What is a pollster to do when their own data contradicts the desired outcome? One answer, all too familiar, is to spotlight the bleakest findings, elevate them to the headline, and quietly sideline the fuller picture the data actually shows. Which is precisely what CBS News did when they released the results of their latest poll on the Iran War this week.
The headline read, “Iran war, rising gas prices fuel economic concerns; most say conflict not going well, don’t want regime left in power.”
While it’s only natural that Americans are worried about the recent spike in gasoline prices, the wording of the survey questions appears designed to amplify that concern. CBS, for instance, highlights “a sharp upsurge in the percentage of people who’ve noticed rising prices.” But respondents were asked to complete the following prompt: “Gas prices in your area have been …” Given that framing, the results are hardly surprising. Unless you’ve been living on Mars for the past month, it’s no shock that 85% have noticed prices “going up.”
Asked whether “the military conflict with Iran will make U.S. oil and gas prices” higher in the short term, 90% said yes, and 58% expect prices to rise over the long term as well.
CBS also reports that “most say the conflict is not going well.” When respondents were asked how they think the war is going for the United States, 57% said somewhat or very badly, compared with 43% who said somewhat or very well.
Given that the legacy media have been parroting the propaganda put out by the Iranian regime’s state media outlets, and they’d rather see America lose the war than hand President Trump a win, I’m surprised the number is not higher.
CBS notes that among those who view the conflict negatively, the sentiment appears to be rooted less in firm opposition than in uncertainty. According to CBS, “they don’t feel they’ve gotten an explanation from the Trump administration. Many aren’t sure how long it will last. They don’t see payoffs, not in making the U.S. safer, nor in making the economy stronger.”
In reality, Trump has been articulating both his rationale for entering the conflict and the objectives he hopes to achieve on a near-daily basis, through press briefings and scheduled appearances. That makes the criticism ring less like a legitimate grievance and more like a pretext for opposing the war. It reflects an unwillingness to acknowledge what is already well established about the Iranian regime’s brutal history. The complaints themselves come across as thin and unpersuasive — another expression of reflexive opposition to anything associated with Trump.
It’s also hard to recall any U.S. president being pressed in the first month of a conflict, to provide a definitive timeline for its conclusion — not even President George W. Bush in the early days of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
That’s why it was striking to hear Fox News’ Kennedy, a libertarian, argue on Tuesday’s edition of The Five that Trump owes the American people an end date for hostilities in Iran. Wars are inherently dynamic. They do not end on a fixed schedule; they end when one side capitulates. Announcing an end date would not just inform Americans — it would signal to Iran exactly how long it needs to hold out, a strategy that has played out repeatedly in conflicts across the region.
It’s important to note that for all the Americans in the survey who say the war is going badly, their expectations are strikingly firm. Fifty-three percent said it would be unacceptable to leave the current regime in power — yet withdrawing before the job is finished is one of the surest ways to ensure that it holds onto power.
Next, respondents were asked, “What’s important for the U.S. to do regarding Iran?” While 92% chose “end the conflict as soon as possible,” in large numbers, people of all political stripes said they were looking for progress on other goals as well: 80% wanted to “make sure Iran’s people are safe and free,” 73% hoped to “permanently stop Iran’s nuclear programs,” and 68% would like to “stop Iran from threatening other countries.”
Wait, are these people admitting that there are some valid reasons for military action against Iran and that the Trump administration may be pursuing some worthy goals?
Buried in the report, CBS presents responses from self-identified Republicans, who largely back their president. As conservative analyst Marc Thiessen points out in the social media post below, most Republicans want Trump to “end the current Iranian regime.” Additionally:
80% would like to change Iran’s leaders to ones that are pro-US90% want to make sure Iran’s people are safe and free71% believe it’s unacceptable to end conflict with current regime in power84% approve of military action
In other words, the fuller picture CBS’s own data reveals tells a different story than the one the headline suggests. Americans may have concerns about costs and uncertainty — as they do at the outset of any conflict — but they are hardly ambivalent about the stakes or the desired outcome. Strip away the selective framing of survey questions and the order and manner in which they are presented, and the poll shows a public that understands both the risks and the necessity of seeing the mission through. The real disconnect, then, isn’t in public opinion — it’s between the data CBS collected and the narrative it chose to present.
Elizabeth writes commentary for Legal Insurrection and The Washington Examiner. She is an academy fellow at The Heritage Foundation. Please follow Elizabeth on X or LinkedIn.
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