According to a new national survey released Wednesday by the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI), about a quarter of Americans believe "patriots may have to resort to violence to save the country." According to the PRRI study, 75% of those surveyed also said they agree that the "future of American democracy is at risk in the 2024 presidential election." 84% of Democrats supported that view, but supermajorities of Republicans and independent voters said they also agreed with that statement, according to NPR. "I think we're in for a pretty challenging election season between now and the presidential election in 2024," Robert Jones, the CEO and founder of the PRRI, a nonpartisan group that conducts research on the intersection of politics, culture, and religion said.
Jones said the most disturbing finding, however, is that more Americans support political violence, which he believes is a symptom of continued polarization in the country's politics. He also blamed a spillover effect created by the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. While Americans across the political spectrum feel democracy is at risk in next year's election, support for political violence runs mostly along party lines. Currently, one-third of Republicans support violence as a means to save the country, compared with 22% of independents and 13% of Democrats, the survey found. More specifically, Republicans who have favorable views of Donald Trump were found to be "nearly three times as likely as Republicans who have unfavorable views of Trump" to support political violence.