“The Iran War is the greatest political blunder in the last two decades at least,” wrote Matt Walsh in a post on X. “A catastrophically stupid decision. An unforgivable betrayal of America First principles.” As the dire results came down, even some on the right who had cheered on the war came to see, in the cold glow of their screens, the political devastation it had wrought. “Iran War is clearly catastrophically unpopular and has to end,” posted Will Chamberlain, who had spent the last few months loudly dismissing the war’s critics as subliterate simpletons.
On social media, MAGA luminaries shared a screenshot of an infamous op-ed written by Iran war booster Marc Thiessen, whose headline confidently claimed earlier this year: “There is no US downside to striking the Iranian regime.” Fox host Mark Levin lashed out at critics blasting his support for the war, insisting it had nothing to do with the results. Reality would seem to differ. One NBC News exit poll found that 74% of voters said Iran was a “crucial or major factor in how they voted.”
“It was the Iran war, stupid,” said Curt Mills, the executive director of The American Conservative, in an interview with Party Animals. Speaking about Thiessen and Levin, Mills was unsparing: “Professional liars. Professional liars. Not analysts, not honest people, and, honestly, not very invested in the future of the country.”
I asked Mills, who praised Vance’s statement, if it was not strange for the vice president to speak out against the administration while serving in it. “What option does he really have if he wants to keep his job, stop the war, and maybe run for president? I mean, it is strange. It is unprecedented in some ways,” he said. “Is it working? Maybe.”
