One-fifth of adults believe that violence may be necessary to get the United States “back on track,” a poll found.
The NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll, conducted March 25-28, found a significant number of Americans were open to violence to achieve political goals, though the large majority, 79%, rejected it. Of the 20% who agreed, 6% did so strongly.
Results were heavily split among political, racial, geographic, age, and income lines.
More Democrats than Republicans strongly agreed that violence may be necessary, at 7% compared to 5%. However, a much larger percentage of Republicans, 22%, simply agreed with the premise, compared to just 5% of Democrats. Independents were more likely than Democrats to agree with the possible necessity of violence, at 18% overall.
A much larger percentage of Democrats also strongly disagreed with the use of violence, at 65%, than Republicans, at just 30%.
Among racial lines, black and Latino respondents were much more likely to agree or strongly agree with the possible use of political violence, at 25% and 27% respectively. In contrast, only 17% of white people agreed or strongly agreed.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
The greatest contrast was among age groups — 42% of the 18-29 demographic agreed or strongly agreed that violence may be necessary to put the country back on track. Only 21% strongly disagreed with the prospect. In comparison, only 16% of the 60-plus demographic and 13% of the 45-59 demographic agreed or strongly agreed with the premise.
The poll surveyed 1,305 U.S. adults. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.