When it comes to many aspects of partisan animosity, Americans have remarkably inaccurate views on the other side, but nowhere is this clearer than with support for political violence. Democrats and Republicans think nearly 60% of the opposing side would support a person charged with politically motivated assault on a member of their party (57.5% for Democrats and 60% for Republicans). The actual numbers are up to 30 times smaller–1.9% of Democrats and 3% of Republicans would actually support the person charged with the crime.
When it comes to murder the pattern is the same, but on a smaller scale. Democrats think 44.3% of Republicans would support someone who murdered a Democrat, while Republicans think 43.7% of Democrats would support someone who murdered a Republican. Again, the truth is orders of magnitude smaller–1% for Democrats and 1.6% for Republicans.
Support for political violence is very low, but people have caricatures of the other side in their minds.
You can always view the results of the America’s Political Pulse tracking poll to see major findings, explore over-time trends, or download top-line results.