On Deadline: White House, Angelo Carusone discusses the consequence of right-wing dissent on the Iran war: “When you have narrative dominance ... you can shape the vibes”
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From the March 11, 2026, edition of MS NOW's Deadline: White House
NICOLLE WALLACE (HOST): There is no example of wars becoming more popular as men and women in the military pay with their lives. Eight service members have died, 140 have been injured, and 41% of Americans support the war. At this point in World War II, 97% supported it. After 9/11, at this point in the war in Afghanistan, 92% supported it. At this point, the Persian Gulf War in 1991, 82% of Americans supported it, and Panama in '89, 80%. The Iraq War in 2003, at this point, 73% of Americans supported it. Those numbers would drop dramatically. 1950, 75% of Americans supported the Korean War at this point. Kosovo, 58% down to 41% right now.
It's a real tragedy for the military who doesn't have a say in when the country goes to war, but it is — that number is squarely because of Donald Trump's conduct in taking the country to war. We've been tracking over the last 12 days. There are nine public explanations for why we're there. There are four timelines that have been articulated, and there's -- yesterday it was quote almost completed and just beginning. So, you know, we've talked for years now about narrative dominance. There's no narrative grasp on the war in Iran.
ANGELO CARUSONE (MEDIA MATTERS): No, and I think a lot of our conversations sort of dovetail with those numbers that you pointed out because when you have narrative dominance, you can affect people's perceptions and feelings about a particular issue. You can shape the vibes. And if you don't, like you have right now, you get the opposite. People can actually, they can get — they can get their experience a bit unfiltered or unadulterated. You know, those numbers would be very different if all of these cultural figures were cheerleading it or at minimum saying nothing. As Paul noted, it's created a permission structure for more people to talk about it.
Or if Joe Rogan was out there explaining a rationale for why we really need to be doing this, and why you need to give the administration more time and space, right? At minimum, it could help be a buffer for people saying, okay, maybe I should hold off a second. For all these figures were doing what they had been doing for Trump for all these years and backfilling his policies, his claims with their own narrative reinforcement, we would be in a different place. And so it is reinforcing why it matters so much. And I was so glad you made that point in the opening, you know, because I do get it, when people talk about Joe Rogan, I hear the so what? And the so what is exactly what you articulated. It has an effect on the perception. And then by extension, the hope is that it has an effect on the politics, which is how you get change.
That bottom, the perception that we're seeing in the public is so different now. It hasn't yet affected the way Republicans, who actually have the levers of power and checks here, can actually change the way or what the president is doing, or change the course and direction here. But it is brewing and it is simmering. Just another example, as I was thinking about what you and Paul were talking about in the beginning about the wide scale culture, one figure who's been out against this is this guy, Sneako. He's probably one of the most influential people that people in politics and this audience have never heard of. He's a huge online influencer. He did video games. Now, he does right-wing politics. They're really far-right politics. And his audience is huge and highly engaged. And he was out there calling those videos slop, criticizing the war, saying that the Trump administration had no plan, this made no sense. I mean, this is a far-right online streamer who every other day is spouting nonsense, who is out there telling his audience that the current president and the plan is more ridiculous than the day-to-day programing that he provides. And that is a reinforcement of just how widespread this is. Yeah, sure, there are pockets that are all in on this war, but it is far and few between. And that means that Trump is not able to tell a narrative, and this engine behind it is not able to backfill it and shape the perception and the politics.