WTH: MAGA Isolationism Is A Myth! The Reagan Institute’s Roger Zakheim Explains
What the Hell Is Going On
AEI Podcasts
4.4 • 633 Ratings
🗓️ 27 June 2024
⏱️ 46 minutes
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Summary
The numbers are in, and it’s clear that Americans of all political stripes – Democrats, independents, and both MAGA and non-MAGA Republicans – want America to be engaged and leading on the world stage. The Reagan Institute’s new summer survey shows that the vast majority of Americans want a strong military; support defending NATO allies; and continue to support Ukraine, Taiwan, and Israel. But hidden in the crosstabs is an important finding: The myth of MAGA isolationism and Republican support for Russia is just that, a myth. Self-identified “MAGA Republicans” were more internationalist than “non-MAGA Republicans” on every issue and the number of Democrats and Republicans who want Russia to win over Ukraine is a statistical tie.
Roger Zakheim serves as the Washington Director of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute. He previously practiced law at Covington & Burling LLP where he led the firm’s Public Policy and Government Affairs practice group. Before joining Covington he was General Counsel and Deputy Staff Director of the U.S. House Armed Services Committee where he managed the passage of the annual National Defense Authorization Act. He was also the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense.
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Find the Reagan Institute's summer survey here.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This podcast is brought to you by the American Enterprise Institute. |
| 0:03.0 | If you like what you hear, please subscribe, rate, review, and share. Thanks for listening. Here's our show. What the hell's going on? What the hell is going on? What the hell is going on? I don't know what the hell he's talking about. You don't have to know what the hell is on it. What hell's the matter with these guys? We don't know what's going on. What hell's going on? |
| 0:01.1 | Who in God's name knows what it's all about. |
| 0:29.1 | Hi, I'm Danielle Pletka. |
| 0:30.7 | And I'm Mark Tiesen. |
| 0:31.8 | Welcome to our podcast. |
| 0:33.2 | What the hell is going on? |
| 0:35.1 | Mark, give me some good news. |
| 0:37.1 | Well, what the hell is going on? Here's the good news. We're talking today about the myth of MAGA isolationism. |
| 0:42.4 | So there's this perception out there that the MAGA movement is embodied by Marjorie Taylor Green and J.D. Vance and all these neo-isolationists voices on Capitol Hill, that they want to withdraw from the world, |
| 0:55.8 | that they're less hawkish, less interested. |
| 0:58.3 | You got the Heritage Foundation saying that we need to put defense spending on the table to reduce the deficit and all the rest of that. |
| 1:04.6 | Pandering to all these MAGA voters thinking that that's what they want. |
| 1:08.0 | That's not what they want. |
| 1:09.5 | The Reagan Institute has just done a poll, |
| 1:12.0 | their summer survey of opinion on foreign policy. And I went through with the help of our |
| 1:17.8 | outstanding producer, Ben, who pulled all the numbers in the cross tabs on MAGA Republicans |
| 1:22.9 | versus non-Maga Republicans. And on every single issue, MAGA Republicans are more hawkish, |
| 1:30.7 | more concerned about human rights, more concerned about U.S. leadership on the world stage, |
| 1:36.3 | more concerned about victory in Ukraine, more concerned about defending Taiwan, more concerned |
| 1:41.5 | about defense spending, more concerned about helping and willing to help Israel, |
| 1:46.1 | than general Republicans out there, the non-Mega Republicans out there. Does that surprise you, |
... |
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