US Vice President JD Vance on Wednesday, November 4, 2026, blamed the war with Iran for the Republican Party’s heavy defeat in the congressional midterm elections, saying it had cost the party control of the Senate. “The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said so last night,” he wrote in a post on X.

According to Agence France-Presse, Vance was responding to the Democrats’ victory in Tuesday’s elections, which gave them majorities in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. “If you want to argue that this war was worth it and that losing the Senate for six years was an acceptable price, then make that case. Argue that paying such a price was worthwhile. Whether we agree or disagree, at least that is an honest position,” he wrote.

The US vice president added: “But everyone knows why we lost, and any honest discussion about what we should do from here must begin with that.”

Vance also said that, based on his conversations with polling experts, many voters who backed Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election voted for the Democrats this year because of dissatisfaction with the Iran war and its economic and political consequences. He said the rising cost of living and US relations with Israel also contributed to the shift among these voters.

His remarks came a day after Donald Trump acknowledged in interviews with Fox News and The Wall Street Journal that the war with Iran had played a role in the Republicans’ defeat. Trump, however, continued to defend his decision to launch the war, saying: “I did the right thing, and if I were in that position again, I would do the same thing.”

Vance’s explicit assessment of the Iran war’s role in the Republicans’ electoral defeat comes as he is considered a potential candidate for the party’s presidential nomination in 2028. He had previously expressed reservations about US involvement in the war.