Democrats are at odds over the Israel-Iran war as Trump considers intervening

After nearly two years of stark divisions over the war in Gaza and support for Israel, Democrats are now finding themselves at odds over U.S. policy toward Iran as progressives demand unified opposition to President Donald Trump's consideration of a strike against Tehran's nuclear program while party leaders tread more cautiously.
U.S. leaders of all stripes have found common ground for two decades on the position that Iran cannot be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon. The longtime U.S. foe has supported groups that have killed Americans across the Mideast and threatens to destroy Israel. But Trump's public flirtation with joining Israel's offensive against Iran may become the Democratic Party's latest schism, just as it is sharply dividing Trump's isolationist 'Make America Great Again' base from more hawkish conservatives.
While progressives have staked out clear opposition to Trump's potential actions, the party leadership is playing the safer ground of demanding a role for Congress before Trump could use force against Iran. Many prominent Democrats with 2028 presidential aspirations are staying silent, so far, on the Israel-Iran war.
'They are sort of hedging their bets,' said Joel Rubin, a former deputy assistant secretary of state who served under Democratic President Barack Obama and is now a strategist on foreign policy. 'The beasts of the Democratic Party's constituencies right now are so hostile to Israel's war in Gaza that it's really difficult to come out looking like one would corroborate an unauthorized war that supports Israel without blowback.'
Progressive Democrats use Trump's ideas and words
Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., has called Trump's consideration of an attack 'a defining moment for our party' and has introduced legislation with Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., that calls on the Republican president to 'terminate' the use of U.S. armed forces against Iran unless 'explicitly authorized' by a declaration of war from Congress.
Khanna used Trump's own campaign arguments of putting American interests first when the congressman spoke to Theo Von, a comedian who has been supportive of the president and is popular in the 'manosphere.'
'That's going to cost this country a lot of money that should be being spent here at home,' said Khanna, who is said to be among the many Democrats eyeing the party's 2028 primary.
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent who twice sought the Democratic presidential nomination, pointed to Trump's stated goal during his inaugural speech of being known as 'a peacemaker and a unifier.'
'Very fine words. Trump should remember them today. Supporting Netanyahu's war against Iran would be a catastrophic mistake,' Sanders said about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Sanders has reintroduced legislation prohibiting the use of federal money for force against Iran, insisted that U.S. military intervention would be unwise and illegal and accused Israel of striking unprovoked. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York signed on to a similar bill from Sanders in 2020, but he is so far holding off this time.
Some believe the party should stake out a clear anti-war stance as Trump weighs whether to launch a military offensive that is seemingly counter to the anti-interventionism he promised during his 2024 campaign.
'The leaders of the Democratic Party need to step up and loudly oppose war with Iran and demand a vote in Congress,' said Tommy Vietor, a former Obama aide, on X.
Mainstream Democrats are cautious, while critical
The staunch support from the Democratic administration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for Israel's war against Hamas loomed over the party's White House ticket in 2024, even with the criticism of Israel's handling of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Trump exploited the divisions to make inroads with Arab American voters and Orthodox Jews on his way back to the White House.
Today, the Israel-Iran war is the latest test for a party struggling to repair its coalition before next year's midterm elections and the quick-to-follow kickoff to the 2028 presidential race. Bridging the divide between an activist base that is skeptical of foreign interventions and already critical of U.S. support for Israel and more traditional Democrats and independents who make up a sizable, if not always vocal, voting bloc.
In a statement after Israel's first strikes, Schumer said Israel has a right to defend itself and 'the United States' commitment to Israel's security and defense must be ironclad as they prepare for Iran's response.'
Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., was also cautious in responding to the Israeli action and said 'the U.S. must continue to stand with Israel, as it has for decades, at this dangerous moment."
'It really seems like the Trump and Iran war track is kind of going along like a Formula 1 racetrack, and then the Democrats are in some sort of tricycle or something trying to keep up,' said Ryan Costello, a policy director for the Washington-based National Iranian American Council, which advocates for diplomatic engagement between U.S. and Iran.
Other Democrats have condemned Israel's strikes and accused Netanyahu of sabotaging nuclear talks with Iran. They are reminding the public that Trump withdrew in 2018 from a nuclear agreement that limited Tehran's enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions negotiated during the Obama administration.
'Trump created the problem,' said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., on X. 'The single reason Iran was so close to obtaining a nuclear weapon is that Trump destroyed the diplomatic agreement that put major, verifiable constraints on their nuclear program.'
The progressives' pushback
A Pearson Institute/Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll from September 2024 found that about half of Democrats said the U.S. was being 'too supportive' of Israel and about 4 in 10 said their level support was 'about right.' Democrats were more likely than independents and Republicans to say the Israeli government had 'a lot' of responsibility for the continuation of the war between Israel and Hamas.
About 6 in 10 Democrats and half of Republicans felt Iran was an adversary with whom the U.S. was in conflict.
Democratic Rep. Yassamin Ansari, an Iranian American from Arizona, said Iranians are unwitting victims in the conflict because there aren't shelters or infrastructure to protect civilians from targeted missiles as there are in Israel.
'The Iranian people are not the regime, and they should not be punished for its actions,' Ansari posted on X, while criticizing Trump for fomenting fear among the Iranian population. 'The Iranian people deserve freedom from the barbaric regime, and Israelis deserve security."

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

New York Post

24 minutes ago

• New York Post

Bill Maher says Dems need to ‘do something' about ‘The View' after Whoopi Goldberg's Iran comments

'Real Time' host Bill Maher and Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Texas, hammered Whoopi Goldberg and 'The View' on Friday after the co-host claimed that life for Black Americans is equivalent to women living under Iran's oppressive theocratic regime. Maher claimed that Democrats took a step 'back to sanity' after The New York Times took a more 'sensible liberal, not crazy woke' position on transgender issues. He then asserted that the second step Democrats should take is to 'do something about 'The View'' after Goldberg's comment comparing life for Black Americans to living under Iran's brutal regime. Goldberg sparked backlash during a heated argument with her fellow 'The View' co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin on Wednesday. Griffin elaborated on the many human rights violations perpetrated by the Ayatollah's regime in Iran, including executions of gay people and imprisonment of women who go outside with their hair uncovered. 'Let's not do that, because if we start with that, we have been known in this country to tie gay folks to the car. Listen, I'm sorry, they used to just keep hanging Black people,' Goldberg insisted as Griffin pushed back and said the situations weren't comparable. 3 Maher claimed that Democrats took a step 'back to sanity' after The New York Times took a more 'sensible liberal, not crazy woke' position on transgender issues. FOX News Hunt shot down Whoopi's assessment of life in America for Black people, noting the success he's found in the United States as a Black man. 'My district in the great state of Texas is actually a white majority district that President Trump would have won by 25 points. As I said, I'm a direct descendant of a slave, my great-great-grandfather, who was born on Rosedown Plantation. I am literally being judged not by the color of my skin but by the content of my character,' he explained. Hunt continued, adding, 'That's the progress because — like a lot of white people had to vote for me — a lot. So I don't ever want to hear Whoopi Goldberg's conversation about how it's worse to be black in America right now.' 3 Whoopi Goldberg and Alyssa Farah Griffin on life in the US and Iran The View, June 18, 2025. ABC 3 Hunt shot down Whoopi's assessment of life in America for Black people, noting the success he's found in the United States as a Black man. FOX News The Texas congressman also pointed out that his father, who grew up under Jim Crow, is now the father of a United States congressman in a white majority district who ran as a Republican. 'That's America,' Hunt stated. CNN Contributor Paul Begala brought up the fact that America has a holiday to celebrate the freedom of Black Americans from slavery — Juneteenth — but questioned why President Donald Trump 'doesn't want to honor' the occasion. 'I don't want it,' Hunt replied. 'I don't want Black History Month. I don't want all these days to make everybody feel special. I'm an '80s baby. Everybody's too sensitive anyway. We're all Americans anyway.'

USA Today

31 minutes ago

• USA Today

Huckabee: State Department is evacuating Americans from Israel amid Iran conflict

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee also posted actions people can take to remain safe including learning the location of the nearest bomb shelters. The State Department has begun evacuating American citizens and permanent residents from Israel and the West Bank, U.S Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee announced on social media as the Israel-Iran war enters a second week. 'The Department of State has begun assisted departure flights from Israel,' Huckabee wrote in a post on X on June 21 asking people seeking government assistance to fill out a form. Huckabee also posted actions people can take to remain safe including learning the location of the nearest bomb shelters, avoiding large gatherings and monitoring local media. The State Department did not immediately respond to questions asking about the number of Americans it expects to retrieve from Israel. The conflict started a week ago when Israel began conducting airstrikes against Iranian nuclear and military sites, primarily targeting uranium enrichment facilities to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. The two countries have been engaged in aerial strikes while President Donald Trump is mulling over the possibility of U.S. involvement to help Israel destroy Iranian nuclear facilities. Hundreds of Americans have left Iran in the last week, according to an internal State Department cable seen by Reuters. Trump is expected meet his national security team on the evening of June 21 to discuss possible U.S. involvement in the conflict .

Fox News

34 minutes ago

• Fox News

Extra: A Former Hamas Hostage Returns Home. His Father Tells His Story.

Edan Alexander, an American taken hostage during the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, returned to the United States this week and was given a big welcome by his hometown of Tenafly, New Jersey, on Thursday afternoon. Edan was serving in the Israeli Defense Forces when Hamas terrorists ambushed and captured him. For 584 days, Edan was a hostage in the Gaza tunnels until he was freed on May 12th of this year. Just days before his return to the U.S., his father, Adi Alexander, joined FOX News Rundown host Dave Anthony to describe what Edan endured while he was being held captive and how difficult it was for him and his family knowing their child was in so much danger. Adi also weighed in on the multiple wars Israel is engaged in and his hopes that the remaining hostages being held by Hamas will be released. We often must cut interviews short during the week, but we thought you might like to hear the full interview. Today on FOX News Rundown Extra, we will share our entire interview with Adi Alexander, allowing you to hear about Edan's harrowing story of survival and how his family never lost hope during the treacherous ordeal. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit