Pastor Gary Hamrick calls Vance election claims 'nonsense,' says US must continue Israel support

Pastor Gary Hamrick, who leads the prominent Cornerstone Chapel in Leesburg, Virginia, pushed back over the weekend against Vice President JD Vance's claim that the nature of the U.S.-Israeli alliance contributed to the Republican Party's midterm wipeout.

"I don't really agree with — the vice president kind of outlined four reasons why he thinks it was a bloodbath on Tuesday. I don't necessarily agree with him, especially on one point," Hamrick said in a sermon that was posted to his church's YouTube channel on Tuesday.

A day after Democrats regained both houses of Congress, flipped six governors' offices and gained hundreds of seats in state legislatures last week, Vance issued an X post that cited an unidentified pollster who claimed many Trump supporters defected to the Democrats to punish the GOP.

Regarding how such voters could be won back, Vance wrote: "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."

Both he and President Donald Trump have acknowledged that the Iran war and frustration over the Israeli government's apparent influence in U.S. politics were key factors driving GOP losses, with Trump telling "60 Minutes" on Sunday that voters have "a great dislike, incredibly, for Israel."

Hamrick expressed skepticism toward Vance's assessment, which he suggested was politically calculated.

"So the four points he said were: the war in Iran; high gas prices and egg prices; number three, America first; number four, we have to reassess our relationship with Israel. Number four is a real problem, what he said," Hamrick said.

"Because if we turn our backs on Israel, it will not bode well for America. I'm just telling you, everybody."

Hamrick went on to address the widespread dissatisfaction with the economy, which was listed in the 2026 National Exit Poll as the top concern (39%) among voters. About 75% rated the economy as "not so good or poor," and roughly 89% said the cost of living was a crucial or major factor in their vote.

"You know, the war with Iran and high gas prices and stuff. I mean, everybody has their own mindset. I just am of the mindset that, you know, short-term pain for long-term gain. Somebody had to do something about Iran," he said as his congregation applauded. "I mean, somebody had to do something."

Regarding Vance's claim that the GOP should return to policies that foremost prioritize American interests, Hamrick said: "I hope we're all America first, but I like what Charlie Kirk once said: 'America first does not mean America only.' And Israel is our greatest ally, and for us to turn our backs on Israel would be a mistake."

"But I think [Vance] is positioning himself with that kind of a statement for further political ambition," he added. He went on to lament the decline of Evangelical voters this year, who made up a much smaller share of the electorate (17%) than in 2024 (23%).

"Don't give me this nonsense about gas prices and reassessing our relationship with Israel," he said. "When Christians sit it out, we lose elections."

During a post-election interview on "Washington Watch with Tony Perkins" on Monday, Hamrick said he was concerned that Trump attributed the GOP's election losses to nationally growing "dislike for Israel."

"It's discouraging, Tony," Hamrick said in the interview, a clip of which went viral on X after being shared by Fox News host Mark Levin, whose rebuke of Republican opponents of the Iran war led some commentators to blame him for election losses.

"You know, President Trump has been bold in his support for Israel in past times. He moved the embassy to Jerusalem. He has done things and said things that have been very supportive of Israel," Hamrick said. "This, to me, looks like he's backpedaling. He's concerned about what some polls say, or what some people say. And I think he's pivoting. It concerns me."

Noting Vance's similar post-election analysis, Hamrick added: "I'm troubled by the direction that it seems that our government is beginning to take."

"It's discouraging." Pastor Gary Hamrick reacts to comments President Trump made on 60 Minutes over the weekend. "This, to me, looks like he's backpedaling" on his previous "bold" support for Israel. "I'm troubled..." https://t.co/HgyAncQy4n

— Tony Perkins (@tperkins) November 9, 2026

Later in the same interview, Hamrick said God has blessed the U.S. because it has blessed modern Israel, citing Genesis 12:3. The verse, which promises curses to those who curse Abraham, is commonly framed by Christian Zionists as applicable to the modern nation-state through the covenant line of the patriarch's descendants.

Hamrick, whose church lists "the pre-tribulation rapture of the Church" among its official beliefs, recently interviewed U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee in Jerusalem on Oct. 25, days before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lost his coalition's parliamentary majority in the Israeli election.

Hamrick noted during their conversation that Huckabee is the first U.S. ambassador to Israel who is an Evangelical, telling him: "We as Evangelical Christians love your view of Israel, because we know it's a biblical view of Israel. And that's, in part, why we love you so much. Thank you for having such a biblical perspective and position on Israel."

Paraphrasing Genesis 12:3 to say, "If you bless Israel, you will be blessed; if you curse Israel, you will be cursed," Huckabee said God maintains a covenant with the Jewish people, and that those who believe the Christian church replaced Israel are guilty of "a heresy."

"If God breaks His covenant with the Jewish people, I have no confidence that He will keep His covenant with me," Huckabee told Hamrick, who agreed. "It's very important. It's not a minor thing. It's an incredibly important biblical truth."

Huckabee, an ordained Southern Baptist minister, also went on to repeat his position that political commentator Tucker Carlson is mentally ill or demonically possessed. Days before the outbreak of the Iran war, Huckabee sparked a diplomatic incident during an interview with Carlson, who pressed him to explain the geopolitical implications of his dispensational theological views.

When Carlson noted that the land promised to Abraham's descendants in Genesis 15 includes a vast swath of the Middle East, Huckabee said, "it would be fine if [Israel] took it all." He quickly walked back his remark as "somewhat of a hyperbolic statement," but prompted outrage from Arab and Muslim nations at the time.

Huckabee most recently drew widespread outrage on social media over the weekend for claiming that opposition to the Iran war is "spiritual darkness" from people who have been "spiritually blinded" by Satan.

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 teachings that differ from the dispensational premillennialism that prevails among Christian Zionists.