Large majorities of American voters say political discord and violence are on the rise after the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and the controversial pulling of late-night comic Jimmy Kimmel’s show, according to a new poll released Wednesday.
About 79% of those surveyed agreed that the U.S. is in a “political crisis” while 71% say political violence is a big problem, a figure that is up sharply from the 54% who said so in a similar survey in June before the Kirk murder, according to a Quinnipiac University poll.
A 54% majority also took the bleak view that politically inspired violence is likely to increase in coming years, with just 14% believing it will decrease.
“The Kirk assassination lays bare raw, bipartisan concerns about where the country is headed,” said Tim Malloy, a Quinnipiac University polling analyst.
“A shudder of concern and pessimism rattles a broad swath of the electorate,” Malloy added. “Nearly 80 percent of registered voters feel they are witnessing a political crisis, seven in ten say political violence is a very serious problem, and a majority say this discord won’t go away anytime soon.”
Americans also say freedom of speech is in danger, with 53% saying they are pessimistic about the future of free speech in the U.S. and 43% saying they are optimistic. Those figures were reversed in a similar poll in March, before the Kirk murder and the brouhaha over Kimmel’s show.
Across the political spectrum, Americans broadly agree the way we talk about politics is leading to more violence, with Malloy noting that “in a rare meeting of the minds…Republicans, Democrats, and independents in equal numbers say: ‘Yes, it is.’”
The poll also showed American voters are unhappy with the job Trump is doing as president, with just 38% approving and 54% disapproving, a wider gap than most other recent polls have shown.
Trump is notably underwater on key issues like his handling of the economy, with 17% more disapproving of his performance than approving, and immigration, where he is 14% behind.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. also gets a big thumbs down for his vaccine-skeptical policies.
Just 34% of those surveyed think he’s doing a good job compared to 57% who disapprove, a significant tick down from a similar poll in June.
More than two-thirds support keeping vaccines mandatory for children attending public schools although in an ominous sign for public health, Republicans are narrowly opposed to the policy.
The Quinnipiac poll was conducted Sept. 18-21 among 1,276 self-identified registered voters. The margin of error was 3.3 percentage points.