US President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance have blamed the ongoing war with Iran for the Republican Party’s crushing defeat in the midterm elections, dismissing other issues that also appeared to undermine GOP candidates, reports Al Jazeera.
“The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said so last night,” Vance said in a lengthy social media post.
“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,” he added.
“But everyone knows why we lost. And any honest conversation about where we go from here must start there.”
Trump had earlier acknowledged that the Iran war contributed to the Republicans’ sweeping midterm losses, although he remained defiant and said he would have taken the same course of action again.
Speaking later on Tuesday, Trump said he had anticipated the war would influence voting.
However, he maintained that preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons remained non-negotiable.
“Whether it impacted it or not Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon, and they will never have a nuclear weapon,” he said.
Meanwhile, administration officials have moved quickly to shift responsibility for the Republicans’ heavy defeat, marking the worst midterm performance for either party in the past 50 years.
The results are widely viewed as a referendum on Trump’s presidency.
Since the war began in late February, fuel prices in the United States and across the world have surged, adding to voter frustration.
The rising costs have particularly undermined Trump’s 2024 campaign pledges to end foreign wars and bring down prices.
Republican lawmakers have also criticised Trump, arguing that several factors damaged the party’s prospects of retaining control of Congress.
These included the Iran war, the administration’s tariff policies, its excessive focus on pet projects such as the White House ballroom and its decision to back weak candidates in the midterm elections.
