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

(The Hill) — Two-thirds of American adults said they are concerned “extremists” will commit acts of violence following the 2024 election if they are unhappy with the results, according to a poll released Thursday.

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

Just 15 percent said they either 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 either strongly (47 percent) or somewhat (36 percent) agree with concerns about political violence. Only 8 percent said they disagree, and 9 percent said they don’t know.

The concern still seemed 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 (36 percent) with the 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 don’t know.

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

Trump — who still has not publicly recognized Biden’s victory in 2020 — went to great lengths after losing that election to overturn the results and stay in power. He faces two criminal indictments — one on the federal level and one in Georgia — accusing him of committing crimes related to those efforts.

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

Trump hinted in a recent Time magazine interview at the possibility of violence if he loses the election — although he insisted he’ll 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 pressed later on what would happen if he lost.

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

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