Top reactions from Christian leaders to 'catastrophe' of midterms: 'We are under God's judgment'

By Jon Brown, Christian Post Reporter Monday, November 09, 2026

1. 'The reason we lost is the war': Christian Zionists push back against J.D. Vance

Despite exit polling showing that the Iran war and its economic fallout featured as crucial issues driving GOP losses, some Christian Zionist figures dismissed concerns that the U.S.-Israeli relationship is proving politically problematic.

During an interview on CBS' "60 Minutes" that aired Sunday, President Donald Trump said voters have "a great dislike, incredibly, for Israel," and Vice President J.D. Vance said in a lengthy post-election analysis that many former Trump supporters decided to punish the GOP over the issue by defecting to the Democrats.

Citing an unidentified pollster who told him how such voters could be won back, Vance wrote on Nov. 4: "The top four answers, accounting for nearly all of the responses, were: end the war, focus on cost of living/inflation, put America first and change our relationship to Israel. Our voters showed up, and the above four reasons are why many of them voted for Democrats."

"The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said so last night. If you'd like to argue it was worth it, that losing the Senate for the next 6 years was worth it, then do so," Vance said. "Argue it was a worthwhile cost to pay. Agree or disagree, that's at least honest. But everyone knows why we lost. And any honest conversation about where we go from here must start there."

One of the things the data analysts on our side obsessed over was "composition"—whether the electorate looked close enough to 2024 for Republicans to win. And despite polls that showed a Democrat blowout, the data kept on telling us the same story: in some states turnout was merely OK, in other states it was downright amazing, and in no state was it catastrophic. There was a genuine sense of optimism on our team: our people were showing up. So, I asked the smartest data guy I know, does that mean we're going to shock the world? "No," he told me. "We might do better than the polls suggest. But the data is telling us that a lot of Trump/Vance 2024 voters are pissed and planning to vote for the other guys. Our voters are turning out, but they may not vote for us." Well, that looks prophetic now. Our voters did show up. In Florida, for example, the electorate was 9 points more Republican than Democrat, just a couple points worse than 2024. Undoubtedly there were places we could have done better on turnout. But the main problem is not turnout. The main problem is that many people who voted for Trump/Vance in 2024 voted for Democrats in 2026. There will be a lot of infighting and arguing over what happened and why that is. 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. But the real reason we lost is obvious to almost everyone. Another pollster—one of the smartest people I know in politics, told me yesterday we’d lose the generic ballot by 13 points. I felt negative going into Tuesday, but even I was shocked by this. In his polling, he saw that a lot of Trump 2024 voters were angry and planning to vote for Democrats. He asked those voters who had abandoned us what would cause them to come back on our team. The top four answers, accounting for nearly all of the responses were: 1) End the war 2) Focus on cost of living/inflation 3) Put America First 4) Change our relationship to Israel Our voters showed up. And the above four reasons are why many of them voted for Democrats. This is according to a pollster who nailed the results. While many spent Monday attacking Rachel Campos Duffy for calling for a diplomatic resolution to the conflict, it turns out her political advice was sound. (She’s also a great person.) In the next few months, there's going to be a lot of gaslighting. Expect to hear any number of establishment politicians say the solution to our woes is amnesty. I'm open to the idea that we should change enforcement—by focusing more on businesses that hire illegal labor, for instance. But anyone pushing amnesty is lying to you. The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said so last night. If you'd like to argue it was worth it, that losing the Senate for the next 6 years was worth it, then do so. Argue it was a worthwhile cost to pay. Agree or disagree, that's at least honest. But everyone knows why we lost. And any honest conversation about where we go from here must start there. I remain hopeful about our country. To the people who are pissed off and want to say, “I told you so”: you’re right, you did tell us so. Take that energy into electing Republicans who share your worldview. To the people who are just pissed at the results, you should be. Let’s take that anger and get back to the work of saving our country.

— JD Vance (@JDVance) November 4, 2026

Though Trump called it "largely true," Vance's assessment drew fire from some Christian Zionists, including CUFI Action Fund, the political arm of Christians United for Israel. The group, which was founded by televangelist John Hagee and has reportedly received grants from an entity tied to the Israeli government, accused Vance of sounding an antisemitic dog whistle.

"After the blue wave crashed across the country on Tuesday, the Vice President seized the opportunity to blame…. Jews. Not once, mind you, but in a list of the top four reasons the Republicans lost, the Jews were effectively blamed twice if you can hear that pitch of dog whistle," the group said in a memo published Friday by Jewish Insider. The story was promoted by Fox News host Mark Levin, whose proximity to the president and caustic attacks against Republican opponents of the war led some commentators to blame him for election losses.

Claiming polling showed that few voters listed foreign policy as their top concern, the CUFI memo went on to say Vance is "clearly, demonstrably, and unambiguously wrong." It acknowledged the negative economic consequences of the war, but blamed him and political commentator Tucker Carlson for allegedly hampering it.

"A significant portion of the pain was wrought by the Vice President and the other isolationists in halls or with microphones of power who have sought to stop and hamstring the war effort. This war should've been over months ago, and if the Vice President wants someone to blame for that, he needs only look in the mirror," the memo said. "The Vance-Carlson movement, which we call woke rightism, is as loud as their candidates are weak."

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, an ordained Southern Baptist minister and Christian Zionist who recently claimed opponents of the Iran war have been spiritually blinded by Satan, echoed the CUFI Action Fund memo, dismissing Vance's assertion that many GOP voters abandoned the party because of the nature of the U.S.-Israeli alliance.

"I don't agree with that because I don't think that's where voters are," Huckabee said during an interview with Channel 12, an Israeli outlet. "In fact, if you look at the polls, the only group of people in America that really think that that's an important issue are the Democrats on the far left. Only 19% of Republicans even have that same view."

Huckabee appeared to be referring to the 2026 National Exit Poll, conducted by SSRS, which found that of the roughly 51% of voters who said U.S. support for Israel was "too strong," only about 19% of that subset identified as Republican.

The economic spillover effects of the Iran war remained a high priority among all voters, however, and Gallup found the situation in Iran among the top issues overall, with 47% of registered voters calling it "extremely important." Democrats rated it higher (58%) than Republicans (35%).

Exit polling does not document the views of voters who elected to stay home this year, and early analyses point to relatively lower Republican turnout and enthusiasm as a contributing factor to Democratic gains. White Evangelicals made up a much smaller share of the electorate (17%) than in 2024 (23%). A 2026 Pew Research Center survey released in July found that favorable views of the Israeli government have dropped sharply among white Evangelicals, slipping from 71% in 2024 to 57% this year.

Such data comes amid a years-long steady decline of younger Evangelicals who support modern Israel and view it as crucial to the End Times — a trend that began before the outbreak of its war against Hamas in 2023. Experts who spoke to The Christian Post in 2024 said that such metrics could potentially be attributed to Marxist influence and growing antisemitism, but could also be the result of young Christians having greater exposure to historical theological views that differ from dispensational premillennialism.

Republican Oklahoma state Sen. Dusty Deevers, who is also an ordained Southern Baptist minister, called Vance's admission "shocking," but true.

"Most 2024 voters showed up and didn't vote for what they were given. Not a turnout problem. A trust problem," Deevers said in an X post that affirmed the four primary reasons Vance listed for disaffection among Trump's fractured political base.

"America First means America first in our foreign policy and our domestic policy. The war promise got broken. Trust was broken. A foreign capital mattered more than Main Street. Any honest conversation starts there. Reaffirm these four or keep losing the people who carried 2024," Deevers said. He urged conservative young men, whose demographic swung nearly 40 points to the Democrats since 2024, to start filling the power vacuum in the GOP by entering local and state politics.

"We are under God's judgment. Focus on what's important: strong godly families, strong churches, evangelism, and steel-spined Christian politics. Obedience is ours. Results belong to Him," he added.