Congress defeat: How Trump’s allies are distancing themselves from Iran war
US Vice President JD Vance blames the war for the midterm rout as Democrats prepare to use Congress to rein it in.
Vice President JD Vance has blamed the war on Iran for the Republican Party’s sweeping defeat in Tuesday’s midterm elections, in which Democrats won control of both chambers of the United States Congress.
“The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said so last night,” Vance wrote in a lengthy post on X on Wednesday.
Senator Ted Cruz, a longtime Iran hawk, also turned on the conflict, saying in an episode of his podcast on Wednesday that it “should have been brief, decisive, and over”.
John Feehery, a former Republican congressional staffer, told Al Jazeera the Iran war “was a big part” of the defeat, alongside energy prices, healthcare and corruption. The race to succeed Trump has already begun, he said, pointing to Vance and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.