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2h ago

AP-NORC Poll Finds GOP Optimism Plunges After Kirk Assassination

Interviews link the downturn to fears of political violence following Charlie Kirk’s killing.

A well-wisher pauses at a growing makeshift memorial set up at the Turning Point USA headquarters after the shooting death at a Utah college last Wednesday of Charlie Kirk, the 31-year-old founder and CEO of the organization, Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
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File photo: President Donald Trump shakes hands with moderator Charlie Kirk, during a Generation Next White House forum at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex in Washington, Thursday, March 22, 2018.

Overview

  • Only about half of Republicans now say the U.S. is on the right track, down from 70% in June, with 51% calling it the wrong direction.
  • Overall national optimism also fell, with about one-quarter of Americans saying the country is headed the right way, down from roughly four in ten.
  • The shift is sharpest among key GOP groups: 61% of Republicans under 45 say the country is on the wrong track, and about three-quarters of Republican women say the same, compared with 56% of Republican men.
  • Respondents cited political violence and social discord alongside worries over jobs, household costs and crime.
  • The poll, conducted Sept. 11–15 via NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, surveyed 1,183 adults and has a margin of sampling error of ±3.8 points; the White House has blamed left-wing groups and discussed domestic-terror labels, racketeering probes and tax-status actions, drawing civil-liberties concerns.