President Donald Trump's Republican base is strongly backing U.S. military strikes against Iran, even as a new NBC News poll finds most voters overall are skeptical of the operation.
The survey highlights the deep partisan divide over the conflict, with 90% of Republicans aligned with the Make America Great Again movement supporting the strikes compared with just 5% who oppose them.
Among Republicans who don't identify with MAGA, support drops to 54% while 36% say the U.S. should not have launched the attacks, NBC reported.
Overall, the poll shows broader public hesitation about the new military campaign. Fifty-four percent of registered voters disapprove of Trump's handling of the Iran situation, while 41% approve and 5% are unsure.
Similarly, 52% of voters say the U.S. should not have taken military action against Iran, while 41% say the strikes were justified and 7% are undecided, according to the NBC News survey of 1,000 registered voters conducted Feb. 27 through March 3.
The Trump administration has defended the military action as necessary to counter what officials described as "imminent threats" from Iran and its pursuit of nuclear weapons.
The strikes, carried out alongside Israel, targeted Iranian military and leadership infrastructure and reportedly killed Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, marking one of the most significant escalations in the region in years.
The NBC News poll shows the expected partisan divide. Nearly nine in 10 Democrats — 89% — say the U.S. should not have struck Iran, while 58% of independents agree.
Republicans, by contrast, largely support the operation, with 77% saying the U.S. should have taken military action and just 15% opposing it.
Republican pollster Bill McInturff, who conducted the survey with Democrat pollster Jeff Horwitt, said public opinion on military action often evolves as events unfold.
"Attitudes shift in this country based on results," McInturff said, suggesting support could increase if the campaign achieves clear strategic outcomes.
The survey also found generational differences in views on the strikes. Two-thirds of voters under 35 oppose the strikes, while voters ages 50 to 64 narrowly support them.
Despite disagreements about military action, Americans overwhelmingly view Iran negatively.
The poll found 61% of registered voters hold an unfavorable view of the country, while only 8% view it positively.
The NBC News poll surveyed 1,000 registered voters via phone and text-based online interviews and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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