There has been a major increase in the number of Americans who agree that “Because things haven gotten so far off track, true American patriots may have to resort to violence in order to save our country” – with a sharper rise among Democrats and Independents than Republicans.
While only 15 percent of Americans agreed political violence may be necessary in 2021, the figure has risen to 23 percent as of 2023.
This sentiment is highest among Republicans, having risen from 28 percent to 33 percent, but the rise has been more significant among Democrats, almost doubling from seven percent to 13 percent. Independents have also seen a sharper rise, from 13 percent to 22 percent.
Similar changes can be observed when examining Americans’ religious and ethnic backgrounds. The feeling that political violence may be necessary is greatest among white evangelicals and mainline Protestants, having risen from 24 and 18 percent to 31 and 25 percent, respectively – but there has been a more pronounced rise among black Protestants, from 12 percent to 24 percent.
Hispanic Catholics are actually slightly more likely to believe political violence is necessary than white Catholics, at 21 percent versus 20 percent (up from 17 and 16 percent in 2021.)
People who describe themselves are religiously unaffiliated or religious but non-Christian have also seen steep rises, from 12 percent to 23 percent and from nine percent to 23 percent.
People in these groups were not broken down by ethnicity or by particular religions such as Islam, however.
