1 in 5 Republicans want Trump to call election invalid if he loses
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Donald Trump points to the crowd after delivering remarks during a campaign rally at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre on October 15, 2024 in Atlanta. Photo: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
Nearly one in five Republicans say that if Donald Trump loses the 2024 election, he should declare the results invalid and do whatever it takes to assume office, according to a new national survey.
Why it matters: The growing number of Republicans willing to shun democratic norms — and possibly embrace violence — comes as Trump continues to falsely claim the 2020 election was stolen from him and is saying the 2024 election is already rigged.
- The survey from the nonpartisan Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) and the Brookings Institution is the latest sign of how Trump's grievances and conspiracy theories have reshaped his party — and whipped up its most disaffected, far-right elements.
Zoom in: Trump's falsehoods — and what Democrats say is the threat he poses to democracy — have even some Democrats questioning whether their party should accept a loss in the Nov. 5 election.
- While 19% of Republicans say Trump should reject the election results if he loses, 12% of Democrats say Kamala Harris should do the same if she loses.
- Meanwhile, nearly 3 in 10 Republicans believe that true American patriots may have to resort to violence to save the country, compared with 16% of independents and 8% of Democrats.
What they're saying: "I've been doing this for 20 years, and these answers ... are keeping me up at night," Robert P. Jones, president and founder of PRRI, tells Axios.
- Jones said those supporting the loser of the election doing whatever it takes to assume office are essentially endorsing a coup against the United States.
- "It's all pretty dark and worrisome," he said.
Zoom in: Americans who most trust conservative news outlets are the most likely to support political violence (41%). Among those who trust Fox news the most, the figure is 30%.
- 18% of those who said they don't watch TV news and 13% of those who most trust mainstream TV news said they would support political violence.
The intrigue: Support for political violence breaks along racial and religious lines, the survey found.
- About three in 10 Latter-day Saints and a similar percentage of white evangelical Protestants (28%) agree that "true American patriots" may have to resort to violence to save the country — the religious demographic with the highest support.
- 18% of Hispanic Catholics, 14% of Black Protestants and 10% of Jewish Americans support this view.
Yes, but: The survey found two issues that unite Americans across party and racial lines.
- Nearly three-quarters of Americans (73%) favor requiring Supreme Court justices to retire at a certain age or after a certain number of years on the bench, instead of serving for life.
- And a majority of Americans (68%) oppose laws that make it illegal to use or receive FDA-approved drugs such as mifepristone, also known as the abortion pill, through the mail.
Methodology: The American Values Survey was conducted online from Aug. 16 to Oct. 4. The poll is based on a representative sample of 5,027 adults (age 18 and older) living in all 50 states and the District of Columbia who are part of Ipsos' Knowledge Panel®.
- The margin of sampling error is +/- 1.82 percentage points at the 95% confidence level, for results based on the entire sample.
