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'Americans aren't against the war': Trump pitches alternate reality on public attitudes

MSNBC / MS NOW (Maddow Blog) · back to the audit

During a brief Q&A with reporters on Wednesday morning, Donald Trump was reminded that most Americans oppose the war in Iran. The president immediately pushed back against the assertion. Last week, for example, the latest Washington Post-Ipsos poll found that 68% of Americans believe the war was not worth fighting. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were also unpopular, but according to previous Washington Post polls, public opposition to the current war with Iran is even worse than attitudes toward those other recent conflicts. 'Half of President Donald Trump's MAGA base thought the Iran war was worth its economic costs in May. Now, just a little more than a third do,' Politico reported. Trump doesn't have to like this data. He can even try to argue that the American mainstream is wrong. But to pretend that Americans 'aren't against the war' is to take a life-and-death issue and turn public attitudes on their head.