US Vice President Vance blames Iran war for Republican defeat

US Vice President J D Vance said on Wednesday that the war with Iran was the main reason Republicans lost the midterm elections arguing that voters who supported Donald Trump in 2024 turned against his party despite turning out to voteIn a lengthy post on X Vance offered an unusually direct assessment of Tuesdays defeat saying internal Republican data had initially suggested that the partys supporters were voting in sufficient numbers to avoid a sweeping setbackBut the main problem is not turnout The main problem is that many people who voted for TrumpVance in 2024 voted for Democrats in 2026 he wroteVance said Republican analysts had closely monitored the composition of the electorate comparing it with the coalition that elected Trump and Vance two years earlier In some states turnout looked ordinary in others he said it was exceptionally strongBut an unnamed data analyst had cautioned that turnout would not necessarily translate into Republican votes Vance recalled being told Our voters are turning out but they may not vote for usThe Vice President said a pollster he respected had warned him before the election that Republicans could lose the national generic congressional ballot by 13 percentage points That pollster he said asked disaffected 2024 Trump voters what would bring them backThe four leading responses according to Vance were to end the war address the cost of living and inflation put America first and change Washingtons relationship with IsraelOur voters showed up And the above four reasons are why many of them voted for Democrats he saidVance did not identify the pollster or provide the surveys sample size fieldwork dates or other methodological detailsHe acknowledged criticism that the Republican campaign had failed to sharpen its economic message in the closing weeks but insisted that the central cause of defeat was clearThe reason we lost is the war The president himself said so last night Vance wroteTrump told Fox News after the election that Iran was partly responsible for the Republican losses although he defended the decision to wage war In a separate interview with The Wall Street Journal he described Iran as one element of the outcome and said he did not regret the military campaignVance challenged supporters of the conflict to acknowledge its political cost arguing that losing Senate seats for six years was a consequence that advocates of the war should be prepared to defendHe also warned against attempts within the Republican Party to blame the result on immigration policy or advocate amnesty for people living in the country unlawfullyVance said he was open to adjusting enforcement including greater scrutiny of employers who hire workers without legal status but rejected amnesty as a response to the electionAcknowledging likely internal arguments Vance urged disappointed Republican supporters to channel their anger into future elections rather than abandon the partyDemocrats won control of both the Senate and House of Representatives in Tuesdays midterm elections according to CBS News projections Their Senate gains included victories in North Carolina Texas Ohio Kansas and South Carolina reversing Republican control of the chamberThe elections were held midway through Trumps second fouryear term The USIsraeli war with Iran began in February and has disrupted regional shipping and energy markets while high fuel prices and household costs became major campaign issues across the United StatesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever