“Not at War—Except When We Are”

While the Trump administration bickers internally about what to do next [they clearly have no thoughtful long term strategy to follow this terrible and unjustified attack], Americans are asking “Why is the U.S. attacking Venezuela?”

Current polling shows very limited support among the U.S. population for a U.S. military attack on Venezuela, especially major military intervention such as invading or overthrowing its government:

Opposition is broad and substantial:

A Quinnipiac University poll found 63% of U.S. voters oppose military operations inside Venezuela, with only about 25% in favor of such action.

In a YouGov-Economist poll, only 17% of Americans favored the U.S. using military force to overthrow President Nicolás Maduro, while 45% opposed it and 38% were unsure.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll also indicates widespread opposition to military actions associated with the Venezuela situation, including killing suspected drug traffickers abroad without judicial process, with 51% opposed and 29% supportive.

These results suggest that a clear majority of Americans do not support the idea of U.S. forces attacking Venezuela in a conventional military sense (invasion, regime-change operations, or major combat).

Support for specific, narrower actions (e.g., attacking drug-trafficking boats) can be somewhat higher in isolated polls, but broad military intervention lacks majority backing.

Overall U.S. Public

• ~63–70% oppose U.S. military action in Venezuela.

• Only ~25–30% overall support such action. Common Dreams+1

Democrats are strongly opposed to U.S. military intervention:

• Around 89–91% oppose military action in Venezuela.

• Only ~4–7% support such action. Common Dreams+1

This opposition remains very high even in specific scenarios (invasion or overthrow). YouGov

Independents also tend to oppose military action:

• About ~68% oppose U.S. military action.

• Only ~19% (or ~11–19%) support it. Common Dreams+1

Polls consistently show a strong anti-intervention lean among independents.

Republicans show significantly more support than other groups, but still not a majority in most cases:

• In one recent poll, ~52% of Republicans supported military action inside Venezuela, while 33% opposed it. Xinhua News

• Another YouGov poll found ~43% of Republicans support a hypothetical invasion, while 34% oppose it. YouGov

So within the GOP, opinion is divided, with some plurality or near-plurality support, but not overwhelming consensus.

• Democrats: overwhelmingly opposed to military action.

• Independents: largely oppose intervention.

• Republicans: most likely among the major groups to support military action, but even here support often hovers around or below a simple majority and varies by how the question is asked. YouGov+1

• Majorities of Americans overall oppose military action against Venezuela.

• Democrats and Independents are strongly opposed.

• Republicans are the most supportive but are often only near parity or modest support depending on the poll.

• Overall bipartisan opposition exceeds support in most metrics and polls.

  “Not at War,” Says the Man Standing Next to the War Talk.