New poll shows growing number of Americans disapprove of Trump's handling of Iran war

[0:00] Now, for a closer look at how Americans are seeing the war in Iran and rising gas prices, [0:05] Lisa Desjardins is at the super screen with insights from our latest PBS News NPR Marist poll. [0:10] So, Lisa, the U.S. and Israel launched this war in Iran at the end of February. [0:14] President Trump promised a quick conflict. [0:16] More than two months on, how are Americans seeing the war? [0:19] The war is unpopular, and it's becoming more so. [0:21] When we asked, American adults told us only 33 percent of them approve of this war in Iran, [0:28] and the president's handling right now, that leaves 60 percent who disapprove of this war. [0:33] Now, we wanted to have some historical context. [0:35] This is significant historically. [0:37] We looked back at 2007, another unpopular war, the war in Iraq. [0:41] What were the ratings then for President George W. Bush at the time? [0:45] 64 percent of Americans disapproved, registered voters at that point. [0:50] Now, you can see these numbers are not that far apart, [0:52] even given the fact that this had been war for a couple of years with American lives lost in the field. [0:57] You can see Americans do not have an appetite for war [1:00] and are unhappy with the president about it in particular. [1:03] There is, however, a partisan divide. [1:05] Republicans stand out because, overwhelmingly, [1:08] they approve of what President Bush Trump is doing in Iran right now. [1:12] However, this isn't all good news for him when it comes to Republicans. [1:16] That number is down seven points from March. [1:19] That's statistically significant, especially given this was just two months ago. [1:23] Lisa, what about the economic impact we know the war is having, [1:26] especially when it comes to gas prices? [1:28] How are Americans looking at that? [1:30] This is not just a question of opinion, but a question of impact. [1:34] We asked Americans what the impact had been for them, [1:37] and you can see a huge group, 81 percent of Americans, [1:41] with 33 of them saying a major strain, [1:44] 81 percent say they are feeling the strain of increased gas prices on their family. [1:49] What that leaves is just a small group, 19 percent, [1:53] who are not feeling the pinch of these increased gas prices. [1:56] I want to remind viewers that there are some 5 million electric vehicles on the roads in America. [2:01] That's an example of who might be involved in this small 19 percent. [2:05] But there's a political question here. [2:07] Do they blame President Trump for this? [2:09] We asked, and the answer is very clear. [2:11] They do. [2:11] Sixty-three percent of Americans, we asked, said they do blame President Trump for the gas price increase. [2:17] Now, the other point about this, though, is the president has been strong on the economy in the past. [2:22] How is he doing? [2:23] Is this impacting him overall on the economy? [2:27] Right now, 61 percent of Americans disapprove of how the president is handling the American economy. [2:34] This used to be a strong suit for him. [2:37] Again, we looked back at history. [2:38] In 2020, as the president was leaving office in December, these numbers were reversed. [2:45] More Americans approved of how he was handling the economy, even though he had lost the election. [2:50] This is not just a problem for President Trump, but potentially for the Republican Party as well. [2:55] Lisa, pick up on that point then, because we know all of this is happening just a few months before the midterm elections. [2:59] How could it impact Republicans' races? [3:02] It certainly could. [3:02] But let's look at the generic ballot, as we call it. [3:05] When you ask who you prefer, Democrats or Republicans in general, there's a 10-point gap preferring Democrats. [3:11] And when you ask this question to independents, look at this. [3:15] That gap is even larger. [3:16] Now, a 12-point preference by independents for Democrats. [3:21] Now, this is something that Democrats like, but they also like an enthusiasm gap that we found in our poll. [3:27] Look at this. [3:28] Who's very enthusiastic about voting in November? [3:30] Remember, Democrats are more so than Republicans, independent in this partisan time, not as enthusiastic. [3:38] But this enthusiasm is something Democrats are counting on to overcome redistricting by Republicans in some red states. [3:45] And they say they saw that enthusiasm yesterday in Michigan. [3:49] Look at this pivotal state Senate race in Michigan. [3:52] The Democrat won by 20 points. [3:55] This is a district where Democrats carried by just seven points four years ago. [4:00] That enthusiasm, I say, could matter in remapped districts like this one in Ohio. [4:05] This race is now set after primaries. [4:07] This is a rematch. [4:09] For Congresswoman Marcy Kaptor, she hopes to keep her seat in a district that has been remapped to benefit Republicans. [4:15] She will need enthusiasm, like we see in this poll, to do it. [4:18] Lisa, also yesterday, there were some closely watched primary results in Indiana. [4:23] President Trump was trying to oust members of his own party who refused to redistrict. [4:27] What happened? [4:27] Here's a visual way to think of it. [4:29] These are the seven state senators who voted against redistricting, against Trump. [4:33] He challenged all of them in the primary. [4:35] How many kept their jobs? [4:37] Let's look at who did not. [4:38] But these five state senators are out of their jobs because of primary challenges by President Trump, who won. [4:47] One outright state senator will keep his job. [4:49] And then a seventh is in a race too close to call. [4:52] Right now, I'm not. [4:53] This race is down to three votes. [4:56] Republicans, no doubt, are taking this as a message about loyalty across the country. [5:00] All right. [5:01] Lisa Desjardins, thank you very much. [5:02] You're welcome. [5:03] Support journalism you trust. [5:18] Support PBS News. [5:20] Donate now, or even better, start a monthly contribution today.