Pence Calls Midterm Loss a Reckoning, Blames Trump Policies and Disputes Vance on Iran

Former Vice President Mike Pence has delivered the sharpest verdict yet from a senior Republican on his party's midterm defeat, calling the result a reckoning and blaming President Donald Trump's policies for driving voters away. In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital published on Thursday, November 12, Pence said Democrats took a large House majority, control of the Senate and a majority of governorships because Republican voters were turned off, not because the country had moved left.

"It wasn't just a rout, it was a reckoning," Pence said. "I don't think the American people turned left. I think they were turned off, and that's what explains the outcome of this election."

A direct split with Vance over Iran

Pence aimed much of the interview at Vice President JD Vance, who wrote on X the morning after Election Day that "the reason we lost is the war." Asked about that post, Pence said, "I disagree with the vice president about the reasons for the midterm election outcome."

The war in Iran did frustrate voters, Pence argued, but for the opposite reason. "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," he said. He called the causes of the defeat "much more complex than gasoline prices or the war in Iran." A Vance ally answered through Fox News Digital, calling Pence "laughably out of touch with how people feel in the real world."

Pence also voiced concern about what he has heard from the vice president's office on Israel: "If the world knows nothing else, the world should know that America stands with Israel," he said.

Tariffs, abortion medication and an air of corruption

Beyond the war, Pence listed the president's second term tariffs, the administration's handling of abortion medication and what he called policies of appeasement toward Russia and Iran, and said voters rejected Trump's move toward protectionist tariffs and marginalizing the right to life.

He also pointed to an "air of corruption" around the administration, arguing, with figures he stated himself, that the first family had seen its wealth increase by more than 3 billion dollars, including more than a billion dollars in cryptocurrency. Asked whether he thought the president and his family had improperly profited from the White House, he answered, "I wouldn't have any way of knowing and wouldn't care to speculate." The Fox News Voter Poll found that 55 percent of respondents called government corruption a crucial factor in their vote for Congress, and another 36 percent called it a major factor. Fox News Digital said the White House did not respond to a request for comment by publication time.

The 2028 question

Pence now leads the conservative group Advancing American Freedom. Asked whether he is reconsidering a run for president in 2028, he told Fox News that "a lot of people around the country" have asked him to run, the Daily Caller reported. "I've been very humbled by that," he said. "The most important thing is that we win the presidency in 2028," he added. Pence ran briefly for the 2024 Republican nomination before dropping out.

"The truth is, if we don't return the Republican Party to the principles of a strong defense, limited government, fiscal responsibility, and the right to life, it won't matter who we nominate in 2028 because this version of Republicanism was just rejected by the American people," Pence said, according to the Daily Caller.