Elon University pollster Jason Husser on the war in Iran, Trump and attitudes of North Carolinians

No world news development of the past few weeks has commanded more attention or spurred greater controversy than President Donald Trump’s decision to go to war with Iran. And while, at this point, the ultimate outcome of the war remains very much in question, the war is drawing very high degrees of skepticism from North Carolinians of all political persuasions – especially independents and Democratic voters. Now add to this the largely negative view that most North Carolinians hold right now about the economy and the president’s performance in managing it, and it’s no surprise that his overall approval ratings have plummeted. So where exactly do things stand, how does this compare to past public attitudes on foreign wars, and what’s likely to be the key driver of public opinion during the 2026 election cycle? Recently, Newsline sat down with the director of the Elon University Poll, Prof. Jason Husser, to find out. In Part One of my recent sit down with Elon University pollster and political scientist, Prof. Jason Husser, we discussed his most recent public opinion surveys and what they say about how North Carolinians view the Trump presidency – and why deep-seated skepticism about the war in Iran and the state of the economy are likely to present big problems for the president and his party in the fall elections. In Part Two of our conversation, we turned our attention to North Carolina politics and policy matters, including the fall U.S. Senate race between former Gov. Roy Cooper and challenger Michael Whatley, approval ratings for Gov. Josh Stein, and what North Carolinians are thinking about some high-profile issues, like concealed weapons and the rising costs of health care. Click here to listen to the full interview with Elon University poll director Jason Husser.

You can listen to Elon University pollster Jason Husser on the war in Iran, Trump and attitudes of North Carolinians online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Elon University pollster Jason Husser on the war in Iran, Trump and attitudes of North Carolinians is an episode from NC Policy Watch by NC Policy Watch.

This episode is 27:34 long.

This episode was published on Apr 13, 2026.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from NC Policy Watch when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.