Pence delivers scathing rebuke of Vance's Iran war assessment, blames Trump policies for GOP losses
EXCLUSIVE - Former Vice President Mike Pence delivered a blistering assessment of Vice President JD Vance's midterm election postmortem that the war in Iran cost Republicans control of Congress, with the former vice president contending that Americans grew frustrated not because President Donald Trump launched the conflict, but because his administration failed to finish it.Pence, in an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, his first following the midterms, also blamed the Republicans' midterm shellacking on the president's economic policies, retreat from conservative principles and what he argued is an "air of corruption" surrounding the White House.Vance, in an assessment the morning after Election Day, wrote, "The reason we lost is the war.The president himself said so last night."The vice president also cited an unnamed pollster in his X post who said voters who had abandoned the GOP wanted the administration to end the conflict, address inflation and the cost of living, put America first and change its relationship with Israel.RUBIO'S DEFENSE OF TRUMP'S IRAN WAR DRAWS SHARP CONTRAST WITH VANCE'S MIDTERM BLAMEAsked about Vance's assessment, Pence said, "I disagree with the vice president about the reasons for the midterm election outcome.""There's no question that the war in Iran became a frustration for millions of Americans, but it wasn't because President Trump started the war or took on Iran.
It's because we stopped short and didn't finish it," Pence said."As Americans saw the politics of appeasement that the administration embraced, one negotiation after another, I think people became ...
frustrated with the lack of progress, frustrated with the price of fuel at the pump."But the former vice president emphasized "the reasons for this midterm election were much more complex than gasoline prices or the war in Iran.So, I respectfully disagree with my successor in that regard."Pence added that he has "great concerns about what I've heard coming out of t...