trump’s remarks that the Iran war was “part of it” but that it was still justified.</p> <p>“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,” added Vance.</p> <p>“But everyone knows why we lost. And any honest conversation about where we go from here must start there.”</p> <figure class='media w-full w-full media-- media--embed media--uneven media--tweet' data-original-src='https://x.com/JDVance/status/2118004988433641835'> <div class='media__item media__item--twitter '><span> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"> <a href="https://twitter.com/JDVance/status/2118004988433641835"></a> </blockquote> </span></div> </figure> <p>The <a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/2042019/democrats-win-us-congress-in-midterm-rout-of-trump">Democratic wave</a> in Tuesday’s midterms has raised major questions over Vance’s previous status as the frontrunner for the Republican nomination in the 2028 presidential election. He has not yet formally declared that he will run.</p> <p>Vance, a longtime vocal critic of US foreign interventionism, had reportedly been <a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/2008928#:~:text=Vance%2C%20a%20war%20sceptic%20who%20has%20become%20the%20public%20face%20of%20the%20deal%20Trump%20signed%20at%20Versailles%20on%20Thursday%2C%20rejected%20claims%20that%20the%20deal%20rewards%20Iran%20without%20achieving%20Trump%E2%80%99s%20war%20aims.">sceptical</a> behind the scenes about the war on Iran that Trump and Israel launched in late February.</p> <p>Vance also acknowledged that Republican voters who backed Trump and himself two years ago had switched sides due to the war and its effects on the US economy.</p> <p>“The main problem is that many people who voted for Trump/Vance in 2024 voted for Democrats in 2026,” the vice president said.</p> <figure class='media w-full sm:w-1/2 media--right media--embed media--uneven' data-original-src='https://www.dawn.com/news/2042109'> <div class='media__item media__item--newskitlink '> <iframe class="nk-iframe" width="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="height:250px;position:relative" src="https://www.dawn.com/news/card/2042109" sandbox="allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-popups allow-modals allow-forms"></iframe></div> </figure> <p>He said a pollster that he respected showed that the Iran war and the economy were key factors in voters abandoning Republicans.</p> <p>“In his polling, he saw that a lot of Trump 2024 voters were angry and planning to vote for Democrats,” Vance wrote. “He asked those voters who had abandoned us what would cause them to come back on our team. The top four answers, accounting for nearly all of the responses, were:</p> <ol> <li>End the war</li> <li>Focus on cost of living/inflation</li> <li>Put America First</li> <li>Change our relationship to Israel.”</li> </ol> <h2><a id="trump-says-war-has-been-worth-it-despite-election-losses" href="#trump-says-war-has-been-worth-it-despite-election-losses" class="heading-permalink" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1" title="Permalink"></a>Trump says war has been worth it despite election losses</h2> <p>Shortly after Vance made the post, Trump said it was “largely true” that the war caused his defeat.</p> <figure class='media w-full w-full media-- media--embed media--uneven media--tweet' data-original-src='https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/2118044562815955243'> <div class='media__item media__item--twitter '><span> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"> <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/2118044562815955243"></a> </blockquote> </span></div> </figure> <p>“I think it’s largely true because it drove the gasoline up a little bit short term,” said Trump, when asked about Vance’s comment while speaking to reporters at his White House ballroom construction site.</p> <p>“But at the same time, if I had it to do again, I’d have to do it again. Because long term, it’s the only answer. You can’t let Iran have a nuclear weapon,” he insisted.</p> <p>However, the US president ruled out firing Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, a staunch proponent of the war, saying: “I think he’s doing a very good job.”</p> <figure class='media w-full w-full media-- media--embed media--uneven media--tweet' data-original-src='https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/2118048661984735612'> <div class='media__item media__item--twitter '><span> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"> <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/2118048661984735612"></a> </blockquote> </span></div> </figure> <p>Meanwhile, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said that the Iran war “must end” and suggested his party’s incoming majority in Congress could use their control over government funding to press for that goal.</p> <p>“The American people don’t know what the heck we’re fighting for in Iran,” Schumer tells journalists, adding that Trump has never made it clear and “changes his mind day to day, minute to minute”.</p> <p>“This war must end. It must end,” Schumer added.</p> <p>He later noted that the “power of the purse” is “one of the ways of deterring a president who does war without the consent of the American people”.</p> <p>“Make no mistake: whenever Trump defies the will of the American people or the law, we will launch investigations, take him to court and entangle him in legislative razor wire,” Schumer warns. “The days of Trump’s supplicant Senate are over.”</p> <figure class='media w-full w-full media-- media--embed media--uneven media--tweet' data-original-src='https://x.com/FoxNews/status/2118019304478155148'> <div class='media__item media__item--twitter '><span> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"> <a href="https://twitter.com/FoxNews/status/2118019304478155148"></a> </blockquote> </span></div> </figure> This development from dawn.com highlights ongoing changes in the sector.