• The majority of Americans oppose the war and criticize soaring fuel prices.
• This unpopularity threatens the Republicans in the midterm elections.
A survey and here we go again? This is undoubtedly what Donald Trump wanted to believe when he shared information “Three important things” on his Truth Social network on Saturday May 9. While the war in the Middle East earned him the wrath of part of his country, the tenant of the White House highlighted an article titled: “According to a survey, a majority [d'Américains] believes that it is more important to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons than to end the war.”
On paper, the information had everything to please Donald Trump. Even if it is contested by experts, the argument of the nuclear risk posed by Tehran is one of those that the American president has put forward the most since the start of the war. « Voilà où en est notre pays ! ! ! »he congratulated himself in the message where he reshared the survey.
Unfortunately for Donald Trump, the article he highlighted had several problems, as noted by the American media The Daily Beast. First, the content in question is « périmé » since it was from a month earlier, an eternity when we are talking about a news story like the war in Iran, which is causing growing public exasperation in the face of soaring fuel prices.
Another problem: the article was careful not to share other results of the Neapolitan Institute poll which did not bring good news for the American president. The latter could rejoice that a majority of voters considered it more important to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons than to stop the war (53%) or to stabilize energy prices (60%). On the other hand, the fact that 54% of them declared themselves opposed to the conflict – and only 39% in favor – had everything to worry the White House.
The polls have everything to worry Trump before the midterms
This figure has even worsened since the publication of the article shared by Donald Trump on April 10. According to a poll shared Wednesday by PBS News, 60% of Americans – and more than one in five Republican voters – are opposed to the way their president is handling the situation in Iran. Worse, 63% of the population blames the tenant of the White House for the surge in fuel prices.
Same observation from the Ipsos survey for several media including the Washington Postalso published on Wednesday and according to which 61% of Americans believe that using military force against Iran was a mistake. This level of opposition is « comparable » to the one observed “Pendant la guerre du Vietnam”push it Daily Beast in his article.
Many American media believe that the unpopularity of the war in Iran and the surge in prices it has caused could cost Donald Trump and his camp dearly during the midterms on November 3. These midterm elections – in the House of Representatives and the Senate – often turn to the advantage of the opposition party.
From the beginning of April, even though a ceasefire had just been announced between Washington and Tehran, Republicans cited by Politico said they feared that the war had already condemned them to defeat.
