The best antidote to hot takes is hard data, and the latest Daily Kos/Civiqs poll is here with your cure. This survey of 1,609 adults was conducted online from Jan. 15-18 and finds that 60% of Americans consider the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol an act of terrorism. Americans from across the political spectrum want law enforcement to arrest those involved: 93% of Americans want the attackers arrested, 62% think that everyone who broke into the Capitol should be arrested, and 31% want arrests of anyone who caused injury or property damage.
President Trump continues his firm grip on the Republican Party base: Among Republicans who voted for him in 2020, most (61%) think of themselves primarily as Trump supporters rather than Republican Party supporters (39%). A whopping 78% of Republicans still agree with Trump’s unfounded claim that the presidential election was stolen.
Trump remains, by far, the most popular Republican politician among Republican voters: 86% of Republicans have a favorable opinion of Donald Trump. Republicans’ views of GOP congressional leadership, however, are far more dim: just 23% of them have a favorable opinion of Mitch McConnell, and 41% have a favorable opinion of Kevin McCarthy.
Other noteworthy findings in this month’s poll include:
- Most Americans (54%) say Republican members of Congress who tried to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s victory were undermining democracy.
- 55% of registered voters have an unfavorable opinion of Trump (vs. 43% favorable); 54% have an unfavorable opinion of Mike Pence (vs. 33% favorable); and 76% have an unfavorable opinion of Mitch McConnell (vs. 11% favorable).
Additional issues surveyed include views on the removals of Trump, Ted Cruz, and Josh Hawley from office as well as viewership of Fox News, Newsmax, One American News Network, and MSNBC.
This poll’s findings demonstrate that, after Trump incited the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, solid majorities of Americans understand that this attack was not only an act of terrorism, but also an attempted coup.
This month’s survey also provides strong evidence of Trump’s enduring grip on the Republican Party. Despite the fact that most Americans have an unfavorable opinion of Trump, 86% of Republicans view him favorably even as they hold strongly unfavorable opinions of the GOP leaders of the U.S. House and Senate.
Civiqs is an award-winning survey research firm that conducts scientific public opinion polls on the Internet through its nationally representative online survey panel. Founded in 2013, Civiqs specializes in political and public policy polling. Results from Civiqs’ daily tracking polls can be found online at civiqs.com.
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