Many Americans say the U.S. is not a moral leader but want it to be: NPR/Ipsos poll

61% of respondents said the U.S. should be a moral leader, but only 39% say it actually is one, down from 60% in 2017. Nearly half the country prefers Washington to stay out of the affairs of other countries. A separate Ipsos-Reuters poll on a related Venezuela operation found public opinion roughly split into three equal parts: one-third approving, a third unsure and a third disapproving. The NPR/Ipsos poll shows 46% want U.S. policy to focus on "enriching America and Americans," while 32% prioritize promoting democracy and human rights abroad, down from 42% in 2017. The survey sampled 1,021 Americans and has a margin of error of ±3.3 percentage points. Sixty-four percent view the U.S. as the world's top military power, and 50% think the U.S. has been losing influence globally over the past five years.

"Americans from across the political spectrum say the U.S. should be the moral leader of the world, but far fewer believe that it actually is today, according to a new NPR/Ipsos poll. In the nationwide survey, 61% of respondents said that the U.S. should be a moral leader, but only 39% say it actually is one. That latter figure is sharply down from 60% in 2017 in a similar survey of American attitudes. The latest survey also shows that nearly half the country prefers Washington to stay out of the affairs of other countries."

"Providing a bigger picture of Americans' foreign policy perspectives, the NPR/Ipsos poll suggests that 46% of Americans want U.S. policy to focus on "enriching America and Americans," while 32% prioritize promoting democracy and human rights in other countries with the democracy viewpoint dropping from 42% in 2017. The latest NPR/Ipsos survey polled a nationally representative sample of 1,021 Americans ahead of the end of President Trump's first year in office in his second term."

Read at www.npr.org