Key facts
- Cruz said on his podcast that tariffs made everything too expensive and the Iran war had dragged on too long.
- Vance wrote on X that the reason Republicans lost is the war, saying voters were angry at diverted focus.
- DeSantis called the elections close to an extinction-level event for the Republican Party.
- Trump told reporters the war drove gasoline up a little bit and largely pushed voters away.
- Democrats seized authority in both chambers of Congress and won a majority of gubernatorial races.
Republican figures positioning to succeed Donald Trump blamed the Iran war and his tariff agenda for the party's midterm defeats, in comments reported on November 5, 2026.
Senator Ted Cruz said on his podcast Verdict With Ted Cruz on Wednesday that tariffs had made everything too expensive and the Iran war had dragged on too long. "It should have been brief, decisive and over. It needs to end," he said.
JD Vance wrote in a post on X that the reason Republicans lost is the war, saying voters were angry at the administration for diverting focus away from Americans. "To the people who are just pissed at the results, you should be," he wrote.
Florida governor Ron DeSantis said the elections were "close to an extinction-level event" for the party. He cited Democratic ads targeting Republicans over the case of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and congressional stock trading.
Trump told reporters at the White House on Wednesday that it was "largely true" the war drove gasoline up a little bit and pushed potential Republican voters away. Democrats won authority in both chambers of Congress and a majority of gubernatorial races.