A significant portion of young Americans believe there are cases when political violence is acceptable, according to a troubling survey released Monday.
More than one-third of Americans under the age of 45 agreed with the view that political violence can be justified, in certain cases, the Politico/Public First poll found.
The portion of young people who think political violence sometimes has a place in society was about 10 percentage points higher than the overall population, of which, disturbingly, 24% believe it is justified in some instances.
Politico did not release the crosstabs of the survey, but said “there was little partisan divide” in the question about condoning political violence.
Most voters, 64%, rejected political violence and indicated that it is never justified.
The survey of 2,051 US adults was conducted between Oct. 18 and Oct. 21, just over a month after the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and roughly four months after the assassination of former Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband.
The shocking poll also comes after President Trump survived two assassination attempts during his 2024 campaign and the official residence of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro was set on fire with the Democrat and his family inside in April.
“What’s happening is public support for political violence is growing in the mainstream, it’s not a fringe thing, and the more it grows, the more it seems acceptable to volatile people,” Robert Pape, a University of Chicago political science professor, said of the poll’s findings.
Despite younger voters being more OK with some political violence, fewer felt it was likely to increase, compared to older voters.
Among voters between the ages of 18 and 34, about half – 49% – expected political violence in the US to increase.
By comparison, 61% of voters over the age of 55 anticipated a rise in political violence.
However, overall, Americans broadly expect a rise in politically-motivated violence, with 55% responding that they anticipate it will increase.
Fewer Americans who voted for President Trump expected an increase (50%) than those who voted for former Vice President Kamala Harris (61%).
Americans who held a “very negative view of the presidency” were among the most likely to say they expect a rise in political violence, with 76% indicating that they believe violence will increase.
