JD Vance, U.S. vice-president, has attributed the Republican Party’s electoral defeat in the midterm elections to the Iran war, the rising cost of living and other factors.

In a post-election comment on social media on Wednesday, Mr Vance said, “One of the pollsters I really respect told me that our economic messaging wasn’t sharp enough down the stretch. I’m sure that’s true.

“The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said so last night,” Mr Vance said, citing another pollster who suggested that the electorate wanted Republicans to “end the war, focus on cost of living/inflation, put America First and change our relationship to Israel.”

According to Mr Vance, Republican “voters showed up. And the above four reasons are why many of them voted for Democrats.”

The Democrats “did a good job”, President Donald Trump admitted in an interview with Fox News, adding, “I’m a little surprised.”

In a series of posts on Truth Social, Mr Trump said, “I’m going to become a political pundit, both good and bad, on the reasons these candidates won and lost!”

Democrats pulled off a surprise in the U.S. midterm elections, winning more seats in the Senate and House of Representatives and taking control of Congress for the remaining two years of Mr Trump’s presidency.

Democrats won Senate seats in Republican strongholds, including South Carolina, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, Iowa and Kansas. In total, the November 3 election saw Democrats win an additional seven seats, while Republicans lost seven seats.

Democrats now have 54 seats in the Senate, while Republicans’ seats dropped to 44. In the House of Representatives elections, Democrats won 237 seats, while Republicans trailed with 139 seats.