US Vice President JD Vance has blamed the Iran war, rising living costs and dissatisfaction with the Trump administration’s foreign policy for the Republican Party’s losses in the latest elections, arguing that the party must address these concerns rather than focus on turnout.

In a statement shared on social media, Vance said Republican voters had turned out in significant numbers but that some who supported President Donald Trump in 2024 had switched to the Democratic Party.

He said a pollster had warned him before the election that Republicans could lose the generic ballot by 13 percentage points, citing anger among Trump’s 2024 voters and their plans to vote for Democrats.

According to Vance, the four leading reasons voters gave for abandoning the Republican Party were ending the war, addressing the cost of living and inflation, putting America first, and changing the country’s relationship with Israel.

“Our voters did show up,” Vance said, arguing that the main problem was not turnout but the failure to retain voters who had supported Trump in the previous presidential election.

He pointed to Florida, where the electorate was reportedly nine percentage points more Republican than Democratic, as an example of continued Republican support.

Vance acknowledged that the party could have performed better on turnout but said the election results demonstrated that some voters who backed Trump and his running mate in 2024 had voted for Democrats in 2026.

He also rejected suggestions that the Republican Party’s losses were primarily caused by weaknesses in its economic messaging, saying the war was the principal reason for the defeat.

“The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said so last night,” Vance said.

The vice president also warned against what he described as attempts by establishment politicians to explain the losses through proposals such as amnesty for undocumented immigrants.

He said he was open to changes in immigration enforcement, including greater emphasis on businesses that employ undocumented workers, but argued that proposals for amnesty would be misleading.

Vance said Republicans must begin an honest discussion about the election results by acknowledging the role of the war and the concerns that prompted voters to abandon the party.

He nevertheless expressed optimism about the country’s future, urging Republican supporters who were disappointed by the results to channel their anger into electing candidates who share their political views.