Deep, Destructive, and Disturbing: What We Know About Today’s American Insurrectionist Movement
Chicago Project on Security and Threats
Robert A. Pape | August 6, 2021
This report presents findings from CPOST's Summer 2021 American Political Violence Survey, CPOST’s second nationally representative survey of American adults to understand and track the scope and drivers of violent support for Trump in the wake of January 6. The results are sobering. 8% of American adults – extrapolating to 21 million people – believe the 2020 election was stolen AND that force is justified to restore Trump to the presidency. Violent support for Trump is a broader mass movement with violence at its core, not merely a mix of right-wing organizations. It is a political movement, not ordinary criminal behavior, although crimes may be committed. The movement is a political minority in many places, not only centered in “red” parts of the country. Finally, results show a finding consistent with CPOST’s previous survey in April: belief in the “Great Replacement” -- that Whites are losing rights to demographically more powerful minorities -- is the key driver of violent support for Trump.
To download the report, click here.
For the survey topline, click here.