By Press TV Website Staff
The Republicans’ midterm losses were driven in part by the political backlash against US President Donald Trump’s unwavering support for the Israeli regime and his decision to wage a war on Iran that prioritized Israeli interests over those of the US, according to an American author.
In an interview with the Press TV website, Rectenwald, a noted author and former professor of Liberal Studies and Global Studies at New York University, said that the US-Israeli unprovoked aggression against Iran had become a “major liability” for the Republican Party.
Rectenwald noted that Trump’s decision to launch the war in pursuit of Israeli objectives, while exposing American interests and the US public to its economic and political consequences, had made the administration’s foreign policy increasingly difficult to defend at home.
Following the November 3 midterm elections, Democrats swept both the US Senate and House of Representatives, seizing back control of Congress for the rest of Trump’s presidency.
Democrats have tallied up victories in states that were comfortably won by Trump two years ago in the presidential election.
With James Talarico winning a seat in the US Senate and Gina Hinojosa being elected state governor, Democrats scored two statewide victories in Texas, ending a string of defeats they have endured for almost two generations.
Among the other states where history was made by the Democrats was Kansas, where Adam Hamilton took a closely fought Senate seat, giving the state its first Democratic senator for nearly a century.
Republican candidates, meanwhile, found that neither their association with Trump nor attempts to distance themselves from his presidency offered a reliable political lifeline.
In Maine, longtime Republican Senator Susan Collins lost her seat despite efforts to maintain some distance from the president.
In Iowa, Ashley Hinson also suffered defeat after selectively breaking with Trump, including over the war on Iran and certain trade policies, while continuing to defend much of his broader economic agenda.
Trump said he would accept the results, although he would still have the power, as president, to veto legislation that Democrats advance through Congress.
He acknowledged that the US-Israeli war on Iran, which has impacted consumer prices in the US, had affected the vote. But he also said he had no regrets about starting the war.
Vice President JD Vance also admitted that the war against Iran doomed the Republican Party in the US midterm elections, seeking to distance himself from the unpopular aggression before a possible 2028 White House run.
‘A major liability’
Explaining the scale of the Democratic victory, Rectenwald pointed to growing public dissatisfaction with Trump’s domestic and economic policies, as well as his increasingly confrontational political approach.
“Democrats seized both chambers--flipping long-held Republican seats in Texas, Kansas, and South Carolina while gaining dozens of House seats--because voters punished Trump’s record,” the former distinguished fellow at Hillsdale College told the Press TV website.
“His approval languished in the mid-to-high 30s amid tariffs, rising costs, and a confrontational style,” he added.
Rectenwald pointed out that while “economic pain was central” to the Republican defeat, the administration’s foreign policy alignment with the Israeli regime further deepened the perception that the president’s priorities were increasingly disconnected from the interests of ordinary Americans.
“Economic pain was central; his reflexive deference to Israel’s priorities only reinforced the sense of misplaced priorities.”
The author, who also ran for president in 2023, identified the US-Israeli war against Iran as a particularly damaging factor for the Republican Party.
“The onslaught on Iran was a major liability. The February 2026 strikes--launched in lockstep with Israel and at their request, and the resulting Hormuz disruptions--drove up US energy prices that voters felt immediately,” he said.
Rectenwald said it became increasingly difficult for Republican candidates to defend the administration’s foreign policy without facing electoral consequences.
“Republican candidates could not distance themselves from a war that advanced Israeli objectives at American expense. Trump’s obsequious servility to Israel turned a foreign conflict into a domestic political cost.”
‘A massive drag’
On the implications of Democratic control of both chambers of Congress, Rectenwald said that the shift in congressional power could impose significant political and budgetary constraints on Trump’s ability to pursue further military escalation against Iran.
“Democratic control of both chambers supplies leverage over funding, authorizations, and oversight that can check further military moves against Iran,” he stated.
While acknowledging that the president retains authority over military confrontations, he stressed that political and budgetary barriers provide Democrats with important leverage.
“Command authority remains, but the political and budgetary barriers to escalation just increased. Unilateral action in service of Israeli interests becomes harder to sustain.”
Rectenwald also described the Republican defeat as a broader repudiation of Trump’s political model, warning that the consequences could extend well beyond the midterms.
“Loyalty to Trump and the governing pattern--tariffs plus obsequious servility to Israel’s expansionist, militaristic aims--proved a massive drag.”
‘MAGA is finished’
In his assessments of the election’s implications, Rectenwald highlighted that “The midterms show that Trumpism has become a liability. MAGA is finished.”
He maintained that Republicans who continue to subordinate American economic and strategic interests to Israeli preferences could face further political setbacks in the run-up to the 2028 presidential election.
“A GOP that continues to subordinate American costs and interests to Israeli preferences will remain vulnerable in 2028,” he said, adding that a party willing to reject such an approach would have “a clearer path.”
Looking beyond the immediate electoral consequences, Rectenwald also predicted a shift in the boundaries of acceptable political discourse in the United States, saying that “in the not-so-distant future, Anti-Zionism will become more acceptable than Zionism in American politics.”
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