More than two-thirds of Americans now believe further political violence is more likely, after the shocking attempt on former president Donald Trump’s life on Saturday.
A snap poll conducted by YouGov on Sunday morning asked the question, “Do you think the current political climate makes politically motivated violence more or less likely than normal, or the same as normal?”
Just over-two thirds of respondents, or 67%, said they believed politically motivated violence is more likely. Only 8% said they thought it was less likely.
Respondents were also asked, “How big of a problem do you think political violence is in the US today?”
Exactly half said they believed political violence is “a very big problem,” with 32% saying it’s “somewhat of a problem” and only 10% saying it’s either “not very much of a problem” or “not a problem.”
The 4339 adults who took part in the polling were also asked about their confidence in the Secret Service: Can they “protect presidential candidates from harm?” Only 20% were “very confident,” whereas the largest single share of respondents, 45%, were “somewhat confident.” Just under a quarter were either “not very confident” or “not at all confident.”
Donald Trump escaped assassination on Saturday at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, by a distance of millimetres. Turning his head as the would-be assassin fired, a bullet that would have entered the former president’s brain and surely killed him instead grazed his ear. The gunmen fired multiple shots, killing one member of the crowd and seriously wounding at least two others. Serious failures by the former president’s security detail are now being investigated by the FBI.
In a televised address to the nation yesterday, President Biden said, “Violence has never been the answer.”
“We cannot, we must not go down this road in America. We have travelled it before throughout our history.”
The address marked a significant deviation from the President’s rhetoric in recent weeks, most notably his sinister comment that “It’s time to put Trump in the bullseye.”
At the end of last month, the President tweeted, “Donald Trump is a genuine threat to this nation.
“He’s a threat to our freedom. He’s a threat to our democracy. He’s literally a threat to everything America stands for.”
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