President Donald Trump’s historic move to strike in conjunction with Israel at sites crucial to Iran’s regime were met with near-universal approval by GOP voters who were asked in a poll, obtained exclusively by the Washington Reporter, if they would back a hypothetical move by the president.
The latest poll from GrayHouse, which was shared with House and Senate Republicans shortly before Trump’s strike, asked voters of all parties if they “support or oppose the United States using military force to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.”
A full 86 percent of Republicans would either strongly support or somewhat support the type of move that Trump just carried out in conjunction with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The GrayHouse poll also showed that Americans were open to Trump’s repeated attempts at negotiating with Iran’s Islamic regime, but the administration’s patience ran out, leading to Trump’s unprecedented bombing of Iran.
When it came to the question of diplomacy versus strikes, Republican voters were the most willing to agree with the statement that “the United States should strike Iran’s nuclear facilities again before Iran can build a nuclear weapon. Diplomacy has failed, and the longer we wait, the more dangerous Iran becomes. America cannot allow a hostile regime to obtain nuclear weapons.”
A full 65 percent of Republicans agreed with that message, compared to only 27 percent who sided with the position that “the United States should pursue diplomacy and sanctions instead of launching more strikes. The last round of strikes didn’t work, and another military conflict in the Middle East risks American lives and a wider war.”
Democrats were far more willing to side with diplomacy over direct strikes when the poll was conducted in late February. A full 70 percent of Democrats preferred diplomacy to strikes.
The Republican Party’s embrace of Trump’s move was no longer hypothetical after the bombing itself. Joe Gruters, the Chair of the Republican National Committee (RNC) immediately backed Trump, and Kiersten Pels — the RNC’s National Press Secretary — told the Reporter that “Operation Epic Fury shows what real American strength on the world stage looks like. President Trump doesn’t issue empty warnings — he acts. Our adversaries now understand the United States will defend its people and its interests without hesitation.”
A Republican Senate source told the Reporter that “voters recognize Iran is a threat, they support taking action to stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, while they also support diplomacy. This poll shows, like the President’s prior actions in Iran and Venezuela, Republicans have his back, and the general public is open to decisive military action.”
While Pels and other Republicans were eager to note that Trump’s decision reflects his latest abandonment of the Obama administration’s foreign policy, the GrayHouse poll did also find that 40 percent of Democrats would support the Trump administration using military force to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. A plurality of 47 percent would oppose it.
Independents were far more willing to back the administration, with a 46 percent plurality backing the hypothetical strikes.
The GrayHouse poll was conducted from February 20 to February 23, and has a margin of error of 2.6 percent; it surveyed 1,394 voters of all political parties.
