Americans are increasingly concerned about threats to democracy amid a rise in politically motivated violence.
A new NPR/PBS News/Marist poll analyzed voters’ attitudes on a variety of issues, including immigration, President Donald Trump, and others. It revealed that the vast majority of Americans (76 percent) believe political polarization poses an existential threat to the United States.
These numbers include 89 percent of Democrats, 57 percent of Republicans, and 80 percent of Independents. Even further, about 73 percent believe political violence has become a significant problem in the United States. Only 23 percent believed violence is a minor issu, while four percent don’t think it’s a problem at all.
The poll also revealed that Americans have little faith in the federal government. Only 27 percent approve of the performance of congressional Democrats, while 36 percent feel the same about congressional Republicans.
The poll’s findings come after what seems to be a wave of political violence over the past six months. During this time period, America has seen assassinations of state politicians in Minnesota, anti-ICE riots in Los Angeles, an antisemitic terrorist attack in Boulder, Colorado, and plenty of other incidents. Over the past year, pro-Hamas agitators have been physically assaulting and threatening Jewish students on college campuses.
Remember the whole "stochastic violence" theory, where intellectuals were combing politicians' words for subliminal dog whistles that would trigger a butterfly effect, inevitably resulting in morgues full of corpses? Good timeshttps://t.co/gF6VQ34QZr
— David Burge (@iowahawkblog) July 1, 2025
Just last year, two people tried to assassinate President Donald Trump on the campaign trail.
It seems clear that polarization is the primary contributor to the rise in political violence. Our media environment, combined with rhetoric coming from politicians, has only exacerbated the problem. As the nation becomes more divided, there will be more people who resort to violence.
It’s also worth noting that at this moment, most of the violence is coming from the left — especially after Trump won his second term. The fact that their party lost big in 2024 is likely fueling much of the rage as bad actors continue trying to use the threat of violence to push their views on the rest of the nation.
This situation will only get worse as the polarization deepens. At some point, people on the right might tire of being constant targets of violence, which could prompt some to retaliate in kind. There is no telling how this might play out in the future, but people are right to be concerned about it.
With social media amplifying fringe voices on both sides and government officials refusing to take serious action to crack down on political violence, the situation will only get worse. Media outlets excusing or condemning violence based on the political affiliations of the perpetrators and their targets isn’t helping either.
America’s political environment is showing no signs of calming down anytime soon. But hopefully, it won’t have to get much worse before it gets better.
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