PULSE POINTS
❓WHAT HAPPENED: New data highlights Republican divisions on the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran and Israeli influence over American foreign policy.
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👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: The Democracy Institute – one of the only pollsters who predicted Trump’s victory in 2016 – conducted the poll among Republican and Republican-leaning voters.
📍WHEN & WHERE: The poll was conducted nationwide from March 20-22, 2026.
🎯IMPACT: The poll reveals where the divide lies within Republican voter ranks.
Polling by the Democracy Institute has revealed where the divisions are among likely Republican voters regarding the ongoing U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.
Among self-identified “MAGA” Republicans, President Trump’s intervention in Iran is more popular than not, with 54 percent viewing the conflict as a “security necessity,” while 43 percent see it as a “costly mistake.”
Sixty-five percent of self-identified “America First” Republicans, however, believe the war is a costly mistake, with only 31 percent considering it a necessity. This sentiment is even stronger among self-identified “MAHA” (Make America Healthy Again) Republicans, with 73 percent opposing the war, against just 24 percent in favor.
Overall, the poll indicates that a majority of Republicans, 52 percent, oppose the war, compared to 46 percent who support it. Among Democrats, opposition is higher, with voters overall 63 percent opposed against 31 percent in favor.
The Democracy Institute also polled respondents on whether or not they agree with now-former Director of the National Counterterrorism Center and decorated veteran Joe Kent that “Iran was not an imminent threat to America.”
Seventy-five percent of Democrats, 53 percent of Republicans, and 65 percent of voters overall agreed it was not an imminent threat, while 41 percent, 18 percent, and 29 percent, respectively, believed it was.
Kent, a former Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, resigned over the war, arguing it was started “due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.”
The Democracy Institute found that 51 percent of Republicans, 74 percent of Democrats, and 63 percent of voters overall agree that Israel has “too much influence over American foreign policy,” against 43 percent of Republicans, 23 percent of Democrats, and 32 percent of voters overall who think it does not.
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