Two-thirds of Americans worried about political violence after Election Day: survey

Two-thirds of American adults said they are concerned that “extremists” will commit acts of violence after the 2024 elections if they are not satisfied with the results, according to a poll released Thursday.

On a Reuters/Ipsos Surveyheld May 7-14, 68% of U.S. adults said they strongly agree (33%) or somewhat agree (35%) with the statement: “I am concerned that extremists will commit acts of violence after the election if they are unhappy ”. with the outcome of the election.”

Only 15 percent said they somewhat disagree (10 percent) or strongly disagree (5 percent) with that statement, while 15 percent said they don’t know.

This sentiment was especially prevalent among Democrats – 83 percent of whom said they strongly agreed (47 percent) or somewhat (36 percent) with concerns about political violence. Only 8% said they disagree and 9% said they don’t know.

The concern still appeared to transcend party lines — with 65 percent of Republicans agreeing strongly (25 percent) or somewhat (40 percent) with the concerns, and with 69 percent of independents agreeing strongly (34 percent) or somewhat little (36 percent) with concerns.

Among Republicans, 22 percent disagreed with the concerns, while 16 percent of independents disagreed with the concerns. Twelve percent of Republicans and 14 percent of independents said they didn’t know.

The poll comes ahead of a November rematch between President Biden and former President Trump.

Trump – who has yet to publicly acknowledge Biden’s 2020 victory – made a major effort after losing that election to overturn the results and remain in power. He faces two criminal charges – one federally and one in Georgia – that accuse him of committing crimes in connection with these efforts.

On January 6, 2021, thousands of Trump supporters, seeking to prevent the transfer of power, participated in a violent attack on the Capitol that resulted in multiple deaths.

In a recent interview with Time magazine, Trump hinted at the possibility of violence if he loses the election — although he insisted that he will win a “big victory” and therefore, he said, “there will be no violence.”

“And if we don’t win, you know, it depends. It always depends on the fairness of an election,” Trump added, when later asked what would happen if he lost.

A recent Bloomberg/Morning Consult poll asked voters in seven swing states about the likelihood of political violence during elections and its consequences. Almost half (49 percent) said they expected violence.

The Reuters/Ipsos poll included 3,934 American adults and had a margin of error of 1.7 percentage points.

This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story