WASHINGTON (Sputnik) –
According to a recent poll, over half of all ex-U.S. president Donald Trump supporters “somewhat agree” with the idea that red states should secede from the U.S., while 41% of Joe Biden supporters consent with the idea of blue states doing the same.
The poll was conducted by the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, which in partnership with Project Home Fire think tank analyzed online responses to over 300 questions encompassing social, political, and psychological themes from more than a thousand political opponents from each camp.
The further data presented by the researchers revealed, however, that a quarter of Trump supporters “strongly agree” with the idea of red-state succession, while 18% of Biden supporters support a blue-state breakaway.
“The divide between Trump and Biden voters is deep, wide, and dangerous,” Center for Politics Director Larry Sabato is quoted in a statement regarding the findings as saying. “The scope is unprecedented, and it will not be easily fixed.”
Moreover, at least 80% of Trump and Biden voters say that elected politicians from opposing parties pose a “clear and present danger to American democracy.” The exact numbers are 80% of Biden voters, 84% of Trump voters, per the data.
Next, at least three-quarters of Trump and Biden supporters say that Americans who “strongly support” the opposition party pose a “clear and present danger to the American way of life,” which is 75% of Biden voters, 78% of Trump voters.
Furthermore, more than seven out of ten Biden and Trump supporters think that “some media sources on the extreme left/right have become so untruthful that they should be censored to stop the spreading of dangerous lies.” The exact ratio is 78% of Biden voters, 73% of Trump supporters.
According to the poll, a total of 56% of Biden supporters “somewhat agree” on not seeing any difference between Republicans and Fascists, while 76% of their Trump-voting counterparts consider Democrats and Socialists the same.
As the researchers underscore, almost 80% of both Biden and Trump supporters said democracy was better than other political systems. However, more than six out of ten Trump and Biden supporters regard America as less of a representative democracy and more of a system governed by and rigged for the oligarchy.
And quite surprising, nearly half of Biden and Trump voters think that the president should be empowered to take “needed actions without being constrained by Congress or the courts” if he or she is elected, specifically 46% of Biden voters, 44% of Trump voters.
“The logical conclusion then, is that it is in the long-term interest of the country to pursue a series of strategies and tactics that encourage bridge-building and constructive dialogue and re-affirm America’s reputation as the world’s leading representative democracy. Simply put — we need a real plan to heal our fractured democracy. In our research, we have uncovered some pathways to help do that,” Project Home Fire’s head Larry Schack said.
The survey was conducted in late July and early August.