Vance blames Iran war for Republican midterm loss, urges rethink of Israel ties

US Vice President JD Vance on 4 November blamed the war in Iran for the Republican Party's defeat in the midterm congressional elections. Many see the move as an attempt to distance himself from President Donald Trump ahead of a possible run for the presidency in 2028, the BBC reports. Republicans have lost control of both chambers of Congress.

Vance's post

In a roughly 600-word post on the platform X, Vance acknowledged that voters who backed Trump in 2024 had abandoned the Republicans this time. He said the war was the cause of the loss and added that the president had acknowledged this too. He did not name Trump directly and referred to pollsters in his analysis. According to the BBC, he had shown the post to Trump beforehand.

Vance proposed several steps for winning voters back: ending the war, focusing on easing the cost of living and inflation, putting America first, and changing the relationship with Israel. Since February he has repeatedly defended the war against Tehran in public, but in private talks with administration officials he reportedly opposed it.

Trump's response

In interviews on 3 and 4 November, Trump defended his decision to start the war but conceded that it was one reason Republicans lost. He said he would act the same way in the same situation and claimed Iranians have been deterred from building nuclear weapons.

Daniel Byman, a foreign policy expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said Vance's statement looks like an effort to separate himself from Trump, but that doing so requires a delicate balance. Republican strategist Ashley Davis said Vance was "testing the water".

What comes next

The next US presidential election is in two years. Vance has not made an official decision on running, and his advisers say he is still considering it. Trump has repeatedly praised both Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio but has not said whether he will endorse any potential candidate.