Democrats and Republicans sharply divided over support for UN: poll



Brad Dress
Tue, September 20, 2022 

About 47 percent of Americans support the United Nations, according to a new poll, with a divide seen between Democrats, who generally favor the 193-member international coalition, and Republicans, who view it more negatively.

The Morning Consult poll published Wednesday shows 64 percent of Democrats surveyed have a positive view of the U.N., while only 36 percent of Republicans say the same.

Additionally, 39 percent of Republicans polled hold an unfavorable view of the U.N., while only 12 percent of Democrats do.

The survey was derived from daily polls conducted from Aug. 1 to 31 with a total of roughly 17,350 U.S. adults. The margin of error is plus or minus 1 percentage point.

Since the U.S. joined the international body in 1945, when it was first created, the country has remained a major contributor to the U.N.

However, former President Trump was critical of the U.N., as well as other international organizations, during his presidency and withdrew the U.S. from the U.N. Human Rights Council and the Paris climate accords. Under President Biden, the country rejoined both last year. Trump also formally declared the U.S. would leave the U.N.’s World Health Organization, but Biden reversed that decision as well.

About 33 percent of American voters surveyed said the U.S. should increase its involvement with international organizations such as the U.N., according to a weekly Morning Consult survey of approximately 2,000 registered voters, while 23 percent said the U.S. should decrease its involvement. The margin of error for the survey of registered voters is plus or minus 2 percentage points.

The U.S. ranks low among dozens of nations in terms of the share of adults in each country that hold favorable views of the U.N., according to Morning Consult surveys conducted daily between March 1 and Aug. 31. Countries where a smaller proportion of adults were found to support the body include China, Russia, Japan, Israel and Turkey.

Nations where a high proportion of adults were found to support the U.N. include Nigeria, Poland, Norway and Sweden, according to the polls.

The surveys were conducted in the U.S. among roughly 52,000 adults, with a margin of error of plus or minus 1 percentage point, and in the other countries among approximately 500 to 5,000 adults with margins of error of up to 4 percentage points.