What young Republicans are saying about Trump's handling of the Iran war

[0:00] AMNA NAWAZ. The U.S. and Israeli war with Iran has caused a rare rift among conservatives, [0:04] with several influential figures on the right condemning the war in its early days. [0:09] A recent Pew Research Center poll shows that, while most Republicans do support the war, [0:14] young Republicans appear to be an outlier. Only 49 percent of those under the age of 30 [0:19] say they approve of the way that President Trump has handled the conflict. [0:23] Turning Point USA, the organization founded by the late activist Charlie Kirk, [0:28] has been key in organizing young conservatives, especially at their signature campus rallies. [0:33] Our White House correspondent Liz Landers spoke to some of them at one such event right here in [0:37] Washington last night. So, Liz, tell us about the event, who you talked to, and what they had to say. [0:42] LIZ LANDERS, White House Correspondent for President Trump, This was at George [0:43] Washington University's campus, which is right here in the heart of Washington. [0:46] This event was a conversation between Erika Kirk and White House Press Secretary Caroline [0:51] Levitt there. TPUSA has become a particularly powerful organizing tool for conservatives, [0:57] and the Republican Party has been a key part of that. [0:57] LIZ LANDERS, White House Correspondent for President Trump, The Republican Party has been a [0:57] key part of that. TPUSA has been a particularly powerful organizing tool for conservatives, and the [0:57] Republican Party has been a key part of that. TPUSA has been a key part of that. [0:58] LIZ LANDERS, White House Correspondent for President Trump, The Republican Party, [0:58] they have more than 3,500 university campus chapters and more than 300 staffers. [1:05] So we asked attendees who were in line waiting for the event what they thought about [1:10] one month into this conflict, this war with Iran. As you might expect, several had the president's [1:14] back. LIZ LANDERS, White House Correspondent for President Trump, I would say I confidently [1:16] trust the president to handle his agenda and to handle any foreign policy affairs. [1:21] LIZ LANDERS, White House Correspondent for President Trump, But others expressed [1:23] opposition or even uncertainty. LIZ LANDERS, White House Correspondent for President Trump, [1:25] We don't want them to have immense power that's going to hurt them. [1:28] LIZ LANDERS, White House Correspondent for President Trump, We don't want them to hurt [1:28] other people. But the way it went about may not have been the right way of doing it. [1:32] So I'm very conflicted on the means of participation that we've taken part in. [1:37] I aspire to join the Marines myself and I think it's very good to serve our country. [1:41] But I don't see this war as serving America's interests, certainly not it's economic interest, [1:46] political interests, social interests. [1:48] We need to focus more on the United States first. I think there's a lot of problems that [1:52] could be solved in the United States before going into foreign conflict. To be honest, [1:58] this was more Israel's fight than the United States. [2:00] Under that last unit there, Nassim, he's Iranian-American. So he said that this is a complex [2:05] issue for him. He has complicated feelings about it. But he said that he thought it was good that [2:11] the Ayatollah was killed. And he said that his family also felt like they had, you know, [2:16] there was no tears, as he put it, that the Ayatollah had been killed at the beginning [2:20] of this conflict. But as you heard him say there, he also wants the focus to be back on [2:24] domestic issues in the U.S. I asked him if this conflict, this war, was going to impact his vote [2:29] come November. He said probably not, that it's other issues that are going to more personally [2:33] impact him that he's focused on. That's interesting. With this being right there in the heart of the [2:38] GW campus, I know you spoke to other students who weren't there for the event, but who also said [2:43] that they opposed the war. What did you hear from them? We walked by two young women who were [2:48] milling about walking around on campus in between classes. And they said that they were both [2:52] unhappy. [2:54] That TPUSA was there and also were in opposition to this conflict with Iran. Take a listen to what [3:00] Gabby told us. We're committing war crimes and it's being used, our dollars that we don't have. [3:05] We're both full Pell Grant students who are here completely on financial aid. She doesn't have any [3:10] right now. Mine is being cut. I'm deeply ashamed right now to be an American. Gabby said that she [3:16] watched President Trump's speech on Wednesday night. And she said that she was particularly [3:20] offended by the phrase that he used, that he was going to bomb Iran. [3:24] Back to the Stone Ages. She said that she thought that that was appalling. Well, as you know, [3:28] U.S. viewpoints on the Middle East have changed a lot over the years. Polls have shown young [3:33] Democrats are increasingly less sympathetic towards Israel, but they're also starting to show a [3:37] similar trend among young Republicans. What have you found out about that when you talk to [3:41] experts? We spoke with Shibley Telhami. He's a professor at the University of Maryland, and he also [3:46] has been tracking and polling these issues with young voters for years now. He points to the war in [3:52] Gaza in 2023. [3:54] As a real important timestamp for when these shifting views on Israel started to come to more [4:01] of the forefront, especially with Democrats and also these young Republicans. Listen to what he [4:06] told us. We've seen the gap between younger and older Republicans became huge, particularly in [4:13] terms of justifying what Israel was doing in Gaza. And that has increased of late, particularly with [4:20] regard to the Iran war, in large part because many of the [4:24] podcasters and the commentary on the right, [4:28] particularly the America First movement, have been highlighting the link between the Israeli [4:34] aim to have war with Iran and the causes for the war, of the U.S. going to war. [4:42] He attributes these shifts in attitudes for young Republicans in particular to two different [4:47] things. He says, first of all, it's about the anger of the United States supporting Israel in [4:51] that Gaza conflict starting several years back. [4:54] that started during the Biden years, honestly. [4:57] Secondly, he says that the America First platform – and you heard him talk a little bit about [5:00] that at the end there – that Trump ran on promoting domestic issues here in the United [5:06] States and no more foreign war intervention. [5:09] And that was something that we heard from young people across the political spectrum [5:12] yesterday, that they believed that Trump had broken that promise, that he would not get [5:16] the United States involved in any more foreign wars. [5:19] AMNA NAWAZ Such an interesting look at how young voters [5:21] are looking at this war. [5:22] White House correspondent Liz Landers, thank you. [5:24] LIZ LANDERS Thanks. [5:36] NICK SCHIFRIN Support journalism you trust. [5:38] Support PBS News. [5:40] Donate now, or even better, start a monthly contribution today.