Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., delivered a blunt rebuke to Vice President JD Vance on Thursday, rejecting his claim that the war in Iran cost Republicans the midterms and pointing instead to the economic pain voters are feeling.
“Look, I don’t think the vice president did himself any favors by sending out that email or tweet or whatever it was after the election,” Kennedy said on CNN’s “The Arena.” “This loss was not because of Iran. I mean, put down the crack pipe. It’s a lot deeper than that.”
Kennedy was responding to a lengthy post Vance published on X the morning after Election Day, in which he wrote, “The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said so last night.”
The Louisiana Republican said Democrats simply out-messaged the GOP on the issue voters cared about most.
“I think the Democrats did a better job, a much better job, of acknowledging the economic pain that the American people are going through,” Kennedy said. “And people are hurting.”
He also suggested that President Trump can no longer pin inflation on his predecessor. “The economy belongs to President Trump. He might not have fathered this child, but he’s gotta raise it,” Kennedy said.
Democrats picked up more than 40 House seats and at least eight Senate seats, with one race still outstanding, retaking control of both chambers.
Host Kasie Hunt noted that Vance had been widely considered Trump’s heir apparent and asked Kennedy whether the results opened the door for his own presidential ambitions.
“I don’t know, Kasie. I mean, I’m planning on running for reelection for the Senate, but things are getting weirder and weirder and weirder around here,” Kennedy replied, without ruling out a White House bid.
It was not the first time this week Kennedy warned his party against shrugging off the results. Appearing on Fox News’ “Hannity” on Wednesday, he said, “This was not a normal midterm election loss. If you think that, congratulations, you’re stupid.”
Borrowing a line from Sen. Jim Justice, R-W.Va., Kennedy added that working-class voters didn’t stay home. “Toby and Edith, they didn’t stay home. They voted for Democrats, and we’ve got to get Toby and Edith back.”
Kennedy urged Republicans to use the roughly 50 days remaining in the lame-duck session, while the GOP still controls Congress, to try to reach consensus on legislation.
Vance has argued that turnout was not the party’s main problem, saying many voters who backed the Trump-Vance ticket in 2024 showed up this year but voted for Democrats. Trump himself said Iran played a role in the losses, but told The Wall Street Journal he had no regrets and “would have done it again.”
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