Almost one-third of US Republicans justify violence to restore what they consider to be their version of America, an alarming Public Religion Research Institute’s (PRRI) poll has indicated in a time when political violence in the United States is become a pressing concern in the wake of the deadly January 6th Capitol attack.
Capitol events are now being analysed by US lawmakers as part of an ongoing commission.
PRRI poll found that 30% of Republican respondents, 11% of Democrats and 17% of Independents agreed with the statement that ‘true American patriots may have to resort to violence in order to save our country because things have gotten so far off track.’
The agreement with this statement among Republicans increased to 40% among those that got their news and opinions from right-wing sources – including Newsmax and One America News – but deceased to 32% among Fox News audience and to 22% among Republicans that mostly trust mainstream news sources.
PRRI CEO and founder Robert Jones noted it’s an alarming finding that illustrates a significant and rapidly increasing polarization in the United States like he, as a sociologist and a public opinion pollster, hasn’t seen for decades.
He largely blames former US President Donald Trump’s rhetoric following the 2020 election for the normalisation of political violence among Republicans, which is supported by the poll results that also show that among those who agreed that true American patriots may have to resort to violence, 39% are people who believe that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump.
While Republicans appear to be more comfortable with political violence, the percentage of Democrats and Independents who expressed support for this idea is also quite concerning according to Mark Pitcavage, a senior research fellow at the Anti-Defamation League’s Centre on Extremism.
The political survey also showed two other significant markers.
Some respondents agreeing that things in the US have changed so much they feel like strangers in their own country with 29% of them approving resorting to violence as necessary. Other participants feel that since the 1950s, American culture has mostly changed for the worse with 23% of them justifying political violence.
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