In the 2026 U.S. midterm elections, the Democrats won a decisive victory and successfully took control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate. In the face of the Republican Party's crushing defeat, Vice President Biden issued a long statement on social media on November 4th, bluntly attributing the loss to the war against Iran.
The true reason we lost the election was clear to all of us, as if everyone knew it already,” wrote Wan. “At its root is this war.” The president himself said so last night.
In his post, Vance suggested that Republicans who support the war should be willing to admit the political costs involved, rather than finding other excuses for Tuesday’s defeat. “If someone wants to argue that it’s worth paying the price of losing control of the Senate for the next six years, then either agree or disagree—at least it’s honest. But any honest conversation about our future must begin with admitting the reasons for failure.”
Regarding the debate within the party about voting rates, Vance pointed out that the voting rate among the Republican Party’s core supporters is not low. The real issue that led to the change of control in both houses is that a large number of voters who supported Trump in the 2024 elections switched their allegiance to the Democratic Party in 2026.
Wanst cited survey data from a polling expert, stating that these lost voters turned to the Democrats because the Republicans failed to meet their four core demands: ending the war with Iran, focusing on living costs and inflation, adhering to the principle of 'America First', and adjusting the relationship between the United States and Israel.
For a long time, Vance has advocated for America to exercise restraint in military interventions abroad. After Trump launched the war against Iran, he not only showed little enthusiasm for this conflict but also attempted to mediate it. Unlike Trump, Vance also refused to support Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's re-election and publicly condemned members of the Israeli government for hindering Trump's efforts to resolve the conflict in Iran this summer.
The 'Politician' News website noted that this long letter represents Vance's first attempt to distance himself from the war that Trump has repeatedly defended since the midterm elections. This war has driven up gasoline and food prices, not only leading to the Republican Party losing both houses of Congress but also threatening Vance's own political ambitions. Vance's actions show his effort to shed the shadow of Trump and present himself with a unique political voice.
However, the report also mentioned that Vance had informed the White House in advance before posting the tweet, and Trump thought “there was no problem at all”.
Trump told media after a phone call with Vance on Wednesday morning that Vance's remarks were "good", and he fully understood Vance's feelings.
Although Trump acknowledged that the war in Iraq was one of the factors contributing to the Republican Party's losses in the mid-term elections, he still vehemently defended his actions. He insisted that deciding to initiate conflict to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons was absolutely correct. “If we had to start over, I would make the same choice.”
