'It's a mistake': GOP pollster reveals how Trump's use of 'one word' blew up in his face

27 June

Republican pollster Frank Luntz on CNN on June 27, 2025 (Image: Screengrab via CNN / YouTube)

President Donald Trump's decision to launch three military strikes against nuclear facilities in Iran continues to draw strong criticism from some of his MAGA allies, including "War Room" host Steve Bannon, Fox News' Tucker Carlson and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia) — all of whom view it as a betrayal of his "America First" ideology. Fox News' Mark Levin, however, encouraged Trump to strike Iran and intervene in the Israel-Iran conflict.

Conservative GOP pollster Frank Luntz, however, believes that the main problem Trump has with Iran is his "messaging."

During a Friday afternoon, June 27 appearance on CNN, Luntz defended the Iran strikes but said that Trump is doing a poor job promoting them.

When CNN host Brianna Keilar asked Luntz if Trump's use the word "obliterate" helped or hurt Trump's messaging on the Iran strikes, Luntz replied, "It's a mistake. And what I don't understand is why they didn't clarify: Is Iran stronger or weaker today than it was seven days ago? Is Iran more or less capable of threatening its neighbors, threatening the U.S. On all these key questions, the Trump administration was successful. And I want to articulate this very clearly: This was a successful mission until you set the bar at 'obliterate,' which is very hard to say — and it's very hard to actually do. And that was never going to be part of what this was about."

Luntz continued, "If you bury all that nuclear capability that deep in the mountain, what does that say about you? This is not peaceful. This is not what Barack Obama, when he negotiated the agreement, this is not what was supposed to happen. And the U.S. held Iran accountable, and they were successful in pushing that back months, if not years. But when you set the bar at obliterate — when you basically say that you have to eliminate everything — it's impossible to do."

The GOP pollster emphasized that even though the Iran mission was "successful," Trump "is on the defense" because of a "messaging mistake." That "one word," obliterate, according to Luntz, totally undermines Trump's "messaging" on Iran.

Luntz told Keilar, "Pay attention to your language. Your language is your life."

Watch the full video below or at this link.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

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