WASHINGTON: US Vice President JD Vance has backed a “diplomatic solution” to the Iran war, acknowledging that the conflict was a major reason behind the Republicans’ defeat in the US midterm elections.
Democrats seized control of the US Congress on Wednesday, capturing the Senate and House of Representatives in a stunning victory.
The Democratic landslide will give the opposition power to block legislation, launch broad investigations into Trump’s administration and thwart his judicial and senior government appointments.
The vote reflected anger over living costs, tariffs and Trump’s war against Iran, which has sent fuel prices soaring and compounded dissatisfaction with an already deeply unpopular president.
In a lengthy post on X, JD Vance said many voters who supported President Donald Trump and him in the 2024 presidential election had switched their support to Democrats in the midterms, with the Iran war emerging as the main reason for their decision.
“The main problem is that many people who voted for Trump/Vance in 2024 voted for Democrats in 2026,” he wrote, adding that the reasons behind the shift were clear.
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.
There will be a lot of infighting and arguing over what happened and why that is. One of the pollsters I really respect told me that our economic messaging wasn’t sharp enough down the stretch. I’m sure that’s true.
But the real reason we lost is obvious to almost everyone.
Another pollster—one of the smartest people I know in politics, told me yesterday we’d lose the generic ballot by 13 points. I felt negative going into Tuesday, but even I was shocked by this. In his polling, he saw that a lot of Trump 2024 voters were angry and planning to vote for Democrats. He asked those voters who had abandoned us what would cause them to come back on our team. The top four answers, accounting for nearly all of the responses were:
1) End the war
2) Focus on cost of living/inflation
3) Put America First
4) Change our relationship to IsraelOur 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. While many spent Monday attacking Rachel Campos Duffy for calling for a diplomatic resolution to the conflict, it turns out her political advice was sound. (She’s also a great person.)
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.
— JD Vance (@JDVance) November 4, 2026
‘Changing the Country’s Relationship with Israel’
Citing findings shared by a pollster, Vance said voters who had abandoned the Republicans identified four main reasons for reconsidering their support: ending the war, addressing the cost of living and inflation, prioritising the “America First” agenda, and changing the country’s relationship with Israel.
“Our voters showed up. And the above four reasons are why many of them voted for Democrats,” he said.
Vance also defended television personality Rachel Campos Duffy, who had called for a diplomatic solution to the conflict, saying her political advice had proved sound.
“While many spent Monday attacking Rachel Campos Duffy for calling for a diplomatic resolution to the conflict, it turns out her political advice was sound,” he wrote.
The US Vice President dismissed arguments that poor voter turnout was primarily responsible for the Republican setback, saying the party’s main problem was losing support among voters who had backed Trump in 2024.
“The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said so last night,” Vance said.
He warned against attempts to shift the debate towards other political issues, arguing that an honest assessment of the election results must begin with the Iran conflict.
“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 wrote.
Vance also acknowledged shortcomings in the Republicans’ economic messaging, saying a pollster had told him that the party’s communication on economic issues was not sufficiently effective towards the end of the campaign.
He urged Republicans to use the election results as an opportunity to reconnect with voters and support candidates who shared their political priorities.
Trump Admits Iran War Played Role in Republicans’ Losses
In an interview with Fox News early on Wednesday, President Trump acknowledged that the war in Iran played a role in Republicans’ losses in Tuesday’s midterm elections.
Trump said Democrats would send legislation he considered “insane” to his desk and that he would veto it.
“They’ll send over things that are insane, and I’ll veto them,” he said. “And after a couple of months of vetoes, they’ll call and they’ll say, ‘How do we get this stuff done?’ And we’ll work together.”
Trump said the war in Iran had weighed on Republican candidates, even as voters backed his handling 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,” he said.
Trump admits:
The gasoline was caused by Iran. https://t.co/A9UYliw8Ax
— Clash Report (@clashreport) November 4, 2026
Trump acknowledged that Democrats had run effective campaigns but argued that Republican candidates had failed to secure enough support.
“The Democrats did a good job. They fought hard,” he said.
Trump:
The Democrats did a good job. They fought hard.
You know, I don’t like to consider it a defeat for me. I wasn’t on the ballot. https://t.co/LvUTdYX9yQ
— Clash Report (@clashreport) November 4, 2026
Asked whether the results represented a setback for him, Trump replied: “I don’t view it as a hit on me. We’ve had the greatest two years in the history of the presidency.”
Several candidates backed by Trump lost races in states he had carried comfortably in the 2024 presidential election.
Rather than acknowledge voter dissatisfaction with his administration, Trump pointed to the candidates themselves and their failure to mobilise supporters.
In an interview with The New York Times, he argued that his absence from the ballot had contributed to the Republican losses.
“I wasn’t on the ticket, and because I wasn’t on the ticket, we couldn’t get enough people out to vote,” he said.
Trump also claimed on Truth Social that Republicans would have won in a “landslide” if he had been a candidate.
Oil Falls After US Democrats’ Midterm Sweep
Oil prices are down more than $3 a barrel in volatile trading as investors await Washington’s next move in the US-Israeli war on Iran after President Trump’s Republican Party lost control of Congress in midterm elections, Reuters reported.
Brent futures are down $3.20, or 3.09 percent, to $100.40 a barrel as of 1417 GMT (7:17 pm PKT). US West Texas Intermediate crude futures are down $3.01, or 3.13 percent, to $93.08.
