US Politics
CNN data analyst says Americans agree with Trump on keeping Iran nuke free: A lot more popular than ‘would think’
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.
Read more
The majority of Americans agree with Donald Trump that Iran should not be able to produce nuclear weapons, analysis by CNN has shown.
Just under 80 percent of U.S. adults surveyed by the broadcaster in April – some two months before the latest escalations in the Middle East – agreed with the president, with clear majorities among both Democrats and Republicans.
“I think it’s a complicated picture overall, but on this particular question and overall, I feel like there’s more support for Donald Trump’s positions than is commonly acknowledged,” CNN data analyst Harry Enten said, in a segment on Thursday.
Some 79 percent of adults said that Iran “cannot get nuclear weapons,” Enten said, adding that, when split down party lines, 83 percent of Republicans and 79 percent of Democrats agreed.
“When you get 79 percent of Democrats and 83 percent of Republicans agreeing on anything, you know that that position is the very clear majority in this country,” Enten said.
open image in gallery
“And so the American public is with Donald Trump. They definitely oppose Iran getting nuclear weapons.”
Back in February, Trump signed a national security presidential memorandum restoring “maximum pressure” on Tehran aimed at “denying Iran all paths to a nuclear weapon, and countering Iran’s malign influence abroad”.
“AMERICA FIRST means many GREAT things, including the fact that, IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!” the president wrote on Truth Social on Tuesday.
However, despite this unwavering stance, he has yet to decide on whether the U.S. should intervene in the escalation conflict between Israel and Iran.
On Thursday the president said he would decide on whether to order U.S. warplanes to strike Iranian nuclear facilities within the next two weeks depending on whether or not Tehran engages in talks over ending their nuclear weapons program.
open image in gallery
Back on CNN, Enten discussed the opinion of the American people on entering the conflict to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear capability, noting again that polling had been done in April – prior to the recent escalations with Israel.
“If you buy Donald Trump’s theory of the case… Iran’s trying to make a nuclear weapon… overall, you get the slight plurality. I mean, it’s within the margin of error, but the slight plurality of Americans actually favor U.S. airstrikes (48 percent) compared to 47 percent opposing it,” Enten said.
However, he noted: “If Iran is trying to make nuclear weapons… 69 percent of Republicans, the clear vast majority of Republicans favor U.S. airstrikes on Iran, on their nuclear facilities.”