Washington, D.C. — A new national survey shows a rare moment of bipartisan agreement: majorities of Republicans, Democrats and independents believe extreme political rhetoric contributed to the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk earlier this year. The NBC News poll found that 61% of registered voters said inflammatory rhetoric from political leaders and media figures played an important role, marking the first time in 15 years of NBC polling that voters across parties have united behind that assessment.
Republicans blamed rhetoric by the largest margin, 73% to 19%. Independents (53% to 28%) and Democrats (54% to 34%) also leaned heavily toward blaming rhetoric rather than solely an individual acting alone. The suspect, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, faces murder charges in Utah. Investigators say he sent texts claiming he had “enough of [Kirk’s] hatred,” according to charging documents.
President Donald Trump and members of his administration have pointed to what they call left-wing extremism as the cause of the attack. Vice President JD Vance said the killing reflected a growing “destructive movement,” while White House aide Stephen Miller vowed to use federal resources to root out what he described as domestic terror threats. Investigators have not found evidence linking Robinson to organized left-wing groups.
The poll also places the Kirk killing within a broader rise in political violence, including recent attacks on public officials in Pennsylvania, Minnesota and Texas. NBC News surveyed 1,000 registered voters from Oct. 24–28, with a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points.
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