A Strong Majority of Voters Oppose the U.S. Arms Sale to Saudi Arabia

By Ahmad Ali

The U.S. State Department recently announced that the U.S. approved an arms sale of $650 million in air-to-air missiles to Saudi Arabia for defensive purposes. New polling from Data for Progress finds that a strong majority of voters oppose the arms sale with Saudi Arabia by a margin on -39 points. Democrats oppose the arms sale by a -37-point margin, Independents by a -40-point margin and Republicans by a -38-point margin.

We also presented respondents with an argument for and against the sale of air-to-air missiles to Saudi Arabia. We found that opposition to the arms sale to Saudi Arabia remained after respondents saw such arguments. Among all likely voters, a majority oppose the sale by a -35-point margin. Democrats’ opposition after seeing such arguments holds at a -37-point margin. Independents oppose the sale by a -41-point margin, while Republican opposition tightens to a -27-point margin.

Survey Methodology

From December 1 to 6, 2021, Data for Progress conducted a survey of 1,185 likely voters nationally using web panel respondents. The sample was weighted to be representative of likely voters by age, gender, education, race, and voting history. The survey was conducted in English. The margin of error is ±3 percentage points.