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<\/p>\nAlain Stephens is an investigative reporter covering gun violence, arms trafficking, and federal law enforcement.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
To say that Americans<\/span> were pissed off is an understatement.<\/p>\n On Tuesday, Democrats didn\u2019t just seize control of both houses of Congress. They redrew the American political map, capturing offices that had remained reliably Republican<\/a> for generations, from the Deep South to Kansas and Texas. The Lone Star State alone, with its 40 Electoral College votes, now raises the possibility of a seismic shift in the calculus of future presidential elections<\/a>.<\/p>\n The sheer scale of the historic Democratic surge<\/a>? delivered an unmistakable rebuke to America\u2019s supposedly populist president. The message was clear and simple: We do not like you.<\/p>\n Much of Americans\u2019 rapid disillusionment with the Trump administration can be traced to a single word \u2014 Iran<\/em> \u2014 and the cascading economic hardships<\/a> Americans have endured as the war has dragged on.<\/p>\n The Iran war has gone from a Republican loyalty test to a political albatross.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n For the GOP, the threat is existential. The war has gone from a Republican loyalty test to a political albatross for many of its former supporters, one that many Republicans are now jettisoning themselves away from to salvage their own political futures.\u00a0<\/p>\n By Wednesday, it had become the chief explanation for the party\u2019s sweeping electoral defeat, with Vice President JD Vance declaring <\/a>unequivocally on X that \u201cthe reason we lost is the war.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019d 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\u2019s at least honest,\u201d he wrote. \u201cBut everyone knows why we lost. And any honest conversation about where we go from here must start there.\u201d Coming from Trump\u2019s own vice president, it was a striking about-face.<\/p>\n The tirade also raised an awkward question ahead of the 2028 presidential race: How does a potential successor to the MAGA mantle campaign against a war waged by his own administration?<\/p>\n Trump, however, has not gone nearly as far as his VP. Although the president acknowledged<\/a> the war hurt Republicans, he still defended it on its merits. Speaking with reporters Wednesday after expounding at length about his White House ballroom, Trump said<\/a>, \u201cThe Iran thing we had to do, and we continue to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n But on the campaign trail, Republicans were not completely oblivious to Americans\u2019 collective frustration with the Iran war.\u00a0<\/p>\n In September, ABC News identified<\/a> 17 Republican lawmakers and candidates who had called for ending the war through public statements or votes. Much of the pressure came in competitive midterms races, as the conflict\u2019s effects on oil, diesel, and fertilizer prices reached American households.<\/p>\n In Iowa, Republican Senate candidate Ashley Hinson<\/a> called for a \u201csuccessful and immediate end<\/a>\u201d to the war in September, warning that voters were paying the price at gas pumps and grocery stores. Yet she voted six times<\/a> against House measures directing Trump to halt the attacks. During an October 25<\/a> ABC interview, Hinson said she would not rule out a post-election U.S. offensive and said she trusted Trump and the military to choose the right timetable. Despite the president praising her weight loss<\/a> at a recent rally, tepidly breaking with Trump wasn\u2019t enough to get Hinson over the line, and she lost<\/a> to Democrat Josh Turek by 4.5 percentage points.<\/p>\n Michigan also had its share of Iran backtrackers. Republican Senate hopeful Mike Rogers described Iran as an \u201cimminent threat<\/a>\u201d when the bombing began on February 28. In May, he called the conflict a potential \u201cwin-win-win.\u201d But with the midterms fast approaching, Rogers released a campaign ad<\/a> declaring \u201cthe war with Iran needs to end\u201d quickly and warned\u00a0Michigan families could no longer afford the economic fallout. <\/p>\n Rep. John James, the Republican candidate for Michigan governor, likewise praised Trump\u2019s use of force early in the war, saying the president \u201chad the balls\u201d to \u201cassure the survival and success of liberty.\u201d He voted against six House war-powers resolutions, including as recently as September. Days after that vote, he said the war needed to wrap up<\/a> \u201cquickly.\u201d He went on to declare<\/a> in an interview, \u201cthe position has always been, I hate war.\u201d<\/p>\n Both Rogers and James lost<\/a> their races. <\/p>\n Even Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a possible contender in the Republican Party\u2019s next presidential contest who could reportedly be up for Pete Hegseth\u2019s job<\/a>, warned Monday that the war was a \u201cbig, big drag<\/a>\u201d on his party. Trump, DeSantis pointed out, campaigned against another Middle Eastern war. Now voters are dealing with higher fuel costs, and Republicans who refuse to acknowledge the connection are \u201cgaslighting\u201d them. But back in spring, DeSantis defended the strikes on Iranian leadership, describing<\/a> its government as \u201ca fanatical, apocalyptic, militant Islamist regime.\u201d<\/p>\n The polling helps explain the Republican panic. An Associated Press poll<\/a> found roughly 6 in 10 voters believed the U.S. made a \u201cwrong decision\u201d in attacking Iran. And it\u2019s not as though Republicans weren\u2019t warned. A handful within their own ranks, including Thomas Massie<\/a> and Rand Paul<\/a>, opposed the war from its earliest days and backed efforts to rein it in. But those criticisms seemed to fall on deaf ears<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n
Where Did All the Warmongers Go?<\/strong><\/h2>\n