Gallup Poll: Confidence in Military Plummets

CV NEWS FEED // A recent Gallup poll found that Americans’ confidence in the military under the Biden administration has plummeted. The news comes amid a series of controversial LGBTQ- and abortion-related policy decisions affecting the armed forces.

The poll, which was conducted in June 2023, showed that the current average of confidence in the military among Americans is only 60%, compared to almost 70% in 2021. Gallup reported that confidence hasn’t been this low since 1997.

The lowest recorded point in American confidence in the military was in 1981 in the midst of the Cold War and the Iran hostage crisis, when only 50% of Americans described themselves as confident. If the current downward trend in confidence continues, the U.S. might be returning to a point when only half of Americans trust the military.

Gallup also reported trends in military confidence by party, saying that Republicans have almost always been more likely to be confident in the military—but in the three years of Biden’s administration, Republicans’ confidence has gone down from 91% to 68%. 

For Independents, the statistics aren’t much better, starting at 68% in 2021 and dropping to a current 55%. Democrats’ confidence in the military actually went up from 61% in 2020 to 68% in 2022, during the first year of Biden’s presidency, but even their confidence has now decreased to 62%. 

The military is facing numerous challenges from different fronts, contributing to the drop in confidence.

“Now that the U.S. has completely withdrawn from both Iraq and Afghanistan, the two most significant military legacies of the 2001 terrorist attacks on the U.S., confidence in the military has continued to decline among the public,” Gallup reported. 

The Biden administration’s chaotic exit from Afghanistan in 2021 left numerous American citizens stranded or killed and abandoned Afghan allies, leading to a marked decrease in trust in the military.

In addition to crises on the battlefield, the military is facing a recruitment crisis. According to Task and Purpose, the army gained 45,000 new recruits last fiscal year, massively missing its goal of 60,000. 

The military has also been accused of “going woke” in recent years due to its promotion of leftist ideals in its advertising and policymaking.

For example, West Point is currently offering many controversial classes and a “gender and inclusion studies” minor. Names of classes available to the future defenders of America include Social Inequality; Politics of Race, Gender, and Sexuality; and Sex and Civilizations. West Point students are also writing research papers on gender theory, racial discrimination, and queer theory.

Both the Army and the Navy have included these progressive themes in their recent advertising. 

In October 2022, the Navy started a new program called “Digital Ambassadors” to combat a recruitment crisis—and their first “ambassador” was a “non-binary” active-duty drag queen.

The Army released a recruiting ad in May entitled “The Calling,” following the story of a woman who was raised by lesbians and wants a way to prove that she is a strong woman.

Army Secretary Christine Wormuth has denied any presence of “wokeness” in the army and said she is worried about people’s opinions of the military following the repeated criticism, Task and Purpose reported.

As reported by CatholicVote, the military is also facing a political battle with Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-AL. The senator has used his position on the Senate Armed Services Committee to block the nominations of senior Department of Defense officials since March, in protest of a DOD policy that funds active service members’ abortions, including travel expenses.