“I would like to see him give a nationwide address. Or let Rubio and General Caine do it and explain why we went into Iran, why we're winning, and how we're going to get out.
Back to stories
Eleven Weeks Out, Republicans Start Saying Out Loud That the Iran War Is Going to Cost Them the Midterms — "You People Are Living in a Cave"
August 18, 2026
With the November 2026 midterms about eleven weeks away, Republicans who have spent months declining to criticize President Trump's Iran war began describing it publicly as a political emergency for their party. Sen. Jim Justice (R-W.Va.), one of Trump's closest Senate allies, told reporters in Washington on Monday, August 17, 2026, that the war has become a "mess," that "this situation in Iran is causing repercussions like you can't imagine," and that Republicans were "scared to death about the midterms." Rep. Zach Nunn (R-Iowa), a frontline member in a competitive district, pressed for the war to be wrapped up. Speaker Mike Johnson, campaigning in Virginia Beach with Rep. Jen Kiggans on the same day, volunteered the connection between the war and pump prices — "The Iran conflict has been the cause, of course, of gas prices going up" — while promising a "new phase" that would bring them back down. The anxiety is not new inside the conference. Days earlier, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), a member of Senate Republican leadership, described a "fatigue factor," and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said he wished the president "were more clear about what his objectives are." Democrats are pressing the advantage: Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), on the ballot in November, told an Atlanta rally that there is "something uniquely despicable about lying a nation into war." Polling has been consistently bad for the war — a late-July Quinnipiac survey found 60 percent of voters opposed U.S. military action against Iran — and gas prices and oil have climbed as the Strait of Hormuz blockade has dragged on. What has changed is that Republicans in cycle are now saying so on the record.
18
Statements Recorded
See what your representatives said?
18 Statements
“As we've watched things go forward, it is time to put an end to that war.
“I would hope the team could hang together on this. … [I]f I'm running in an environment like this, obviously you're going to develop a campaign and a message that can win in your state.
“The war needs to come to an end as quickly as possible so that we can lower gas prices. … I don't know anybody that doesn't want the war to come to an end.
“It's not popular. They are in tough elections. People understand the need to have a safe nation but we also understand the need to resolve this conflict. … The administration hasn't been clear on how to end this and I think that's why people are moving.
“There are so many headwinds now for these candidates that I hope that the administration gets the point that you can be 90% with the president and speak about the 10% you're not.
“We all want it to end as quickly as possible. I think they're being bold and they're being direct.
“Iran cannot have a nuke, but I've always said that we need to use every resource at our disposal to bring this war to an end quickly.
“I just believe that we should be exiting Iran, that it's time to move on.
“We need to continue to support (the military) and to support the objectives which the president has made clear, to make sure Iran, again, doesn’t have nuclear weapons and the Straits of Hormuz are kept open. I support those military actions and I stand with our men and women in uniform and their families every day of the week.
“The Iran conflict has been the cause, of course, of gas prices going up. It’s drug on.
“This situation in Iran is causing repercussions like you can't imagine.
“We've gone through months that everybody sat back and said, 'Oh, it'll be OK. It'll be OK.' And I've been the voice that's been saying, 'You people are living in a cave if you don't see that the folks out there, the Toby and Ediths out there, are hurting.'
“Let's deal with this now, and let's get it done.
“There’s something uniquely despicable about lying a nation into war, treating citizens as fools and those who serve as pawns.
“We've done this before where we've had very elongated engagements. People don't want to see that. They don't want to see boots on the ground. They don't want to see our money going there. There's a fatigue factor, for sure.
“I wish the president were more clear about what his objectives are.
“There's a lot of confusion.