有意接替唐纳德·特朗普的共和党候选人迅速将矛头指向其议程的两大支柱——伊朗战争和关税——认为正是它们引发了席卷美国中期选举的民主党蓝色浪潮。
Republican hopefuls in the race to succeed Donald Trump swiftly blamed two key pillars of his agenda – the Iran war and tariffs – for summoning the Democratic blue wave that swept the US midterm elections.
民主党在周二晚间的惊人胜利所带来的冲击让共和党人措手不及，并急于寻找支持率崩塌的原因。周四，美联社判定民主党在更多竞争激烈的众议院选战中获胜，不过阿拉斯加州和密西西比州的参议院选战仍未分出胜负。
The fallout from the stunning success of Democrats on Tuesday night has left Republicans reeling – and grasping for the reasons behind the collapse in support. On Thursday, the Associated Press called more competitive House races for the Democrats, though Senate races in Alaska and Mississippi remained undecided.
副总统JD·万斯、即将卸任的佛罗里达州州长罗恩·德桑蒂斯以及得克萨斯州参议员特德·克鲁兹都指出，共和党在全国各地遭遇挫败——包括在得克萨斯州和堪萨斯州等此前的票仓——之后，民众对生活成本的不满是原因之一。
Vice-president JD Vance, the outgoing Florida governor Ron DeSantis, and Texas senator Ted Cruz all pointed to frustration over cost of living amid the fallout from Republican defeats across the country, including in previous strongholds such as Texas and Kansas.
他们列举的因素包括特朗普对伊朗的持久战争和激进的贸易议程、美以关系，以及民主党将保守派候选人描绘得很糟糕的广告。
They cited factors including Trump’s prolonged war on Iran and aggressive trade agenda; the US-Israel relationship; and Democratic ads that painted conservative candidates poorly.
“关税让一切都变得太贵了，伊朗战争也拖得太久了，”克鲁兹周三在其播客《特德·克鲁兹的裁决》中说。这位前共和党总统候选人尚未排除再次参选的可能。“它本应是短暂、果断并且已经结束的。它需要结束。”“我们失败的原因是这场战争，”万斯周三在X平台的一篇长文中写道，暗示其政党之所以落败，是因为选民对特朗普政府将注意力从美国人身上转移开感到愤怒。
“Tariffs have made everything too expensive and the Iran war has dragged on too long,” Cruz, a former Republican presidential candidate who has not ruled out another run, said on his podcast, Verdict With Ted Cruz, on Wednesday. “It should have been brief, decisive and over. It needs to end.”“The reason we lost is the war,” Vance wrote in a lengthy X post on Wednesday, suggesting his party lost because voters are angry at the Trump administration for diverting focus away from Americans. “To the people who are just pissed at the results, you should be,” the vice-president added.
“对那些对结果感到愤怒的人，你们应该愤怒，”副总统补充道。“让我们把这份愤怒化为行动，回到拯救我们国家的工作中去。”德桑蒂斯两年前挑战特朗普争夺共和党提名未果，此后与总统的关系一直紧张。他宣称本周的选举对其政党而言“近乎一场灭绝级别的事件”。
“Let’s take that anger and get back to the work of saving our country.”DeSantis, who unsuccessfully challenged Trump for the Republican nomination two years ago and has since endured a strained relationship with the president, declared this week’s elections to be “close to an extinction-level event” for their party. Democrats made Republicans look bad with ads targeting them over the case of the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and congressional stock trading, DeSantis said on Wednesday. DeSantis said Republicans had promised they would publish the Epstein files, which included a vast array of documents and correspondences tied to the disgraced financier.
德桑蒂斯周三表示，民主党人利用针对被定罪性犯罪者杰弗里·爱泼斯坦案以及国会议员股票交易的广告，让共和党人显得难堪。
He said: “And then you actually have people in the Congress voting against release [of the Epstein files] when the attorney general said she had all this horrific stuff on her desk and that people were going to be held accountable.”
德桑蒂斯说，共和党人曾承诺公布爱泼斯坦文件，其中包含大量与这位身败名裂的金融家有关的文件和通信。他说：“然后，当司法部长说她桌上摆着所有这些可怕的东西、相关人员将被追究责任时，国会里竟然真的有人投票反对公布（爱泼斯坦文件）。”在中期选举前的数月乃至数周里，民调显示选民对特朗普的执政表现日益不满。随着汽油价格和食品杂货成本上涨——这是与伊朗开战的结果——美国人正感受到美国经济的压力。
In the months and weeks leading up to the midterms, polling showed voters were increasingly disgruntled with Trump’s handling of his job. Americans were feeling the squeeze of the US economy with gas prices and grocery costs rising – a result of the war with Iran. Yet Trump remained confident voters would stay loyal to him, encouraging them to vote as though he were on the ballot and campaigning for Republicans in competitive seats. Democrats, meanwhile, promised to make life more affordable and keep the US president’s sprawling agenda in check – and won over voters.
然而特朗普仍相信选民会继续忠于他，鼓励他们把这次投票当作他本人也在选票上一样，并为竞争激烈选区的共和党人助选。
Democrats have seized authority in both chambers of Congress and won a majority of the gubernatorial races around the country.
与此同时，民主党人承诺让生活更负担得起，并约束这位美国总统庞大而分散的议程——并赢得了选民的支持。民主党人已夺取国会两院的控制权，并在全国多数州长选举中获胜。
Tuesday’s results indicate that Trump’s endorsements no longer carry the same power they once did. Several incumbent Republicans that he vouched for in competitive House and Senate races still lost to Democrats.
周二的结果表明，特朗普的背书不再具有昔日的效力。他在竞争激烈的众议院和参议院选举中背书的数名现任共和党人仍败给了民主党人。
Though Trump said he would accept the results of the midterms, he quickly deflected, claiming Republicans would have won if his name had actually been on the ballot. On Thursday, the US president went further, demanding that any votes for Dan J Sullivan, an alternative Republican Senate candidate in Alaska, should go to the incumbent Dan S Sullivan, whom Trump endorsed.
尽管特朗普表示他会接受中期选举的结果，但他很快转移话题，声称如果他的名字真的出现在选票上，共和党人本会获胜。
“The vote totals for the Fake Dan Sullivan, plus the other “slug” that the Dems put on the Ballot, should be immediately given to the REAL Dan Sullivan, and the Election is over - He easily wins. There is no other fair solution!”
周四，这位美国总统进一步表态，要求把投给阿拉斯加州共和党参议院替代候选人丹·J·沙利文的任何选票都转给特朗普背书的现任参议员丹·S·沙利文。
Trump wrote.
特朗普写道：“假丹·沙利文以及民主党人放在选票上的另一个‘蛞蝓’的得票总数，应该立即归于真正的丹·沙利文，选举就此结束——他轻松获胜。没有其他公平的解决办法！”
But even Trump admitted that his war with Iran had pushed potential Republican voters away.
但就连特朗普也承认，他与伊朗的战争推走了潜在的共和党选民。特朗普周三在白宫对记者说：“这在很大程度上是真的，因为这让汽油价格涨了一点。”
“It’s largely true because it drove gasoline up a little bit,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Wednesday. Some have suggested Pete Hegseth, the defense secretary, could take the fall for the administration’s conflict in Iran.
一些人提出，国防部长皮特·赫格塞思可能要为政府的伊朗冲突承担责任。然而，当被问及是否考虑解雇赫格塞思时，特朗普坚称赫格塞思仍然做得“非常好”。克鲁兹指责共和党政客无视警告信号。
However, when asked whether he was considering firing Hegseth, Trump insisted Hegseth was still doing “a very good job”. Cruz blamed Republican politicians for ignoring the warning signs. “Too many Republican politicians seem like they didn’t understand, and they didn’t care,” he said.
他说：“太多共和党政客似乎并不理解，也不在乎。食品价格太高。汽油价格太高。柴油价格太高。保险费太高。生活成本太高。”
“Food is too high. Gas is too high. Diesel is too high. Insurance is too high. Life is too high.”