The 600-word post from Vice President Vance, which hit X early Wednesday morning, suggests that Republican voters did not stay home on Election Day. Rather, Vance wrote, an unnamed pollster had warned him GOP voters were going to show up to vote, but their anger at the Republican Party would make them vote for Democrats on the ballot.
Citing the pollster and his voting data, Vance wrote:
He asked those voters who had abandoned us what would cause them to come back on our team. The top four answers, accounting for nearly all of the responses were:
1) End the war
2) Focus on cost of living/inflation
3) Put America First
4) Change our relationship to Israel
Vance's Wednesday post comes at the same time he is expected to run for president in 2028.
A Fox News story, related to the post, said Vance is attempting to reach frustrated Trump voters as he prepares for 2028. The story quotes an administration official who said Vance posted the X comment after a post-election White House meeting Wednesday morning.
War with Iran tied to four responses
In the pollster's list, Response No.1 and “End the War” was referring to “Operation Epic Fury,” the U.S.-Israel attack on Iran that kicked off in February. Those military strikes haven taken out major military targets, and eliminated top leaders of the regime, but the military attacks dragged into the summer without a white flag of surrender from the IRGC, the Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps.
In May, President Trump informed Congress he was ending the 66-day military attack. He announced the Pentagon was transitioning to a maritime blockade of Iran’s cost called “Project Freedom.” Even with the U.S. Navy patrolling the Persian Gulf, the IRGC has repeatedly attacked oil tankers in the Iran-controlled Strait of Hormuz. A Barbados-flagged vessel was hit Nov. 3, Election Day.
Voters have told pollsters they blame the Iran war on the jump in fuel prices, so Response No. 1 cited by Vance is related to Response No. 2 — the cost of living and inflation.
According to figures from AAA, a gallon of regular gas cost $2.98 in February, when the Iran attack began. Gas was averaging $4.15 nationwide on Election Day this week.
Response No. 3 is also related to the war and President Trump’s campaign promise of “no more wars” and a focus on domestic issues.
The last topic raised by the pollster, Reason No. 4, refers to Israel-U.S. relations. That topic is likely the reason Trump made the surprise announcement Monday that his administration was ending $4 billion in annual aid to the State of Israel.
Farther down in the post, Vance wrote that "everyone knows why we lost," referring to the war. "And any honest conversation about where we go from here must start there," he wrote.
Vice President Vance’s mid-morning Wednesday post had passed 34 million views, and 45 thousand comments, by Wednesday afternoon.
Trump calls Vance comments 'largely true'
At the White House on Wednesday, Trump was asked by a reporter if he was aware Vance was going to publish a post-election comment.
"I know how he feels about it. I think it was fine. Yeah, I thought it was good,” Trump told reporters.
The president also called Vance's comments "largely true," because the war drove up the price of gasoline, Trump admitted.
"At the same time, if I had to do it again, I'd have to do it again because long-term, it's the only answer. You can't let Iran have a nuclear weapon," Trump stated.
AFN sought comment from the White House about Vance's X post but was referred to President Trump's comments to reporters.
