Zachary LeemanMay 9th, 2026, 2:41 pm

CNN’s Abby Phillip informed one of her panelists on Saturday who was citing positive polling for President Donald Trump on the Iran war that the survey doesn’t meet the “standards” of the network.

On CNN’s Table for Five, New York Post writer Lydia Moynihan, who got into an explosive debate with podcaster Leigh McGowan, argued that the American people do want to see the president follow through with his goals in Iran, even amid economic hurt with rising gas prices. Moynihan cited a Harvard-Harris poll when arguing in favor of her point.

Phillip dismissed the poll, but also the specific questions being referenced as not fully supporting the point of view that Americans are fully behind Trump’s handling of the war.

Check out the exchange below:

LYDIA MOYNIHAN: I would like to point out, look, I know there’s lots of polling, people aren’t excited about the war. Obviously you’re not gonna tell a pollster, oh, I’m excited about this war, but if you do look at the polling from Harvard-Harris, voters actually want to see Trump’s goals accomplished in this war. 80% believe that Iran needs to stop handing money to terrorists. 54% of voters believe that we have the upper hand in negotiations which seems to be born out and what the reporting is about and what a new deal could look like. And 66% of voters believe Trump should insist on the conditions and extract maximum concessions from the enemy. So yes, people are eager to see this wrapped up. Of course, no one likes war. But if you also look at the polling, it’s a lot more nuanced than simply…war bad, let’s end it. People want to see Trump accomplish the goals that he set out to do in this.

ABBY PHILLIP: Well, look, I don’t think anybody, very few people in this country would tell a pollster that they want to see Iran have a nuclear weapon, so I don’t think that’s a really — I don’t think that’s a revelatory statistic, that most people don’t want them to be sponsors of terror and have nuclear weapons. However, they’re very clear in the polling — And Harvard-Harris doesn’t meet our standards here at CNN — but there’s plenty of other polling that shows just how is Trump handling this war, that’s a very simple question. Most Americans say they don’t think that he’s handling it well.

Watch above via CNN.

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