WASHINGTON — Many of President Trump’s longtime loyalists are blaming the Iran war for tanking Republicans in the midterm elections — saying the economic pain of the conflict caused the GOP to lose the House and Senate.
“I hope Chuck Schumer calls Bibi Netanyahu and thanks him for his victory. This war was a disaster. People need to be clear-eyed about it,” a Republican strategist involved in the midterm campaigns told The Post.
“It took some time, almost two years, but we finally have an answer to the question of what happens when you take military and political advice from a mouth breathing buffoon like Mark Levin,” fumed a source close to Trump. “Every piece of data we have says it was the war and gas prices.”
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A Republican strategist told The Post that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer should thank Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu for the midterm victories. MICHAEL REYNOLDS/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
“We got destroyed because of Iran,” added a top Republican strategist. “Iran is what caused gas prices and diesel prices to skyrocket — not tariffs. If Republicans want to rebuild, the first step is ending the war in Iran and embracing an actual America First foreign policy.”
Trump launched the war on Feb. 28 alongside Israel — at the encouragement of Prime Minister Netanyahu — despite saying prior US airstrikes had “obliterated” Tehran’s nuclear program.
He initially said the war would be over within “four weeks or so,” but it now has dragged on more than eight months.
“Too many people sat silently, or even worse, misled the president into a war without a realistic exit,” said a Trump political adviser.
“They convinced him that engagement could be accessed through a revolving door that would allow for an easy exit at the president’s choosing. Instead, the president was left walking through a trapped door, and the same advisors are busy covering their own asses, versus coming to terms with their mistake.”
Former Trump Pentagon official John Ullyot, author of the new book “The President Deserves Better,” told The Post that “in his first term, heads on his team would have rolled months ago.”
“Voters elected Trump to drain the swamp and lower their costs, not to watch his former aides cash in and hear non-stop about ballrooms and arches — not to mention an endless war in Iran,” Ullyot said.
Iran’s throttling of the Strait of Hormuz during the war caused a global surge in energy prices, which in turn caused greater inflation and ultimately higher interest rates. Oil prices dropped sharply Monday as peace talks gained steam and data showed more oil transiting the strait — but too late to meaningfully impact the election.
Trump downplayed the impact of the war as the brutal election blowout became clear.
“I think a part of it was Iran,” he told Fox News in a midnight interview, “but at the same time, people understood the importance of what I’ve done with Iran. I think historically, it’s going to be much more important than this evening because you can’t let the number one state sponsor of terror have a nuclear weapon.”
Trump added: “If I was on the ballot, they would have gotten out. Look, they got out for the rallies. You never saw rallies that big.”