Sen. John Kennedy Criticizes JD Vance Over Midterm Loss Comments

Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) criticized Vice President JD Vance over Vance’s post-election comments blaming the Republican Party’s midterm losses on President Donald Trump’s war in Iran. Kennedy made the remarks on CNN’s The Arena on Thursday, November 12, 2026.

Kennedy said the Democrats flipped both the House and Senate in what he called a historic defeat for the GOP. He offered his own assessment of the loss, saying, “I think the Democrats did a better job, a much better job, of acknowledging the economic pain that the American people are going through.”

Kennedy also addressed Trump’s attempts to blame inflation on former President Joe Biden, stating, “The economy belongs to President Trump. He might not have fathered this child, but he’s gotta raise it.”

CNN host Kasie Hunt asked Kennedy whether the midterm results and what many consider Vance’s diminished political standing made it more likely that he would run for president. Kennedy replied, “I don’t know, Kasie. I mean, I’m planning on running for reelection for the Senate, but things are getting weirder and weirder and weirder around here.”

Turning to Vance, Kennedy said, “I don’t think the vice president did himself any favors by sending out that email or tweet or whatever it was after the election. This loss was not because of Iran. That might have played a part, but I don’t think every statewide Republican in Texas lost their election — every single one — because they think American foreign policy is too interventionist. I mean, put down the crack pipe! It’s a lot deeper than that.”

The senator was referring to a lengthy post Vance published the morning after Election Day, in which the vice president argued that Republicans lost because voters had turned against the war. Vance wrote, “The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said so last night.” He added, “Any honest conversation about where we go from here must start there.”

Mediaite reported the story, with Jason Cohen contributing. Yahoo republished the Mediaite report, and Breitbart published a video clip of Kennedy’s CNN appearance.

Sources

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