The Partisan Divide on NATO is New
The American public remains largely supportive of NATO. According to the latest Gallup polling, majorities of Republicans, Democrats, and independents agree that our current NATO commitments should be maintained or increased. Only 16 percent think we should decrease our commitment and 12 percent think we should withdraw from the treaty organization entirely.
But as Donald Trump continues to subvert the alliance—including saying he would encourage Russia to “to do whatever the hell they want” if NATO countries don’t spend enough on defense—ideological fault lines have emerged. Throughout the Reagan years, Republicans were consistently more supportive of NATO than Democrats. Four decades later, their respective positions have flipped: today, 80 percent of Democrats, and only 53 percent of Republicans, support maintaining or increasing our NATO commitments.
The decline in Republican support for NATO is not uniform: self-identified “MAGA Republicans” are driving the dip. In a recent Economist/YouGov poll, MAGA Republicans actually hold net negative opinions of NATO (-7 favorability), whereas non-MAGA Republicans remain decidedly positive in their assessment (+30).
As Ukraine funding looms large in the House, this partisan realignment—and intra-party division—will prove all the more important.
 | A guest post by
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"The American public remains largely supportive of NATO." I would love to see a survey of the American public who could even define what NATO is, who funds it, what countries are members, etc.
Count me among the fraction of people who DO think we should support Ukraine but DON'T think NATO is a force for global peace and stability.