A new poll has found that Republican voters’ outlook on the country has “soured dramatically" in the wake of the killing of right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk, with a staggering 25 percentage-point spike in the number of GOP voters who say the nation is headed in the “wrong direction.”
Conducted by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shortly after Kirk’s killing last week, the poll found that 51% of GOP said that they felt the country was headed in the “wrong direction,” up 25 percentage points from the 26% reported in March.
Republican voters who spoke with the Associated Press said the pervasive political violence was a key factor in their souring outlook for the country’s future.
“If you’d have talked to me two weeks ago, I wouldn’t have brought it up as a main concern but more of a gnawing feeling,” said Chris Bahr, a 42-year-old GOP voter and software administrator from Houston, Texas, speaking with the Associated Press.
“It’s something I’ve been thinking about. But now it’s violence, while before it was just this sense of animosity and division.”
Others pointed to the broader division within the country, divisions that manifested in both violence and rhetoric, including Joclyn Yurchak, a 55-year-old Pennsylvania GOP voter and warehouse worker.
“It’s all the violence, not just political,” Yurchak said, speaking with the Associated Press. “There’s just so much crime in the country. It’s disgusting. Nobody has respect for anybody anymore. It’s sad.”
The poll also found significant differences among GOP voters based on factors like gender and age. Younger Republicans were far more likely to hold a pessimistic view of the nation’s future, with 61% of those under 45 saying the country was on the wrong track compared to 43% for those 45 and older. Women were also more likely than men to hold an unfavorable view for the future at a rate of 60% to 43%, respectively.
“We’re at each other’s throats,” said Jeremy Gieske, a 47-year-old Republican and product manager from Minnesota, speaking with the Associated Press.
“This viciousness on both sides. We have villainized others, like we’re on the brink of social collapse. Is Kirk the straw that breaks the camel’s back or sets off a powder keg? It’s on everyone’s mind.”