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The Surprising Reality of Political Violence in America | The New York Times
Source: The New York Times | 22 September 2024
After two apparent assassination attempts against Donald J. Trump, it’s easy to think our politics are becoming more violent. The research is not so clear.
When Donald J. Trump was nearly assassinated in Pennsylvania in July, a Dartmouth political scientist named Sean Westwood happened to be in the middle of a research project asking Americans about political violence.
At the time, many feared that the shooting would lead to a growing appetite for more violence.
But Mr. Westwood and his colleagues found the opposite. In the weeks after the attack, Americans’ support for partisan violence, and murder specifically, diminished — and fell most sharply among Republicans who identify with Mr. Trump.
