According to a survey conducted by the non-profit Public Religion Research Institute, almost a third of Republicans believe violence is necessary to solve America's problems. PRRI's 12th annual American Values Survey was released Monday. It highlights, among other things the continuing impact of conspiracy theories and falsehoods that fuelled the Jan. 6 attack on Washington, D.C.
Survey respondents were interviewed online between Sept. 16-29 with random samples of 2,508 adults from all 50 states. One in five respondents, or 18%, agreed with the statement. True patriots will have to resort violence to save America, which includes 30 percent of Republicans and 11 percent of Democrats.
Robert Jones, founder and CEO of PRRI, stated that it is an alarming finding. This is something I've done for decades. It's not the sort of finding that you as a sociologist or public opinion pollster are used to seeing.
He said that overall, the responses to the question demonstrate the increasing and significant polarization of the United States.
Protesters gathered at Frankfort's state Capitol Building in Frankfort, Ky. in January 2021 as part of a nationwide demonstration called by far-right groups to support Donald Trumps claims about election fraud. (Jeff Dean/AFP via Getty Images).
Mark Pitcavage is a senior researcher at the Anti-Defamation Leagues Center on Extremism. He said it was alarming that almost a third of Republicans are comfortable with the idea. The smaller percentages of Democrats or independents that support this idea are also troubling.
Jones stated that the large showing of support for violence in politics among Republicans is due to former President Trump calling into question his election. He also pointed to another shocking finding from the PRRI Poll: More than two thirds of Republicans (or 68%) continue to believe Donald Trump stole the 2020 presidential election. This compares to just 26 percent of independents, and only 6 percent of Democrats.
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The survey found that Americans who believe Trump won 2020 are four times more likely to believe this than those who don't agree with violence being necessary to save the country. This is a difference of between 39 percent and 10 percent. Trump has been spreading false conspiracy theories since his loss of the election one year ago. He claims that President Biden's win was fraudulent and that the election was rigged.
These findings show a clear correlation between people's views and their preferred news sources. 82% of Republicans who trust Fox News more than other outlets believe that Trump stole the election. Ninety-seven per cent of people who rely on Fox News more than other outlets said the same. This compares to 44 percent who trust mainstream media outlets, which is less than half.
Heidi Beirich, cofounder of Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, stated that a large portion of the Republican Party is essentially radicalized. Beirich stated that she believes a lot of the blame lies with Republican leadership, for failing to respond to the claims of former presidents election fraud and attempts to downplay violence of Jan.
On Jan. 6, 2021, a protester walks past the Salem State Capitol. (Nathan Howard/Getty Images).
She pointed out that Republicans, such as Liz Cheney from Wyoming, who is vice chair of Jan. 6's House Select Committee, have been subject to political backlash.
Beirich said that it is very sad and dangerous. Beirich suggested that conservative media could be more effective in dispelling conspiracy theories, denouncing violence, and she also suggested that religious leaders could serve this role, pointing out the large number of evangelical Christians within GOP. The PRRI study found that 60 percent of white evangelicals believe Trump stole the election. The most likely religious group to believe that true American patriots may have to resort to violence to save their country was the white evangelicals, 26 percent of whom agreed.
Pitcavage, an historian and expert on extremism in America, said that historically, political violence in America came from the fringes. He explained that the more society becomes more polarized, the greater the chance of political violence not coming from extremists but from angry, agitated people within the mainstream.
Pitcavage cited the example of Pitcavage pointing to the over 650 people currently in custody for the Jan. 6 Capitol storming.
Pitcavage said that about 25% of them had ties to extremist movements or groups, from White supremacists to the militia movement, to conspiracy theorists. They did not, however, the majority of them did.
Pitcavage stated that the worst case scenario is that polarization will continue, and there will be more instances of mob violence and other forms of violence. These could include volatile lonewolves acting out or terrorist organizers.
Christopher Wray, FBI Director. (Greg Nash/Pool/Getty Images
Yahoo News was referred to earlier testimony of FBI officials by a spokesperson in response to a query about the PRRI survey's findings.
Last month, FBI Director Christopher Wray testified before the Senate Homeland Security Committee that the FBI has more then doubled the number of domestic terrorist investigations it is conducting to approximately 2,700 cases.
Wray explained to senators that the FBI has increased resources for domestic terrorist investigations over the past year, adding 260 additional personnel.
The spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security also referred to comments that Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas had made about domestic terrorism. A spokesperson for DHS cited a variety of actions taken by the department to address this threat during the Biden presidency, including the February designation domestic violent extremism in FEMA grant programs as a National Priority Area; the creation of a Center for Prevention Programs and Partnership in May to increase the agency's ability to prevent terrorist violence; and the publication of National Terrorism Advisory System bulletins for January, May, and August this year, which highlighted the threat from domestic violent extremists.
Jones pointed out that PRRI also asked the same question about violence in politics in three other polls this year, which were conducted in March, June and August. Jones and his colleagues had expected to see more support for political violence right after Jan. 6. However, they anticipated that people would change their views throughout the year.
The responses have remained relatively consistent since March when 15 percent of respondents said that true American patriots might have to resort to violence. This includes 28 percent of Republicans and 13 percent of Independents, as well as 7 percent of Democrats.
Jones said that we have seen some progress since Jan. 6, but it is hard to believe that cooler heads will prevail. It seems like people are increasing their efforts and view are becoming more locked-in.
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