Vance eyes 2028 reset, as Republicans mull pivot after US midterms drubbing
A Democratic 'blue tsunami' in the US midterms shines a light on emerging distaste for Trump's brand among Republicans.
Key points
- Republicans lost control of both the Senate and House in this week's US midterm elections.
- Vice President JD Vance blamed the Iran war for the losses in a post on X.
- Vance leads a theoretical Republican primary poll at 40 percent, with Rubio and Donald Trump Jr at 21 percent each.
Republicans lost control of both the Senate and the House of Representatives in this week's US midterm elections, prompting senior party figures to debate what went wrong and whether a course correction is needed. Vice President JD Vance said on X that the "real reason we lost is obvious to almost everyone", pointing to the war with Iran.
The article reports that former Trump voters switched sides over the Iran war and US ties to Israel. Oil prices fell to $93.82 a barrel on Thursday on expectations that Republican losses would reduce the likelihood of President Donald Trump renewing strikes on Iran.
Vance distances himself from war
Vance, seen as the frontrunner for the 2028 Republican nomination, has publicly backed the Iran war but privately urged Trump and others to end it, according to Axios. Last week he sent a letter to Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, proposing a meeting between US and Iranian officials.
Andrew Payne of Chatham House told Al Jazeera that any Republican contender will need to distance themselves from the more unpopular parts of Trump's record, starting with the Iran war. A Vance ally told Politico that while he can modestly differentiate himself from Trump, he cannot fully delink himself.
The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said so last night.
— JD Vance
Rivals and polling
Tuesday polling from The New York Times put Vance at 40 percent in a theoretical Republican presidential primary, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Donald Trump Jr at 21 percent each. Rubio has not commented on the Republican wipeout.
Texas Senator Ted Cruz, now the state's only statewide Republican lawmaker, called the result "a blue tsunami" and cited high food, fuel and insurance costs, tariffs and the long Iran war. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis described the midterms as "close to an extinction-level event" for the party.
