American Support for Ukraine Stays Strong, New Critical Issues Poll Finds

High energy costs and rising inflation have failed to diminish public support

Despite rising interest rates and experiencing other inflation-related issues, an early October Critical Issues Poll by Department of Government and Politics professors Shibley Telhami and Stella Rouse finds American support for Ukraine to be holding steady. Comparing responses they received Oct. 7-10, 2022 from 1,029 adult U.S. respondents to those they received between June 22-28, the professors found roughly the same level of support in October as in June.

“It is striking that we found no sign of fatigue for supporting Ukraine, despite high energy costs and rising inflation, including among Republicans. This may be partly due to the substantial increase in the number of respondents who say Ukraine is succeeding—and Russia is failing—compared to June,” says Professor Shibley Telhami, Director of the Critical Issues Poll.

Where inflation is concerned, 57% of October respondents said they were prepared to accept rising prices as the United States helps Ukraine, compared to 58% of June respondents who said the same. Similarly, 60% of October respondents said they were prepared to take on higher energy costs as a result of the United States’ support, down just 2% from those who said the same in June (within the margin of error). 

More Republicans expressed willingness to pay higher energy and inflation costs in October than in June. In October, 4% more Republicans said they’d accept higher energy costs, and 5% more that they’d accept other inflation-related increases. The change among Democrats willing to accept higher energy costs and rising inflation was with the margin of error, up 2% from October to June for each. 

Support among Independents declined slightly, with 57% saying in October they’d take on higher energy costs, as well as increased inflation. This is down from the 67% and 71% of Independent respondents who respectively said the same in June. 

As Telhami expressed in an analysis in The Washington Post, most Americans remain averse to paying a price in the lives of American troops. However, there was a slight overall increase in the number of respondents who said they are willing to do so in October: Overall, 38% of respondents were prepared to risk the lives of American troops  in October compared to 32%  in June. 

Willingness to risk the lives of American troops climbed three percentage points among Democrats, and there was a large, 13% increase in support from Republicans. Again, Independents were the exception, with their willingness to risk U.S. soldiers’ lives dropping from 53% in June to 42% in October. 

The largest shift in Americans’ thinking about the war in Ukraine is on the question related to who is winning the war. Almost half of all Americans surveyed in October (48%) said Russia is failing, whereas 29% of Americans answered the same in June. Relatedly, 43% of October respondents said Ukraine is succeeding, whereas just 27% said so in June. These perceptions may partly explain continued American public willingness to back Ukraine.

Photo of a combined American and Ukrainian flag hanging in front of a house on the Balboa Island in Newport Beach, California by iStock

Published on Fri, Oct 21, 2022 - 10:04AM