NPR Poll Finds Growing Number Think Political Violence May Be Necessary

Over the last couple of years, we’ve seen a lot of political violence of various kinds. Two assassination attempts against Trump were just part of it. We also saw vandalism targeting Teslas, including attempts to intimidate people who owned the cars, among other things. Then we had the assassination of Charlie Kirk and the shooting at a Dallas ICE facility.

Political violence is seemingly a growing norm in this country, which should scare the hell out of everyone.

What’s more, according to an NPR poll, nearly a third of the American public thinks it’s not just justified, but might be necessary to get the United States on the “right” track.

Three-in-10 people now say that Americans may have to resort to violence in order to get the country back on track, according to a new NPR/PBS News/Marist poll.

To be sure, a strong majority disagree with that (70%), but the 30% who now say violence may be necessary is up 11 points since April 2024, an increase driven by Democrats. Eighteen months ago, just 12% of Democrats agreed; now, 28% do.

But, still, a slightly higher percentage of Republicans — 31% — also say Americans may have to resort to violence. That’s also up 3 points since last year. (Independents have also increased from 18% to 25%.)

The findings come after a string of high-profile acts of political violence, including the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk last month.

Three-quarters of people — 77% — described political violence as a major concern. Respondents are split, however, on whether they’re more concerned with violence toward public officials (49%) or protesters (50%).

Here, there’s a very sharp political divide — 70% of Democrats said protesters, 74% of Republicans said public officials.

The survey of more than 1,400 people nationwide was conducted over five days last week. Respondents were reached in various ways, by phone, cell and landline, online and via text in both English and Spanish. It has a +/- 3.1 percentage point margin of error, meaning results could be roughly 3 points higher or lower.

Now, I should point out that thinking it might be necessary varies between “we need this now” and “I’m afraid that before it’s all said and done, this might have to happen.” The poll doesn’t differentiate between the two attitudes in any way.

I do find it interesting that after two high-profile acts of political violence in just the last month, Democrats are worried about violence against protestors. Even after two attempts on Trump’s life.

Interesting.

Especially in light of what the same poll found regarding guns.

Roughly 6 in 10 said they believe that controlling gun violence is more important than protecting gun rights. But, like on many issues, Democrats and independents feel one way — 90% and 63%, respectively, said controlling gun violence is more important — while Republicans overwhelmingly feel another way. Three-quarters of Republicans said protecting gun rights is more important.

There was a notable split, however, among a key Trump base group — white voters without college degrees. White men without degrees were 58% in favor of protecting gun rights, a majority white women without degrees (56%), on the other hand, said controlling gun violence was more important.

It seems to me that many Democrats are worried that regular Americans will engage in violence against their preferred flavor of protestor, and would rather see our rights eroded so that it cannot happen, than they are about public officials being shot by people who seem to share their political views.

Maybe I’m reading the wrong things into it. It’s absolutely possible they also want to prevent Trump from being assassinated, despite many actively calling for just that, but I’m skeptical.

Honestly, I don’t like what I’m seeing here. I’m very much afraid that, at some point, there will be some kind of violent confrontation here in the United States that’s intended to change the nation’s course. I don’t want either side to engage in any such action, including people who agree with me 100 percent, because there’s almost no way we come out as a freer society on the other side of things.

And the fact that so many people who identify as Democrats have started embracing the potential necessity of violence over the last year and a half is especially troubling, even as we’ve seen just such action taking place around us.

It’s also clear we need to do a lot of work to change the tide among the general public about the importance of gun rights in this country, especially if one side is starting to embrace violence as a necessity more and more.

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