JD Vance Reacts to Midterm Defeat: ‘The Reason We Lost Is the War’ – The Epoch Times

Vice President JD Vance speaks during a press briefing at the White House on Sept. 3, 2026. Madalina Kilroy /The Epoch Times

Vice President JD Vance said on Nov. 4, after Democrats flipped control of both the Senate and House of Representatives, that the loss stemmed from several factors, including the war in Iran.

“The reason we lost is the war,” Vance said in a lengthy post on X.

Vance, who may be the GOP presidential candidate in 2028, added later: “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.”

Unofficial and projected results showed Democrats gaining a significant number of seats in both congressional chambers. Democrats appear to have at least 228 seats in the House and 54 in the Senate, with some races yet to be called.

President Donald Trump told reporters in Washington, when asked about Vance’s comments, that the position was “largely true because it drove the gasoline up a little bit, short-term.”

He said if he had to start the war again, he would, because he did not want Iran to have a nuclear weapon.

“You have no choice,” he said. “You have to do it.”

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), the top Democrat in the House, told reporters at a briefing that Democrats plan to pass a bill to end the Iran war when they gain control of Congress in 2027.

Trump said during a Tuesday call with Fox News that the war was a factor in the loss, and that candidate quality was another factor.

“I wasn’t on the Ballot and if I was, we would have won in a landslide!” he wrote on Truth Social.

Vance said Wednesday on X that a top data analyst told him that many people who voted for the Trump–Vance ticket in 2024 were angry and were planning to vote for Democrats.

“Our voters are turning out, but they may not vote for us,” Vance quoted one as saying.

Numbers indicate that turnout was not the problem, Vance wrote.

“The main problem is that many people who voted for Trump/Vance in 2024 voted for Democrats in 2026,” he said.

Voters told another analyst that the top four reasons those voters gave ahead of the election for abandoning Republicans were the war in Iran, cost of living, not putting America first, and the U.S. relationship with Israel, according to the vice president.

“In the next few months, there’s going to be a lot of gaslighting,” Vance said. “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.”

After saying the war was the reason for the loss, Vance said he remains hopeful and that Republicans should focus on electing lawmakers who share their worldview and will work to save the country.