Partisan splits seen in new poll on withdrawal from Afghanistan

New polling data reveals partisan splits in opinions on President Biden’s plan to withdraw all U.S. troops from Afghanistan by the end of August.

The Politico-Morning Consult survey found that a majority of registered voters — 59 percent — support Biden’s plan to withdraw the troops, ending the longest war in U.S. history. In comparison, 25 percent said they are opposed to his plan and 16 percent had no opinion.

Across the political spectrum, 76 percent of Democrats, 59 percent of independents and 42 percent of Republicans support the plan. Among Republicans, roughly an equal percentage oppose the plan — at 43 percent — while only 11 percent of Democrats agree. Twenty-two percent of independents oppose the plan.

When asked to choose between prioritizing the removal of American troops and providing support for allies in fighting terrorism, a partisan split could also be seen. Almost 6 in 10 Democrats — 59 percent — are in favor of “getting Americans out of harm’s way,” compared to 40 percent of Republicans who said the same. Twenty-three percent of Democrats chose “help support our allies, fight terrorism and maintain our foreign policy interests,” while 49 percent of Republicans selected this option.

Despite these differences in support for the plan, general concern that the withdrawal may lead to Afghanistan becoming a “safe haven for violence and terrorism” appears to be uniform across the board, with a majority of Democrats, Republicans and independents all saying they had concerns regarding that possibility.

The Politico-Morning Consult poll was conducted from July 9 to 12 and involved 1,996 registered voters. The results of the poll have a margin of error of 2 percentage points.

Biden earlier this month said the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan would be completed by the end of August instead of his original Sept. 11 goal.