By James Crowley, Newsweek
A new poll by Morning Consult and Politico showed that 77 percent of registered voters could not accurately locate Iran on a world map.
The poll asked 1,995 registered voters to locate Iran on both a global map and a zoomed in map of the Middle East.
While more people were able to properly locate Iran on a map of the Middle East when the area was enlarged, the number of correct responses did not improve dramatically.
Only 28 percent of registered voters were able to properly identify Iran on a map of the Middle East. About 2 percent of voters guessed Iraq on the world map.
When asked about whether they approve or disapprove of President Donald Trump’s airstrike that killed Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, more voters approved of Trump’s authorization, with 29 percent strongly approving and 18 percent somewhat approving of it.
While 15 percent said they somewhat disapproved and 25 percent said they strongly disapproved the president’s actions, 14 percent responded that they did not know or did not have an opinion.
Soleimani killed by the US
Of the participants who correctly identified Iran on a world map, more participants favored Trump’s actions, with 32 percent strongly approving of them and 17 percent saying they somewhat approved them. Another 13 percent somewhat disapproved, while 27 percent said they strongly disapproved.
Those who guessed incorrectly reflected similar numbers, although more participants (15 percent) did not know or had no opinion.
Trump ordered the killing
More participants approved of the airstrike, with 45 percent saying they strongly or somewhat approved, while 39 percent somewhat or strongly disapproved of them.
The airstrike’s highest approval came from those who located Iraq on the world map, with 37 percent strongly approving and 23 percent somewhat approving of the action.
Only 10 percent somewhat disapproved of it and 15 percent strongly disapproved, while 16 percent didn’t know or had no opinion.
Protests during Soleimani funeral
The survey also found that most voters thought the U.S. killing Soleimani will make the U.S. much less safe.
Only 12 percent of voters thought that his death made the country much safer, while 20 percent thought it made the U.S. somewhat safer, 21 percent thought it made it somewhat less safe and 29 percent thought it made the country much less so.
About 11 percent of participants who could not locate Iran on a map thought the airstrike made the U.S. much safer and 19 percent said they believe it is somewhat safer, 21 percent think the airstrike made the U.S. somewhat less safe, and 29 percent believe it is much less safe.