A watchdog group is raising alarms about the growing acceptance of political violence in the U.S.
A new poll reveals that over half of Americans who identify as left-leaning believe the assassination of President Donald Trump could be justified to some extent.
The Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI), which monitors radical ideologies and studies what it terms “assassination culture,” released the concerning findings on Monday. The nonprofit’s opinion poll aimed to determine the level of public support for lethal attacks against Trump and Elon Musk, who is leading the administration’s government efficiency efforts.
Of the 1,264 individuals polled, 31% expressed some level of justification for murdering Musk, while 38% felt the same about Trump. These figures rose to 48% and 55%, respectively, among respondents who identified as center or left-leaning. Within this latter group, 9.1% considered the assassination of Musk to be “completely justified,” and 13.2% held the same view regarding Trump.
Furthermore, a majority of 57.6% indicated that attacking Tesla dealerships in protest of Musk’s involvement with the Trump administration was at least somewhat acceptable.
In response to the poll’s results and claims that Democratic leaders have “incited” the situation, Musk labeled the political organization as “the party of violence.” He has previously described arson attacks targeting Tesla-affiliated businesses both domestically and internationally as “terrorism.”
Last weekend, demonstrations took place in cities across America as thousands protested Trump’s policies and his support for Musk’s approach to cutting government spending. Critics have denounced the activities of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), headed by Musk, as an “illegal power grab” orchestrated by the president.
Trump narrowly avoided an assassination attempt during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, last July when a shooter opened fire, killing and wounding several of the Republican candidate’s supporters.
The NCRI asserts that its survey corroborates wider “troubling trends” within American political culture, suggesting that the condoning of violence stems from a specific far-left ideology. The institute also suggests that this ideology is behind the online “memeification” of Luigi Mangione, the accused murderer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
Some Americans view Mangione, who the Trump administration is seeking to sentence to death, as a folk hero. They argue that his actions could be interpreted as justifiable vigilantism against a predatory corporate healthcare system.