Year after Capitol riot, Americans see violence as 'threat' to US democracy: Polls

A year after the deadly insurrection at the US Capitol that ensued on January 6, millions of Americans fail to justify the violence, which they see as exceedingly "threatening" for the US democracy. There’s a lasting impact of the incident, and millions of Americans see violence unleashed by the former US President Donald Trump’s MAGA supporters on capitol building to halt the certification of the then Democrat presidential candidate Joe Biden as "unjustifiable", a new poll conducted by the CBS network has revealed.

At least two-thirds of the Americans believe that the political opponents “are an existential threat to the democracy” and any sign of increasing violence is against the fabrics of the democratic setup. 60% of those pollsters blame Trump as they allege that the former leader bears a heavy responsibility for the Capitol violence. Meanwhile, over two-thirds of his supporters continue to believe that these are baseless charges against the ex-Republican leader. At least 28% of respondents believe that Trump instigated his supporters to overturn the election results by his use of provocative speech, labelling the then elections as "rigged" and asking Americans to "fight like hell" for democracy. 

Nearly one year after the deadly besiege on the US Capitol, the Americans still remain “deeply concerned,” at least two separate polls conducted by CBS found. One-third pf the American population believes that violence against the government “can sometimes be justified.”

US Capitol Police with guns drawn stand near a barricaded door as rioters try to break into the House Chamber at the US Capitol. [Credit: AP]

‘Stop the Steal’ campaign harbinger of 'political violence'

The rioting against the US Congress was eventuated by right-wing and alt groups and was largely carried out by the backers of the ex-American leader Donald Trump’s ‘Stop the Steal’ campaign which served as “a harbinger of increasing political violence,” according to two-thirds of those surveyed for a CBS News poll. 68% of Americans believe that the democracy at the time was gravely “threatened,” also agreeing that the riot was not an isolated incident. 

CBS News elections and surveys director Anthony Salvanto joins "Face the Nation," said in his televised show that such a political uprising may lead to larger misgivings in the future over the political divide within America. While 66% of the Americans feel threatened with such acts, about 33% of the population expressed insecurity, but overall, the majority of Americans expressed disapproval of the events on January 6, reports CBS. 

In this Jan. 6, 2021, file photo, US Capitol Police push back rioters trying to enter the US Capitol in Washington. A former State Department aide in President Donald Trump’s administration was also charged with participating in the deadly siege at the Capitol. [Credit: AP]

Violent insurrectionists loyal to then-President Donald Trump climb the west wall of the the US Capitol in Washington, Jan. 6, 2021. [Credit: AP]

“A year ago, most Republicans strongly disapproved, but today, their disapproval is spread between strongly and a bit more only somewhat disapproving,” the network, although, noted referring to the recent surveys. Some of the Republican supporters that no longer strongly disapprove of the Jan. 6 events also less likely described the day's events as an ‘insurrection.’ This group consumed the conservative media, a CBS poll revealed.

Only a minority of Americans “outrightly disapproved” the Jan. 6 riots. The approval of the Capitol insurrection-like events goes up to 50% among the Americans who believe that the QAnon ‘conspiracy ideas’ are at least probably true, according to the polls. The polls also reveal the widening political among the 'red' and the 'Blue' state American population since the Jan. 6, 2021, deadly riots.