Republican 2028 hopefuls blame Iran war and tariffs for midterm losses

Republicans weighing a run to succeed Donald Trump in 2028 moved quickly this week to assign blame for their party's sweeping midterm defeats, singling out two central elements of the president's agenda: the war with Iran and his tariff program.

Vice-President JD Vance, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Texas Senator Ted Cruz each pointed to voter frustration over the cost of living in the wake of Republican losses across the country, including in areas once considered party strongholds.

Among the factors they cited were Trump's drawn-out military campaign against Iran, his aggressive trade stance, the US relationship with Israel and Democratic advertising that cast conservative candidates in a damaging light.

"Tariffs have made everything too expensive and the Iran war has dragged on too long," Cruz, a former Republican presidential candidate who has not ruled out another bid, said on his podcast, Verdict With Ted Cruz, on Wednesday. "It should have been brief, decisive and over. It needs to end."

Vance, writing in an extended post on X, offered a blunt assessment: "The reason we lost is the war." He suggested the party was punished because voters feel the administration has turned its attention away from Americans. "To the people who are just pissed at the results, you should be," he added. "Let's take that anger and get back to the work of saving our country."

DeSantis, who challenged Trump for the 2024 Republican nomination and has since had a strained relationship with the president, described this week's results as "close to an extinction-level event" for the party. He argued that Democrats hurt Republicans with ads invoking convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and congressional stock trading. "We ran as Republicans on saying, 'We need to do that,'" he said of releasing the Epstein files, criticizing members of Congress who voted against disclosure. "It's untenable when you have people going in, trading stock," he added.

In the run-up to the election, polling showed voters growing increasingly dissatisfied with Trump's job performance as rising gasoline and grocery prices, a consequence of the continuing war with Iran, squeezed household budgets. Democrats campaigned on making life more affordable and reining in the president's agenda, and were rewarded with control of both chambers of Congress and a majority of governors' races nationwide.

Even Trump conceded on Wednesday that the conflict had cost his party support. "It's largely true because it drove gasoline up a little bit," he told reporters at the White House.

Cruz faulted Republican officeholders for failing to heed the warning signs. "Too many Republican politicians seem like they didn't understand, and they didn't care," he said. "Food is too high. Gas is too high. Diesel is too high. Insurance is too high. Life is too high."