New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Thursday reacted to US Vice President JD Vance blaming the ongoing Iran war for the big setback to Republicans in the midterms and called his remarks “ironic”.
Mamdani said that Vance referred to the war as if he was describing actions of a different administration.
“I have to say that I find it quite ironic to read a post from the vice president as if he's describing the actions of a different administration. He's the vice president of the United States of America. He is not just some commentator online,” Mamdani said in an interview with NBC News.
Deep Dive
Why did Zohran Mamdani call JD Vance’s remarks about the Iran war and midterm losses ironic?
Why did JD Vance blame the Iran war for Republicans’ midterm losses?
What did Donald Trump say about Vance blaming the Iran war for the midterm setback?
Track live updates on US midterm results
Vice president Vance on Thursday blamed the Iran war for Republicans' poll drubbing after they lost control of both chambers of Congress. According to news agency AP, he distanced himself from President Trump's war on Iran, questioning the cost of the conflict in the wake of Republicans' major midterm election losses.
{{/usCountry}}Vice president Vance on Thursday blamed the Iran war for Republicans' poll drubbing after they lost control of both chambers of Congress. According to news agency AP, he distanced himself from President Trump's war on Iran, questioning the cost of the conflict in the wake of Republicans' major midterm election losses.
{{/usCountry}}“There has to be a reckoning of the fact that this is a war that they started. It's a war that they can end. If they think it was a part of their political demise, then why don't they actually start to take some action to reflect that?” Mamdani said, reacting to Vance's comments.
What Vance said on midterm losses
Blaming the Iran war for midterms losses of the Republicans, Vance said, "The reason we lost is the war. 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."
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He further added that Trump also believed that the Iran war was one of the reasons that Republicans faced losses. “The president himself said so last night,” Vance wrote.
On Vance's remarks, Trump said he thought they were good. “I know how he feels about it," Trump was quoted as saying by Reuters. However, he reiterated his defense of the military action against Iran and said, “We stopped them from having a nuclear weapon.”
Multiple polls held ahead of the midterm elections in the US indicated a dip in Trump's popularity, mostly because of the war with Iran.
A CNN poll held in September indicated the the Americans' opposition of the war had intensified over time, with almost two-thirds saying the US is not winning the conflict and more saying President Trump wasn't doing enough to end it. As many as 71% of Americans in the poll disapproved of the war, while only 29% agreed to it.
Many Americans, according to the report, said the war hurt US interests and that Trump lacked a clear plan to handle the situation.
Also read: Pete Hegseth faces Republican heat as Iran war blamed for midterm rout
A poll by Pew Research Centre showed that around 65% of Americans disapproved Trump's handling of the war, which remained unpopular among the Americans.
The resentment against the war, according to the report, increased over the months as 61% disapproved of Trump’s handling of the conflict when it first began in March.