UPDATED: US Midterms: Why we lost woefully – JD Vance

US Vice President JD Vance said on Wednesday that the reason his Republican Party performed woefully in Tuesday’s midterm elections was because of the Iran war.

Mr Vance, in a post on X, said, “The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said so last night.”

The US and Israel’s war with Iran has led to higher petrol and diesel prices as well as a high cost of living in the US and across the world.

PREMIUM TIMES reports that the Democratic Party won in most of the elections held on Tuesday and took control of both chambers of Congress.

The win was a sweeping political rebuke of President Donald Trump and the Republican Party.

Republicans lost not only in contested states but also in deep red states and districts that Mr Trump had carried by double digits just two years ago.

Mr Vance, in his first public comments on the election, said the Iran war was an important factor behind Democrats’ gains.

He said Republicans must be honest about the war’s impact on their campaigns to determine the best path forward for the party.

The vice president said many voters who backed President Trump in the presidential election were induced by the promise to end the war with Iran, focus on the cost of living and inflation, put America first and change the US’s relationship with Israel.

“Our voters showed up,” Mr Vance wrote. “And the above four reasons are why many of them voted for Democrats.”

“The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said so last night. If you’d like to argue it was worth it, that losing the Senate for the next 6 years was worth it, then do so.

“Argue it was a worthwhile cost to pay. Agree or disagree, that’s at least honest. But everyone knows why we lost. And any honest conversation about where we go from here must start there,” he said.

The US launched the war against Iran on 28 February and justified the move with the need to eliminate imminent threats.

The Trump administration accused Iran of rebuilding its nuclear programme and developing long-range missiles that could reach US forces and allies. But the Iranian government insisted that its uranium enrichment was only for civilian purposes.

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Mr Vance was one of the members of the Trump administration who opposed the war but went along with it to support the president.

The war cascaded into a regional war, with Iranian strikes on the Gulf countries, the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and tensions between Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s Houthi rebels.

It also triggered a global energy crisis that saw fuel and natural gas prices surge worldwide.

The war drove US inflation up and raised household bills across the country.