Vance and Trump: Republicans Lost Midterms Because of Iran War

 

“WASHINGTON — Vice President JD Vance said Wednesday that Republicans lost the midterm election in decisive fashion because of the Iran war.

 

Vance published a lengthy tweet in the morning, saying that many who voted for Trump and himself in 2024 turned out, but voted for Democrats:

 

    One of the things the data analysts on our side obsessed over was “composition”—whether the electorate looked close enough to 2024 for Republicans to win. And despite polls that showed a Democrat blowout, the data kept on telling us the same story: in some states turnout was merely OK, in other states it was downright amazing, and in no state was it catastrophic. There was a genuine sense of optimism on our team: our people were showing up.

 

    So, I asked the smartest data guy I know, does that mean we’re going to shock the world? “No,” he told me. “We might do better than the polls suggest. But the data is telling us that a lot of Trump/Vance 2024 voters are pissed and planning to vote for the other guys. Our voters are turning out, but they may not vote for us.”

 

    Well, that looks prophetic now. Our voters did show up. In Florida, for example, the electorate was 9 points more Republican than Democrat, just a couple points worse than 2024. Undoubtedly there were places we could have done better on turnout. But the main problem is not turnout. The main problem is that many people who voted for Trump/Vance in 2024 voted for Democrats in 2026.

 

Vance added that another pollster he trusts told him the GOP would get crushed on Tuesday because “lots of Trump 2024 voters were angry.”

 

The pollster told Vance that four key moves would help these voters come back to the GOP:

“1) End the war

2) Focus on cost of living/inflation

3) Put America First

4) Change our relationship to Israel.”

 

 

“Our voters showed up. And the above four reasons are why many of them voted for Democrats. This is according to a pollster who nailed the results,” Vance said.

 

He then emphasized that the reason Republicans lost is Iran:

 

    In the next few months, there’s going to be a lot of gaslighting. Expect to hear any number of establishment politicians say the solution to our woes is amnesty. I’m open to the idea that we should change enforcement—by focusing more on businesses that hire illegal labor, for instance. But anyone pushing amnesty is lying to you.

 

    The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said so last night.

 

    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.

 

    But everyone knows why we lost. And any honest conversation about where we go from here must start there.

    I remain hopeful about our country. To the people who are pissed off and want to say, “I told you so”: you’re right, you did tell us so. Take that energy into electing Republicans who share your worldview. To the people who are just pissed at the results, you should be. Let’s take that anger and get back to the work of saving our country.

 

As of Wednesday morning, Democrats held 54 Senate seats, and led in Mississippi and Alaska, where races are too tight to call. They had also reached 228 House seats, with many more yet to be called.”

 

Trump is thinking about Iran too:

“Trump pointed to foreign matters as a key factor contributing to the disastrous outcome for the GOP, with exit polling confirming it was indeed amongst a host of factors to determine Republican outcomes.

He acknowledged that the U.S.-Israel war on Iran, which has impacted on consumer prices in the U.S., had affected the vote, saying: “Iran was a piece of it.”

“I think a part of it was Iran, but at the same time, people understood the importance of what I’ve done with Iran,” Trump told Fox.”

 

Zelensky added to this Trump's loss, increasing diesel prices in the world by refusing to respond to Trump asking to stop the bombing of Russian oil refineries. President Donald Trump urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to halt strikes on Russian oil refineries and diesel-producing facilities, stating that these attacks contribute to global diesel shortages and high fuel prices.