Key facts
- Vance wrote that the reason Republicans lost is the war and that any honest conversation must start there.
- Vance argued defections from the party's 2024 voter coalition, not a lack of turnout, drove the losses.
- Trump said he knew how Vance felt about the war and called the post fine.
- Trump said he would have done nothing different on the war and acknowledged high gas and diesel prices hurt the party.
- Donald Trump Jr. wrote on X that every word of Vance's post was correct.
- Cruz posted a scathing take on the midterms hours after Vance's assessment.
Vice President JD Vance said on November 4 that the war with Iran caused the Republican Party's losses in the November 3 midterm elections, in a roughly 600-word post on X. Vance wrote that the reason Republicans lost is the war and that any honest conversation about where the party goes from here must start there, according to Fox News.
Vance argued that defections from the party's successful 2024 coalition of voters, rather than a lack of Republican turnout, drove the losses. He also appeared to put distance between himself and President Donald Trump on foreign policy and America's relationship with Israel.
Trump told reporters he knew how Vance felt about the war and thought the post was fine. The president acknowledged that the war and the high gasoline and diesel prices it spurred hurt his party at the ballot box but said that if he had to do it again he would have done nothing different.
Donald Trump Jr. endorsed Vance's post on X. Hours later, Senator Ted Cruz posted his own assessment of the midterm losses, Fox News reported.