Vladimir Putin United America

At some point during tonight’s State of the Union address, President Joe Biden will likely denounce Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, voice support for the Ukrainian people, and tout the significant sanctions that he and U.S. allies in NATO have placed on Russia in response. When he finishes that sentence, most if not all members of the bitterly divided Congress will erupt in applause.

That brief display of unity inside the Capitol will reflect a broad and, in recent times, unusual consensus across the country as a whole. To a conducted in the days after the invasion, 83 percent of respondents said they backed sanctions on Russia; that support barely differed among Democrats, Republicans, and independents. About six in 10 people said the United States should do more to assist Ukraine, but just 42 percent supported military intervention if the sanctions don’t force Russia to withdraw. Other polls have found even less support for sending U.S. soldiers into the conflict.