‘This Is a War They Started,’ Says Mamdani After JD Vance Blames Iran Debacle for GOP Losses

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani this week was unimpressed with Vice President JD Vance's attempt at soberly diagnosing the problem that caused the Republican Party to lose their majorities in the US Senate and House, with Democrats flipping seven Senate seats and 43 House seats and stunning the GOP with victories in Texas, Kansas, and South Carolina.

After the election, Vance wrote a lengthy post on the social media platform X, saying, “The reason we lost is the war" in Iran, which President Donald Trump joined Israel in launching in February—sending gas prices soaring to over $4 per gallon in a country where working families were already struggling with the cost of living, a problem Trump had pledged to solve.

Vance was initially unsupportive of Trump's decision to go to war, but has been one of the administration's staunchest defenders of the United States' actions in Iran—declaring that the US "never targets civilians" despite multiple bombings of schools; writing another verbose social media post falsely claiming that the decision to go to war lies only with the president—not Congress; and denying in September that the conflict that has killed more than 3,400 Iranians, 13 US service members, and thousands of people across the Middle East, is a war at all.

On Thursday, Mamdani expressed disbelief that Vance, thought to be the likely heir to Trump's MAGA movement and a potential 2028 presidential contender, would attempt to distance himself from the war the US is waging while still serving as one of the highest-ranking political officials in the country.

"I find it quite ironic to read a post from the vice president as if he's describing the actions of a different administration," said Mamdani. "He's the vice president of the United States of America. He is not just some commentator online. And there has to be a reckoning of the fact that this is a war that they started."

"It's a war they can end," continued the democratic socialist mayor, who since entering the mayoral race in a long-shot bid early last year has rapidly become one of the most influential and popular Democratic politicians in the country. "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?"

Vance said in his post that Republicans must focus on ending the Iran War, bringing down the cost of living, putting "America First," and changing the US relationship with Israel, which the administration has said pushed it to launch its attacks on Iran.

Vance's comments were taken by some as an initial attempt to begin distancing himself from the actions of an increasingly unpopular administration, in preparation to run for president.

Mamdani's response, said Jacobin writer Branko Marchetich, offered a "preview of the struggles" that the vice president will face in doing so.

"He's done his best to leak stories that he opposed it and thread the needle in public," said Marchetich. "But end of the day it's his administration too, so he owns it."