FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—More than 1 in 4 Democrats believe America would be better off if former President Donald Trump had been assassinated, according to a poll released Wednesday.
Veteran pollster Scott Rasmussen’s national survey of 1,000 registered voters, conducted by RMG Research for the Napolitan News Service, asked Americans about Sunday’s second assassination attempt on Trump. It included this pointed question:
While it is always difficult to wish ill of another human being, would America be better off if Donald Trump had been killed last weekend?
17% Yes
69% No
14% Not sure
The poll’s crosstabs revealed a starkly divided America with a sizable number of Democrats wishing harm on Trump, who has now survived two attempts on his life in the span of two months.
While 92% of Republicans say America would be worse off had Trump been killed, less than half of Democrats—48%—hold that same view. Another 28% of Democrats answered yes to the question—that America would be better off—and 24% of Democrats said they were unsure.
The Napolitan News Service poll was conducted Monday and Tuesday in the wake of the assassination attempt at Trump’s golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida. Trump blamed his Democrat opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, for inciting violence against him.
“Their rhetoric is causing me to be shot at, when I am the one who is going to save the country and they are the ones that are destroying the country—both from the inside and out,” Trump told Fox News Digital.
Democrats overwhelmingly believe Trump is a “major threat to democracy” by a margin of 82% to 8%, according to the poll.
Harris, who issued a statement Sunday denouncing the assassination attempt, shifted gears Tuesday when she pinned the blame on conservatives.
“There are far too many people in our country right now who are not feeling safe,” she said. “I mean, I look at Project 2025, and I look at, you know, the Don’t Say Gay laws coming out of Florida. Members of the LGBTQ community don’t feel safe right now, immigrants or people with an immigrant background don’t feel safe right now. Women don’t feel safe right now.”
According to the Napolitan News Service survey, 45% of respondents said anti-Trump rhetoric was to blame for the assassination attempts, followed by 41% who cited the news media.
The poll found 75% of Americans were closely following news of the second assassination attempt and a slim majority—51%—rated the U.S. Secret Service’s performance as good or excellent. More than 6 in 10 Americans support increasing Trump’s security.
Despite the two attempts on Trump’s life, a majority of Americans blame him for using “overheated language” that encourages people to act violently. Respondents ranked Trump first, significantly higher than Harris.
When discussing politics, have any of the following used overheated language that might encourage some people to act violently?
54% Donald Trump
35% CNN and MSNBC
33% Kamala Harris
29% Fox News
9% Your close friends and family members
2% Yourself
Asked about the motive behind assassination attempts, 46% of survey respondents believe they were carried out by crazed individuals compared to 33% who believe it was an organized effort.
The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
