Veterans Stand Behind Trump, Harris Pays the Price for Anti-Trump Stance
Kamala Harris is facing challenges with veterans.
They overwhelmingly support her opponent — favoring Donald Trump by a lopsided 61% to 37%, according to the latest Pew Research Center survey.
For years, civilians have been fed a false narrative.
Democrats and liberal media have heavily pushed the idea of Trump being at odds with the military.
However, veterans themselves have not bought into this story — they have been one of the Republican’s most loyal supporters.
Trump won about six out of 10 veterans in each of the past two presidential elections, and he is on track to maintain that support this year.
Veterans prefer JD Vance over Tim Walz as well.
Both vice-presidential candidates are veterans, but Harris’ running mate has been criticized by fellow National Guard members for lying about his rank and avoiding deployment to Iraq.
While Walz has favor among civilians, a Pew poll found that veterans favor Vance on Trump’s ticket, with 53% having a favorable view of Vance compared to 34% for Walz.
The Pew study suggests that veteran dissatisfaction with Vice President Harris is not solely due to partisan leanings toward the GOP among veterans.
Overall, only 23% of those surveyed believe Harris would better the situation for veterans if she became president, compared to 55% who believe Trump would.
Even among Harris’ veteran supporters, 33% believe she wouldn’t make much difference if she became president, and 5% believe she would make things worse.
On the other hand, 83% of Trump supporters are confident that he would improve things for veterans.
Whenever a prominent general criticizes Trump, like former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Mark Milley did, it grabs headlines. However, the opinions of ordinary soldiers and veterans receive less attention.
There is a divide between politically vocal generals and national-security officials who endorse Harris for president and the regular servicemembers and vets.
Gen. Milley has been cashing in as a consultant and lecturer post his military career, speaking the same language as those who pay well for such services.
High-profile generals like Milley are a core constituency for Harris, while veterans remain a strong support base for Trump.
The failures in foreign policy during the Biden-Harris administration have caused voters to opt for Trump’s foreign policy experience.
Veterans especially understand the cost of failed leadership and the potential consequences of another Harris administration.
Daniel McCarthy is the editor of Modern Age: A Conservative Review and editor-at-large of The American Conservative.
