Zogby to Newsmax: Biden Gets, Gives 'Mixed Message' on Ukraine

President Joe Biden, who has made the war in Ukraine a major part of his presidency, is getting a "mixed message" from the American public about the United States' role in the conflict, but "perhaps he's giving off mixed messages as well," pollster John Zogby said on Newsmax Sunday.

"On one hand, a majority feels that the United States' role is not tough enough in dealing with Russia and Ukraine," Zogby, the founder and senior partner of John Zogby Strategies, said on Newsmax's "Wake Up America." "On the other hand, Americans will support sanctions, activities like that, but they will not support troop deployment."

Zogby added that polls are showing that fewer than one-third of Americans want the United States to have a major role in the Ukraine-Russia war.

His comments follow Saturday's short-lived mutiny in Russia, which ended when mercenary Wagner group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin agreed that he would go to Belarus and his troops would return to base in return for guarantees for their safety, rather than continue to head to Moscow.

Meanwhile, Biden's approval numbers are continuing to slip, but pollster Jim McLaughlin, president and partner of McLaughlin & Associates, also appearing on Newsmax Sunday, commented that some headlines dropping slightly are not accurate.

According to a recent Emerson Poll, Trump is maintaining his support from 59% of Republicans surveyed, but the number was down by 3 percentage points from April.

But McLaughlin said some of the headlines were from "media that doesn't like Trump," but the former president "was up by 38 points in that poll, so it's within the margin of error."

National polls, as well as polls in early primary states and caucus states such as Iowa, South Carolina, and New Hampshire, show Trump maintaining a strong lead, said McLaughlin.

"One of the most important reasons for this is that voters think he is much better on the issues that they really care about in the presidential election, like national security," he said.

Meanwhile, a recent poll from Public Opinion Strategies shows Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis picking up steam in the race for the GOP presidential nomination, showing that he can defeat Biden in Pennsylvania, Arizona, and Georgia, coming in a few points over Trump's ability to defeat the incumbent in the general election.

Zogby commented that independent voters split in favor of Biden in the battleground states.

"DeSantis leads and on the other hand, you didn't show Trump's numbers," he said. "In two instances, numbers against Biden are both a little bit better than Trump's numbers against Biden. But the bottom line is that those are very close."

Trump, though, maintains a significant lead in national polling in the primary race, and McLaughlin said the reason for that is "he has an 85% to 90% job approval rating."

"His numbers go up even higher when you look at conservatives in all these polls, whether it's an Iowa caucus poll, whether it's in New Hampshire or whether it's a national report right now, Donald Trump among conservatives [is] getting well over 60% of the vote," McLaughlin said. "Conservatives are the ones who decide these elections in Republican primaries."

Further, when Trump speaks out about the issues, as in his speech Saturday night, "the better it is for him because he's got the advantage, whether it's versus Ron DeSantis or whether it's versus Joe Biden."

About NEWSMAX TV:

NEWSMAX is the fastest-growing cable news channel in America!