State of Political Extremism in the US: Recent polling finds two-thirds Americans fear political violence after Nov. 5th Election

Newswise — Recent polling finds two thirds of Americans are concerned that political violence could follow the Nov. 5 election rematch between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, according to the recent Reuters/Ipsos poll. The polling finds widespread worries of a repeat of the January 6^th insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

If you would like more context on this matter, please consider Jon Lewis, a research fellow at the George Washington University Program on Extremism. He studies domestic violent extremism and homegrown violent extremism, with a specialization in the evolution of white supremacist and anti-government movements in the United States and federal responses to the threat. Lewis is the co-author of two major Program reports on the events of January 6th, as well as numerous long form publications on the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers and their role in the events of January 6th. In addition, Lewis manages the Program's Capitol Hill Siege database, which is a public tracker for all federal cases stemming from J6 participation.

Lewis says he sees one of the biggest threats to the upcoming U.S. elections is the widespread adoption in belief that political violence is acceptable.  

“First and foremost, it’s the mainstream acceptance of political violence. When you look at the polling around the percentage of Americans who think either the election was stolen, the next one will be stolen, that use of force, use of violence is acceptable and permitted if you’re fighting for the right cause,” Lewis says.

“You look at the coalition of the 'Stop the Steal' movement on Jan. 6^th, it’s a handful of Proud Boys, a handful of Oath Keepers and then 10,000 average Americans. Your neighbor – the dentist from New York, pipe welder from Tennessee, yoga mom from California, the realtor from Texas. It’s people you know. It’s not this big bad amorphous terrorist.”

WATCH: Hear more from Lewis about the state of political violence and threats in the U.S. and how these ideologies spread to mainstream audiences in this video here.   

If you would like to speak to Jon Lewis, please contact GW Senior Media Relations Specialist Cate Douglass at [email protected].

-GW-