J.D. Vance Says 26 Percent of Young Liberals Justify Political Violence. Here's What the Data Really Say.
Majorities on the left and on the right denounce political violence and its celebration.
The assassination of Charlie Kirk has elicited egregious reactions across social media. On the left, some have reacted to his murder by calling Kirk a Nazi and likening him to Adolf Hitler. Others callously mocked Kirk and celebrated his assassination. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump has assigned responsibility for the tragedy to those who demonized Kirk, and Attorney General Pam Bondi said Monday that the Justice Department will go after those "targeting anyone with hate speech." The Daily Wire's Matt Walsh has gone so far as to say he "cannot 'unite' with the Left because they want me dead" and "will spit on my grave when I die and laugh in the faces of my wife and children."
On Monday, Vice President J.D. Vance echoed this us-vs.-them mentality while hosting Kirk's podcast, The Charlie Kirk Show. During the episode, Vance said that America must confront the difficult truth that "24 percent of self-described quote, 'very liberals,' believe it is acceptable to be happy about the death of a political opponent" and "26 percent of young liberals believe political violence is sometimes justified."
However, Vance cherry-picks data from a YouGov poll released two days after Kirk's assassination to paint an inordinately bleak picture of the state of American political discourse.
According to that poll, which was conducted immediately following Kirk's murder, the majority (55 percent) of "very liberal" respondents said violence is never justified to achieve political goals. An even larger majority of self-described liberals (68 percent) shared this view. Similar majorities of "very liberals" (56 percent) and liberals (73 percent) said it was always or usually unacceptable for "a person to be happy about the death of a public figure they oppose." (It's possible that at least some of the liberals who answered "yes, violence can sometimes be justified" had in mind edge cases like armed resistance by Jews against the SS, not the assassination of peaceful political pundits with whom they disagree.)
It is true that larger majorities of "very conservatives" (88 percent) and conservatives (83 percent) said political violence is never justified. Likewise, 90 percent and 91 percent, respectively, said it is "always or usually unacceptable" for a person to be happy about the death of a public figure they oppose. While the disparity between American liberals' and conservatives' condemnation of political violence and its celebration is notable, the fact remains that a majority of even "very liberal" Americans reject political violence outright and denounce its celebration.
Concern about political violence is bipartisan: 90 percent of Democrats regard political violence in the U.S. as a problem, as do 89 percent of Republicans. Considering that even more Democrats regard political violence as a "very big problem" following Kirk's murder than they did following the murder of Minnesota's Democratic Speaker of the House Melissa Hortman, it cannot be said that they only care about political violence when it's enacted against their political allies.
In the aftermath of Kirk's murder, it's important to recognize that the majority of Americans are united in denouncing political violence and those who celebrate it.