When asked which country posed the greatest threat to US national security, the majority of respondents to a new survey went with North Korea, ranking Daesh militants second and the big scary Russian boogeyman in third place.
According to the poll, conducted by Morning Consult/Politico, 40 percent of registered voters believe that North Korea is the more threatening force, while 30 percent see the Daesh terror group as the bigger problem.
After Pyongyang and Daesh, 16 percent of voters chose Russia as the US’ scariest menace, and 5 percent pointed to China. Three percent of respondents went with Iran.
Though 51 percent of those polled say they strongly support Washington’s diplomatic efforts to persuade North Korea to suspend its nuclear weapons program, only 42 percent said they want the Hermit Kingdom to be listed officially as a state sponsor of terrorism.
Though the poll did not specify whether US President Donald Trump was the primary factor causing relations to deteriorate with North Korea, 59 percent agreed that ties had in fact worsened; only 7 percent said they had improved since Trump took office.
Overall, however, a majority of voters polled expressed they had “a lot” of confidence in Trump’s ability to handle the ongoing crisis of relations with North Korea.
Morning Consult conducted the survey from July 7 — 9, just days after Pyongyang launched its Hwasong-14 missile, following the US’ Independence Day holiday.
North Korea has tested multiple missiles within the last year, and claim they are now able strap a nuclear weapon onto a ballistic missile.
This story first appeared on Sputnik & is reposted here with permission.