More than half of Republican voters back Biden's Afghanistan withdrawal plan, poll finds
President Biden's plan to withdraw all American troops from Afghanistan by or before Sept. 11, 2021, has its critics among Republicans in the halls of Congress, but Republican voters are mostly on board.
A Morning Consult poll released Wednesday found that the strategy is widely popular in the United States (overwhelmingly so among Democrats), and that 52 percent of Republican voters are in favor of it, compared to just 33 percent who oppose.
The reason, it seems, is pretty simple: Americans just want troops to come home safely after two decades of conflict. The major counterargument to Biden's decision is that the absence of U.S. forces will allow the Taliban to regain control over Afghanistan, which, in turn, would provide an opening for terrorist groups to re-establish themselves, presenting a threat to the U.S. and its allies, both at home and abroad. But that stance doesn't appear to be resonating with Americans.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The Morning Consult poll was conducted between April 16-19 among 1,992 registered voters. The margin of error is 2 percentage points. Read more at Morning Consult.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
- 
7 mountain hotels perfect for a tranquil autumn or winter escapeThe Week Recommends Get (altitude) high and unwind
 - 
‘Deskilling’: a dangerous side effect of AI useThe explainer Workers are increasingly reliant on the new technology
 - 
The biggest sports betting scandals in historyIn Depth The recent indictments of professional athletes were the latest in a long line of scandals
 
- 
Senate votes to kill Trump’s Brazil tariffSpeed Read Five Senate Republicans joined the Democrats in rebuking Trump’s import tax
 - 
Border Patrol gets scrutiny in court, gains power in ICESpeed Read Half of the new ICE directors are reportedly from DHS’s more aggressive Customs and Border Protection branch
 - 
Shutdown stalemate nears key pain pointsSpeed Read A federal employee union called for the Democrats to to stand down four weeks into the government standoff
 - 
Trump vows new tariffs on Canada over Reagan adspeed read The ad that offended the president has Ronald Reagan explaining why import taxes hurt the economy
 - 
NY attorney general asks public for ICE raid footageSpeed Read Rep. Dan Goldman claims ICE wrongly detained four US citizens in the Canal Street raid and held them for a whole day without charges
 - 
Trump’s huge ballroom to replace razed East WingSpeed Read The White House’s east wing is being torn down amid ballroom construction
 - 
Trump expands boat strikes to Pacific, killing 5 moreSpeed Read The US military destroyed two more alleged drug smuggling boats in international waters
 - 
Trump demands millions from his administrationSpeed Read The president has requested $230 million in compensation from the Justice Department for previous federal investigations
 
