A 'Scary' Survey Finding: 4 In 10 Republicans Say Political Violence May Be Necessary

[yuiyoshida]

The mob that attacked the U.S. Capitol may have been a fringe group of extremists, but politically motivated violence has the support of a significant share of the U.S. public, according to a new survey by the American Enterprise Institute (AEI).

The survey found that nearly three in 10 Americans, including 39% of Republicans, agreed that, "If elected leaders will not protect America, the people must do it themselves, even if it requires violent actions."

That result was "a really dramatic finding," says Daniel Cox, director of the AEI Survey Center on American Life. "I think any time you have a significant number of the public saying use of force can be justified in our political system, that's pretty scary."

The survey found stark divisions between Republicans and Democrats on the 2020 presidential election, with two out of three Republicans saying President Biden was not legitimately elected, while 98% of Democrats and 73% of independents acknowledged Biden's victory.

The level of distrust among Republicans evident in the survey was such that about eight in 10 said the current political system is "stacked against conservatives and people with traditional values." A majority agreed with the statement, "The traditional American way of life is disappearing so fast that we may have to use force to save it."

https://www.npr.org/2021/02/11/966498544/a-scary-survey-finding-4-in-10-republicans-say-political-violence-may-be-necessa?utm_campaign=storyshare&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social

[BootinUp]

1. Attention liberals. Make more babies. More seriously

40% of what? 30%. So 12% give or take.

[TheRealNorth]

5. That....

And take self-defense seriously.

[mr_lebowski]

2. This is the propaganda the Nazi's used in the 1930's, if we have a major economic collapse

and serious hardship really strikes a large portion of the population ... we're going to have serious problems with this crowd.

Hitler convinced Germany that their 'traditional German way of life' was under threat from 'globalist Jews', 'communists' and other 'seedy' influences like gays and immigrants and Muslims, etc.

Same tactics leveraged by evil actors throughout history, used again thusly.

Because it works on a large-enough % of the population of any country to cause chaos.

[safeinOhio]

3. A lesson I learned many years ago the hard way.

Go looking for trouble and you will find it. Good luck with that arse holes.

[IngridsLittleAngel]

4. I've been hearing some of them preach violence since the 90's...

so, sadly, the only thing "shocking" about this survey is it's only 40%. Don't get me wrong - even 1% would be too damned high. But I'm somewhat pleasantly surprised the number isn't even higher.

Unless, maybe, we have some "shy" insurrectionists that were surveyed, just like the damned "shy" Tre45on voters.

[Bluethroughu]

6. If these insurrectionists are not brought to trial like this Senate trial

People will believe these insurectionists didn't cross the line because they were not sentenced to prison.

These people should not be free to go on vacations or otherwise, they tried to overthrow the Country.

Accountability for all, Congress members that incited, police that helped insurrectionists, and the every person that entered that building unauthorized. They should do prison time.

Groups that funded this, prison for them also, leave no stone unturned.

[ProfessorGAC]

7. Yeah, Sure

Sounds like "Let's you & him fight."
Political violence is necessary if somebody other than 90% of this 40% has someone doing it for them.
BTW: This sentiment sounds a lot like what Lenin said. We should ask those Rs if they're communists.

[yuiyoshida]

8. Communists.

Trump was in league with Putin... many times...he sided with Putin even after Putin targeted our troops in Afghanistan.

[lostnfound]

9. That's 10% of the country

Since 25% of public now self-identify as Republicans