Following the shock assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk last month, Americans across party lines increasingly think political violence is necessary to “get the country back on track,” according to a new poll.
An estimated 28 percent of Democrats and 31 percent of Republicans supported the sentiment, a new NPR / PBR News / Marist poll found.
The figures represent a 16 percent jump for Democrats and a three percent spike for Republicans, according to the poll, which surveyed over 1,400 people last month, with a roughly 3 percent margin of error.
Still, the majority of Americans don’t agree with violence being a tool to change the direction of the country, with 79 percent of respondents overall in opposition, including 87 percent of Democrats and 70 percent of Republicans.
Separately, 77 percent of respondents called political violence a major concern, though people from different parties disagreed on what form was most concerning, with 70 percent of Democrats being most concerned with violence towards protesters, while a nearly equal share of Republicans was more concerned about violence towards public officials.
In the wake of Kirk’s shooting, conservative influencers and members of the Trump administration falsely blamed the left for both causing and carrying out the majority of the rising political violence in the U.S., including through criticizing opponents with scathing comparisons to Nazis or dictators, though those in the MAGA orbit also frequently call their opponents similar names.
As The Independent has reported, despite a surge in political violence from a variety of political persuasions, studies show right-wing extremists have killed more people in the years since 9/11 than those of any other cause.
In late September, the president signed an executive order deeming “Antifa” a domestic terrorist organization, even though the movement lacks a central organization or clear leadership, and First Amendment experts and civil rights groups warn that the president is using the label as a cudgel against left-wing opposition.
Top Trump officials like Attorney General Pam Bondi have also vowed to prosecute “hate speech” as a form of political violence in the wake of Kirk’s death, despite almost all offensive speech being protected under the First Amendment.
