(The Hill) Two-thirds of American adults say they are concerned that “extremists” will commit acts of violence after 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% of American adults said they “strongly agree” (33%) or “somewhat agree” (35%) with the statement, “I am concerned that extremists will commit acts of violence after the election if they are unhappy with the results.”
Only 15% of people “somewhat disagree” (10%) or “strongly disagree” (5%) with this statement, while 15% said they “don’t know.”
This sentiment was especially pronounced among Democrats, with 83% saying they strongly (47%) or somewhat (36%) agreed with the concern about political violence, while only 8% disagreed and 9% said they didn’t know.
This concern still appears to cross party lines, with 65% of Republicans agreeing strongly (25%) or somewhat (40%) with this concern, while 69% of independents agree strongly (34%) or somewhat (36%) with this concern.
Among Republicans, 22% disagreed with the concerns, while 16% of independents disagreed. 12% of Republicans and 14% of independents said they didn’t know.
The poll was conducted ahead of a rematch between President Biden and former President Trump in November.
Trump has yet to publicly acknowledge Biden’s victory in the 2020 election, but after losing it he did everything he could to overturn the results and stay in power. He faces two criminal charges, one at the federal level and one in Georgia, for committing crimes related to those efforts.
On January 6, 2021, thousands of Trump supporters attempted to stop the transfer of power and participated in a violent attack on the Capitol building, resulting in multiple deaths.
In a recent interview with Time magazine, Trump suggested there could be violence if he lost the election, but insisted he would win a “big win” and that “there will be no violence.”
“And if we don’t win, it depends. It always depends on the fairness of the election,” Trump added, when pressed about what would happen if he lost.
A recent Bloomberg/Morning Consult poll asked voters in seven battleground states about the likelihood of political violence during and after the election, and nearly half (49%) said they expected violence to occur.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll included 3,934 American adults and had a margin of error of 1.7 percentage points.
