Conservative group calls results of own survey 'scary': 4 in 10 Republicans say political violence may be necessary

A new survey from the conservative American Enterprise Institute has found that four in 10 Republicans condone political violence in some cases where it might be "necessary."

What are the details?

According to a Thursday report from NPR, a significant share of the public says politically motivated violence may be necessary.

AEI's new survey has found that "nearly three in 10 Americans" polled — including 39% of surveyed Republicans — agree that "if elected leaders will not protect America, the people must do it themselves, even if it requires violent actions."

Daniel Cox, director of AEI's Survey Center on American Life, told the news outlet that the results are a "really dramatic finding."

"I think anytime you have a significant number of the public saying use of force can be justified in our political system, that's pretty scary," Cox admitted.

NPR reported, "The survey found that to be a minority sentiment — two out of three Americans overall rejected the use of violence in pursuit of political ends — and Cox emphasized that the finding reflected 'attitudes and beliefs' rather than a disposition to do something."

Cox said, "If I believe something, I may act on it, and I may not. We shouldn't run out and say, 'Oh, my goodness, 40% of Republicans are going to attack the Capitol,' but under the right circumstances, if you have this worldview, then you are more inclined to act in a certain way if you are presented with that option."

The AEI poll was based on a survey of 2,016 U.S. adults, and was conducted between Jan. 21 and Jan. 30.

What else?

Two out of three Republicans polled also said that President Joe Biden was not the legitimate winner in the 2020 presidential election.

The poll's findings were naturally split along party lines, with 98% of Democrats polled saying that they believed Biden was the legitimate winner.

Naturally, the findings pointed to polled Republicans' significant lack of trust in the modern U.S. political system and said that it is "stacked against conservatives and people with traditional values." As such, the majority of those Republicans polled agreed with the following statement: "The traditional American way of life is disappearing so fast that we may have to use force to save it."