WASHINGTON – A new Quinnipiac University national poll found that 79% of surveyed voters believe the United States is in a “political crisis” following the recent assassination of conservative firebrand and founder of Turning Point USA, Charlie Kirk.
The view is shared by voters across the political spectrum, with 93% of Democrats, 84% of independents and 60% of Republicans agreeing that the country is in crisis.
“The Kirk assassination lays bare raw, bipartisan concerns about where the country is headed,” Quinnipiac University polling analyst Tim Malloy said in a statement.
The poll was conducted Sept. 18 to 21 among 1,276 self-identified registered voters; the margin of error was +/- 3.3%.
Hate speech and political rhetoric
By the numbers:
The majority of the voters surveyed, at 71%, said that political violence in the U.S. today is a very serious issue, as well. When Quinnipiac University conducted the same poll in June, only 54% said that political violence was a very serious issue.
More than half of respondents to this year’s poll, 58%, said it won’t be possible to tamp down the level of hate speech and political rhetoric that exists in the country today. More than half of them again, at 54%, think political violence in the U.S. will get worse over the next few years.
On the other hand, more than a third of respondents, 34%, said it is possible to tamp down tensions. More than a quarter, 27%, said that political violence in the country will stay the same over the next few years, and 14% said things will calm down.
The backstory:
Charlie Kirk died after being shot while speaking at Utah Valley University earlier this month.
Kirk, 31, was on campus for the first stop of his American Comeback Tour.
Graphic video posted to social media shows Kirk on stage, sitting in a chair, talking into a microphone. A single gunshot was heard and Kirk’s head thrust back as he fell. People started screaming and running away, the video shows.
Charlie Kirk’s murder was just the latest assassination attempt in an increasingly intense American political environment—it comes amid a spike in political violence across all parts of the ideological spectrum.
The Source: Information above was sourced from two different Quinnipiac University polls, The Hill and previous FOX 5 DC reporting.
