Despite Tucker and Bannon's criticism, 72% of Trump voters back US action in Israel war with Iran

A new poll shows that 72% of those who voted for Trump in 2024 support direct U.S. involvement in Israel’s war against Iran “if necessary,” despite prominent MAGA commentators like Tucker Carlson and Steve Bannon criticizing it as a “regime change” war.

According to polling put out by GrayHouse’s Landon Wall, “72% support direct U.S. military action if necessary to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapon.” 

“83% support Israel’s preemptive strikes on Iranian nuclear and military sites,” Wall further noted.

The polling also reveals Trump voters’ deep distrust of any potential deal with Iran, despite the Trump administration’s efforts to achieve such a deal: “73% say Iran cannot be trusted to honor any diplomatic agreement.”

A poll from last month, however, indicated that a majority of Republicans, and Americans in general, preferred negotiations with Iran rather than war.

In a University of Maryland Critical Issues Poll of US voters, “more than two-thirds of respondents, 69%, said that they preferred a negotiated agreement limiting Iran’s nuclear program to peaceful ends, with stringent monitoring, while only 14% said they preferred taking military action in an attempt to destroy Iran’s nuclear program,” the Brookings Institution reported.

Among Republicans, 64% said they preferred negotiations.

Prominent Trump supporters openly opposing U.S. support for the war include commentators Tucker Carlson, Steve Bannon, and Candace Owens, Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, and others.

Carlson, the most influential pro-Trump figure criticizing the war, was mocked by Trump in a Monday post on Truth Social.

“Somebody please explain to kooky Tucker Carlson that, ‘IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON!’” Trump wrote.

For several years, Carlson has opposed any U.S. involvement in a war with Iran, arguing that America should stay out of foreign wars.

In a recent interview on Steve Bannon’s show, Carlson argued that participating in Israel’s war with Iran is not in the interest of the American people, and would amount to another failed regime change war.

“My interest is really simple. I don’t want the United States enmeshed in another Middle Eastern war that doesn’t serve our interest. I saw that last time,” he said, referring to the Iraq war.

Carlson emphasized that he was not “anti-Israel,” but believed that the war would lead to the unnecessary loss of too many Israeli, Iranian, and American lives.

“I said this to an Israeli official – if you think I’m anti-Israel, man, you have lost the plot, son,” Carlson said.

“If you think I’m your enemy…not at all, I like Israel!” he continued. “Are you kidding? I’ve spent a lot of time there, I continue to like it. I pray that Jerusalem is not damaged. I feel so sad for the Israelis that have been killed in the last couple of days, and the Iranians who have been killed the last couple of days, who have nothing to do with any of this.”

“You can hate the Iranian government, I’m not for the Iranian government – but if you don’t see the death of innocents anywhere as sad, then you are gravely diminished, certainly as a Christian,” Carlson said.

Bannon also commented on the war, saying it “wasn’t just about the nuclear program, it’s a decapitation of total leadership – so this is a total regime change.”

He also criticized the war in a subsequent interview on Tucker Carlson’s show, saying it would ultimately be bad for Israel itself.

“As a defender of Israel, as someone who’s very pro-Israel, I’ve been saying, hey – this is gonna be the end of Israel.”