It’s the first time in NBC News polling across five different violent incidents that there has been bipartisan agreement blaming extreme rhetoric from political and media figures.
More than 6 in 10 registered voters said they think “extreme political rhetoric” was an important contributor to the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk earlier this year — including majorities of Democrats, Republicans and independents, according to the latest NBC News poll.
The findings represent a grim milestone in America’s reckoning with growing political violence and its root causes. The survey marks the first time, across questions about five different violent incidents over 15 years of NBC News polling, that there has been cross-partisan agreement that rhetoric played an important role in an attack, as opposed to the incident having been more about the actions of a single disturbed person.
Overall, 61% of respondents said they feel that “extreme political rhetoric used by some in the media and by political leaders was an important contributor” to Kirk’s killing.
Root causes, huh, like instilling a president that has had a history of actively rooting for his voterbase to “fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore”. Among other violent rallying cries.