When you see the mainstream media trying to spin violent protesters as people bringing about positive change, you might wonder if you’re losing your mind for thinking differently. However, a new Rasmussen Report poll shows just how out of touch the media really is with public opinion on this and other matters.
The poll revealed that most American voters view these protesters as violent criminals. In addition, most Americans feel this violence is going to make the criminal justice system even worse instead of improving it.
The telephone survey was carried out on July 29 and 30th and involved 1,000 likely voters. Just under a third said that the mob violence being seen over the past several weeks in big American cities is mostly legitimate outrage about police behavior. Fifty-seven percent believe that what we’re seeing is mostly criminals who are taking advantage of the situation. Meanwhile, 12 percent say they are not sure.
This poll is valuable because it avoided some of the problems seen in other surveys that ask questions that are either leading or so convoluted that the people giving the answers don't really understand how they might be interpreted.
Just 21 percent of voters said that they think the violent protests we are seeing now will improve America's criminal justice system. Fifty-one percent said that it will make it worse, while 17 percent said they believed it would have no impact and 12 percent were undecided. Even the 32 percent who said that the violence was "primarily legitimate outrage" didn't think it is going to improve the situation by an overwhelming margin. However, among the voters who believe the violence is primarily criminal, 69 percent think it is going to worsen criminal justice in the U.S.
People under 40 were more likely than older people to view the mob violence as legitimate outrage, but even then, 49 percent of younger voters said they think it is mainly criminal.
Perhaps not surprisingly, whites were more likely to see the mob violence as criminal. Just 37 percent of black voters felt it was criminal, compared to 56 percent of whites and 70 percent of other minority voters. Forty-one percent of black voters said they felt it is mainly legitimate outrage. Black voters were evenly divided when it came to whether this will make the situation better or worse in the criminal justice system.
Poll shows most Americans are opposed to reducing police budgets
Meanwhile, a different Rasmussen poll shows that 66 percent of all Americans are opposed to reducing the police budget in their community, while 61 percent think violent crime will rise in areas that defund the police. The poll, which was conducted from July 19 to 20, demonstrated a shift in beliefs from a poll in early June asking the same question, when 59 percent opposed reducing police budgets.
Higher crime after police defunding has already been the experience of people in places like New York City, which saw a 205 percent rise in gunfire in the two weeks after the NYPD disbanded its anti-crime unit with plainclothes police on June 15. The city ended up seeing its bloodiest June in 24 years.
A June poll found that 67 percent of people consider the performance of the police where they live to be good or excellent, while just 20 percent think their local police’s tactics are too harsh.
Unfortunately, the mainstream media and social media are fully invested in dividing the country and stoking hatred and tension. The truth is that most Americans really do see Antifa, Black Lives Matter and the other groups protesting for the violent mobs that they are and recognize the damage they are doing to American society.
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