Vance blames the Iran war for the Republican defeat as Johnson gives up leading the House minority
Vice President JD Vance blamed the Iran war on Wednesday for the Republican Party's sweeping defeat in Tuesday's midterm elections, in which Democrats regained control of the House of Representatives and the Senate. In a lengthy post on X, Vance wrote: “The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said so last night.”
According to Reuters, Vance's remarks could complicate President Donald Trump's deliberations over whether to resume major combat operations against Iran, an option U.S. officials said remains under consideration. Vance also questioned the value of the war and recalled that an earlier recommendation to end it had been “sound advice.”
Trump himself was more measured: he told The Wall Street Journal that the war was only one of several reasons for the defeat and said: “I did the right thing. I would have done it again.” The conflict, launched eight months ago in a joint U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran, drove up fuel prices and became deeply unpopular with voters, according to USA Today.
On Capitol Hill, House Speaker Mike Johnson told his staff on Wednesday that he will not seek to become minority leader after Republicans lost control, although he was reelected in his Louisiana district. Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, who is on track to become Speaker in January, called the results “a stunning rebuke of MAGA extremism” and said the priority will be “a relentless effort to make life more affordable.”
Two Senate races remain undecided: in Mississippi, Democrat Scott Colom leads Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith by just 43 votes, and in Alaska the outcome is also still open. Election experts warned that both counts could take days or weeks, partly because of mail-in ballots and, in Alaska, the ranked-choice voting system.
Photo: Archivo A Lo Claro