New poll reveals the shocking amount of people who believe political violence will get US back on track
A shocking new poll has revealed the number of people who believe political violence in the US will get the country back on track.
The 'alarming' figures come as tensions continue to deepen across the US after a string of politically-charged attacks, including the murder of Charlie Kirk.
Last month, the right-wing commentator was assassinated at an event organized by his company, Turning Point USA, at Utah Valley University.
22-year-old suspect Tyler Robinson - who is currently being held in custody without bail - is facing a number of charges, including aggravated murder, obstruction of justice, felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury, witness tampering, and commission of a violent offence in the presence of a child.
Advert
In the weeks since, a debate has erupted about political violence in America, with a new poll suggesting that some think it's a good idea to 'get the country back on track'.
A new NPR/PBR News/Marist poll found that around 28 percent of Democrats and 31 percent of Republicans supported political violence to ensure the country got back on track.
To put it more simply, three in ten either strongly agree (11 percent) or agree (19 percent) that Americans may have to resort to political violence for the country to get on the right path once more.
Such figures represent a 16 percent increase for Democrats and a three percent jump for Republicans, with the poll involving 1,400 people in total last month.
Pollsters note the data has a three percent margin of error.
While these figures may be quite alarming, it's important to note that the vast majority of Americans are against political violence in all forms.
79 percent of respondents were against it, which included 87 percent of Democrats and 70 percent of Republicans.
America is more divided than ever, and Donald Trump certainly didn't defuse the situation recently in the aftermath of Kirk's killing.
The president sat down with Fox News' Fox & Friends last month when co-host Ainsley Earhardt asked him how he plans to unite the country.
Earhardt asked Trump: "Because we have radicals on the right as well. We have radicals on the left. People are watching all of these videos and cheering. Some people are cheering that Charlie was killed. How do we fix this country? How do we come back together?"
To which Trump responded: "I'll tell you something that's going to get me in trouble, but I couldn't care less. The radicals on the right oftentimes are radical because they don't want to see crime.
"They don't want to see crime. Worried about the border. They're saying, we don't want these people coming in. We don't want you burning our shopping centers. We don't want you shooting our people in the middle of the street."
He then went on to claim that it is the 'radical left' who are 'the problem', adding: "They're vicious and they're horrible and they're politically savvy, although they want men and women sports, they want transgender for everyone, they want open borders."
Topics: Charlie Kirk, US News, Politics
Callum Jones