Marc Thiessen calls Vance's analysis of the Republican defeat unfair and puts war with Iran at the center of the debate

Fox News contributor Marc Thiessen called Vice President JD Vance's assessment of the causes of the Republican defeat in the midterm legislative elections "disloyal" to President Donald Trump. The criticism was made on the panel of the Special Report program, presented by Bret Baier, according to the transcript of the video, which reproduces the participants' speeches.

According to the debate, Vance published a message in the early hours after the vote stating that many Trump and Vance voters voted for Democrats in 2026. The program cited an exit poll in which voters who had left the party were asked what would make them return. Among the top four responses were ending the war, focusing on the cost of living and inflation, putting America first, and changing the relationship with Israel.

According to the presenter, the president himself acknowledged, in a statement the night before, that the war had pushed the price of gasoline up in the short term. Trump stated that, if he could decide again, he would repeat the choice, because in the long term it would be "the only answer" and Iran cannot be allowed to have a nuclear weapon.

Disagreement on war and gasoline

Thiessen argued that Vance did not defend the decision as correct or highlight the president's courage in putting the country before his own political interests. In his opinion, the vice president should have made the same argument that Trump makes, that Iran has been waging war against the United States for 47 years. He also suggested that Vance seeks the presidential nomination and would need Trump's support.

A second participant, whose identification does not appear clearly in the transcript, said the president said Vance might not run for president. For him, the result of 2028 depends on how and when the war ends, and the vice president's position may have been strategic, as it reflects voters from the MAGA movement who felt betrayed, as well as Latinos and young people opposed to the conflict and affected by prices at gas stations and supermarkets.

Thiessen countered that MAGA voters support the war, citing exit polls, and that expensive gasoline is not a result of the military conflict, which in his assessment "went very well." He attributed the problem to six months of attempts to reach an agreement with the Iranian regime, conducted, according to him, under the leadership of Vance. He stated that if the conflict had ended in July, gas would be below $3. Another panelist countered, saying that polls do not show that MAGA voters have stayed home.

Democrats and Schumer's leadership

In the second part, analyst Dasha Burns said that Democrats feel joy, but must face the moment with humility. For her, the election was a referendum on Trump and Republicans in Congress, and the party needs to use the next two years to regain the trust of the electorate.

The program featured victorious Democratic candidates who refused to declare support for Chuck Schumer as Senate majority leader. For the presenter, there is "hunger" for younger leadership in the party. One panelist assessed that Schumer should be able to hold her own, although she faces a tougher race than House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

What does this mean for the market

The transcript does not contain market numbers, but the debate touches on sensitive points for investors: the price of fuel, cited as a factor in political wear and tear, and the duration of the conflict with Iran, which the panel considers decisive for 2028. A divided Congress or more pressured by the opposition tends to increase uncertainty about the legislative agenda, but the video does not detail projections for interest rates, the dollar, the stock market or public accounts. The reviews above reflect the opinions of program participants.

Automatically translated from Portuguese.