There’s a new PRRI study looking at American identity and probably the big takeaway is how much anti-democratic beliefs and openness to political violence have taken root in the GOP. I’m going to list here some of the findings. These are ones that stand out to me. Definitely worth reviewing the whole thing.
62% of Republicans believe being born in America is something that makes you truly American. 43% for Democrats. 63% say being a Christian is something that makes you “truly American”; 35% for Democrats.
One interesting finding on religion. Americans are roughly split between wanting the US to be mostly Christian (24%) vs those who’d prefer a country with a wide variety of religions (38%). Most Christian religious groups are more or less in this range. The unaffiliated and non-Christian, unsurprisingly lean heavily toward diversity. The big exception is white evangelical protestants, 57% of whom want a mostly Christian America vs 13% who prefer more religious diversity.
31% of Americans mostly or completely agree that the 2020 was stolen from Donald Trump. 68% of Republicans believe this. 82% of people who most trust Fox News believe this. 97% of people who “most trust far-right news” believe this. 26% of independents believe this.
About one in four Republicans are Qanon believers.
11% of Democrats believe that “true American patriots might have to resort to violence in order to save our country.” 30% of Republicans believe this. 39% of people who believe the election was stolen from Trump believe this.
55% of independents think “the Republican party has been taken over by racists”. 51% of all Americans believe this. 44% of Americans believe “the Democratic party has been taken over by socialists”. 47% of independents believe this.
Those are the numbers that basically tell you the country is in a bad place.
One pretty notable number is whether the US withdrawal from Afghanistan has made the US more or less safe from terrorism. Unsurprisingly only 6% of Republicans say it’s made the US more safe vs 76% who say it’s made the country less safe. But only 28% of Democrats say it’s made the country more safe vs 26% who say it’s made the country less safe. So even with the pressure of partisanship, even Democrats are at best meh on the decision.
