Vance Blames the Iran War for the GOP Wipeout, but Trump Says He’d ‘Do It Again’
Vice President JD Vance has put the blame for Tuesday’s Republican rout squarely on the Iran war, opening the first visible gap between himself and President Donald Trump.
“The reason we lost is the war,” Vance wrote in a lengthy post on X Wednesday morning, the Daily Caller reported. “The president himself said so last night.”
Vance dared Republicans to defend the war honestly. “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,” he wrote, according to the Daily Caller.
He drafted the 614-word post himself and gave the White House a heads-up before publishing it, two people familiar with the effort told Politico. A senior White House official said Trump was “totally fine with it.”
Vance said Republicans who defected listed four reasons, citing a pollster: ending the war, the cost of living, putting America first and changing the U.S. relationship with Israel, the Daily Caller reported.
He also warned the party off amnesty. “Anyone pushing amnesty is lying to you,” Vance wrote, while saying he was open to shifting enforcement toward businesses that hire illegal labor, the Associated Press reported.
Trump Shrugs Off the Break
Trump said he spoke to Vance Wednesday morning and called the post “good,” adding, “I know how he feels about it” and “I think it was fine,” the Associated Press reported.
But the president did not back away from the war. “If I had it to do again, I’d have to do it again, because long term, it’s the only answer,” Trump said, the Washington Examiner reported.
He conceded Vance had a point on gas prices. “I think it’s largely true because it drove the gasoline up a little bit short term,” Trump said, according to the Daily Caller.
Asked whether Vance would run in 2028, Trump was noncommittal. “Maybe he won’t run. I don’t know who’s going to run,” he said at the White House ballroom construction site, the Examiner reported.
Vance has said he will decide after the election whether to seek the presidency, the Associated Press reported. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas already appears poised to challenge him, according to the Examiner.
Democrats moved quickly to tie the vice president to the war anyway. “Why didn’t he resign?” Democratic National Committee spokeswoman Rosemary Boeglin said, the Associated Press reported. “Vance owns this administration’s failures.”
Marc Short, who served as chief of staff to former Vice President Mike Pence, said the post seemed to be “an intentional separation” from Trump and said the results “certainly” don’t help Vance, according to the Associated Press.
Voters backed Vance’s diagnosis. About 6 in 10 said the U.S. made the “wrong decision” in taking military action against Iran, according to the Associated Press’ voter poll, a survey of more than 100,000 voters.
An ABC News voter poll found 34% of House voters called the war “crucial” to their vote, behind the cost of living at 49% and government corruption at 55%.
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