New Data: Perceptions of Storming of the Capitol, Then and Now

Rutgers scholar and lead author Katherine Ognyanova is available to comment on the latest survey data from The COVID States Project, a joint project of Rutgers, Northeastern, Harvard and Northwestern universities. The report examined public support for the storming of the Capitol, perceptions regarding Antifa’s involvement, emotional reactions to the attack, perceptions of t he fairness of the 2020 election and the continued role of Donald Trump in the Republican Party. To view the full report and findings, click here.

Among the findings:

• 5 percent of respondents indicate they supported the storming of the Capitol Jan. 6, compared to 76 percent who opposed it.
• Among partisan groups in the “neither support nor oppose” category, 28 percent of Republicans, 23 percent of Independents and only 8 percent of Democrats report neither supporting nor opposing the storming of the Capitol.
• Partisan splits have increased since January 2021. The opposition to the storming of the Capitol has remained steady with Democrats at 89 percent but dropped by 11 percentage points among Republicans and 8 points among Independents.
• 48 percent of Republicans indicate a Donald Trump endorsement would increase their support of a candidate (versus only 8 percent saying it would decrease).
• 45 percent of all respondents indicated a Trump endorsement would decrease their support of a candidate versus only 17 percent (almost entirely Republicans) who said that it would increase.
• 41 percent of Independents indicate that a Trump endorsement would decrease their support of a candidate versus 14 percent who said that it would increase their support.

The researchers surveyed 15,269 people from Dec. 22, 2021 to Jan. 5, 2022 across all 50 states plus the District of Columbia. The COVID states project conducted a survey and issued a report in the immediate aftermath of the storming of the Capitol building Jan. 6, 2021. This report revisits some of the opinions regarding Jan. 6 a year later.

Katherine Ognyanova, an assistant professor at Rutgers’ School of Communication and Information, does research in network science, computational social science, social technology, media, civic and political communication.