Vance explains key reason for GOP’s midterm losses
Midterm election developments unfold as Donald Trump addresses reporters at the White House following key congressional races. Plus, former RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel discusses the GOP’s performance.
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EXCLUSIVE: Vice President JD Vance is seeking to forge a new alliance with disaffected Trump voters ahead of the 2028 election cycle, Fox News Digital has learned.
Vance took control of his own messaging Wednesday morning in the wake of a brutal Republican midterm beatdown, breaking with President Donald Trump on foreign policy and America’s relationship with Israel.
A source familiar with post-election happenings told Fox News Digital that there was a White House meeting Wednesday morning aimed at aligning the entire administration officials on post-midterm messaging. A second source familiar described the meeting as a regular senior staff meeting.
Vice President JD Vance called out Democrats on Friday, saying that the midterms will be a referendum on “common sense versus pure unadulterated crazy.” (Getty Images)
VANCE’S SCATHING IRAN WAR POSTMORTEM PUTS POTENTIAL 2028 GOP SHOWDOWN IN FOCUS: ‘EVERYONE KNOWS WHY’
“The reason we lost is the war,” Vance’s post said. “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,” he went on.
“But everyone knows why we lost. And any honest conversation about where we go from here must start there.”
In the post, Vance said a pollster and “one of the smartest people I know in politics” laid out four tasks that would bring voters back to the GOP — end the war in Iran, focus on the cost of living and inflation, put America first, and “change our relationship with Israel.”
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A Trump administration official who spoke with Fox News Digital said that the four tasks are Vance’s rallying cry to the “new right,” broadly defined as a coalition of Republicans that aligns with the president’s original “America First” movement — staying out of foreign conflicts, making America an affordable place for Americans to raise families, and closing the borders.
But those voters, they said, also believe that Trump is too aligned with Israel on foreign policy matters.
Vice President JD Vance points to President Donald Trump at the Republican convention Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026, in Dallas. (Alex Brandon/AP Photo)
Among some on the political right, the war in Iran is intrinsically tied to Israel’s influence in the Middle East, and Trump’s relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
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The official made it clear that Vance’s message is not a separation from Trump, à la former Vice President Mike Pence who denounced Trump after the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the capitol. Rather, they said, he is aiming to send a clear message to Republicans who support Trump and disagree with or feel betrayed by his foreign policy.
And that message is: “Vance is our guy.”
The White House did not return Fox News Digital’s request for comment at time of publication on the meeting or Vance’s post-election messaging.
The vice president has not strayed much from Trump and the White House’s preferred messaging for the past two years — though he has been one of the few voicing concern over the ongoing war in Iran.
Despite his friendship with Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, reports and comments from the vice president himself have expressed how his stance on the Iran conflict differs.
Trump acknowledged earlier this year that Vance was “maybe less enthusiastic” about attacking Iran from the jump.
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Vance is widely considered a top GOP presidential candidate in 2028 — along with Trump’s Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
So far, Democrats stand at 54 Senate seats to Republicans’ 44, after sweeping wins in typically red Texas, ruby-red Kansas and other Republican strongholds like South Carolina.
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Votes are still being counted into Wednesday in a tight race in Alaska, that could see Democrats winning yet another seat in the Senate and widening their majority over the GOP.
The outcome of the midterms could have massive implications for the 2028 election, and Republicans are grappling now with how to face one of their biggest-ever challenges in trying to flip back the upper chamber despite a widened gap throwing them deep into a minority in January.
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Needing only 218 to control the House, Democrats on Wednesday afternoon had won 237 seats, with more projected to filter in as ballots are counted and races are called.
