Here, although it isn't all bad news. Some excerpts:
Only 29% of Republicans today say that American culture and way of life have changed for the better since the 1950s, a substantial decrease from 46% in 2020 and a return to their opinion in 2016 (31%), prior to the election of former President Trump. Most Republicans (70%) say American culture and way of life have changed for the worse since the 1950s. By contrast, a majority of Democrats (63%) think that American culture and way of life have changed for the better, much the same as in 2020 (62%). Independents closely resemble the general population (48% better) and have also declined in this view since 2020 (57% better).
Just as a reminder, large portions of the U.S. were a de jure apartheid regime in the 1950s. Onward:
Around three in ten Americans (31%) say that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Donald Trump. This share has remained steady throughout 2021, in August (29%), June (30%), and March (29%).
More than two-thirds of Republicans (68%), compared to 26% of independents and 6% of Democrats, believe that the election was stolen from Trump. These shares are even greater among Republicans who most trust Fox News (82%) and essentially universal among those who most trust far-right news (97%). Less than half of Republicans who most trust mainstream news agree (44%).
And now some "good" news: fewer Americans subscribe to QAnon than think the election was stolen!
Around one in five Americans agree with these three core tenets of the QAnon movement:
- “There is a storm coming soon that will sweep away the elites in power and restore the rightful leaders” (21%).
- “The government, media, and financial worlds in the U.S. are controlled by a group of Satan-worshipping pedophiles who run a global child sex-trafficking operation” (18%).
- “Because things have gotten so far off track, true American patriots may have to resort to violence in order to save our country” (18%)....
One in four Republicans (26%) are QAnon believers, a proportion significantly higher than that of independents (15%) and Democrats (10%). A majority of Republicans (57%), compared to half of independents (50%) and four in ten Democrats (41%), are QAnon doubters. Notably, Democrats are 2.5 times more likely than Republicans to be QAnon rejecters (49% vs. 16%), while independents fall in between (35%). These shares are mostly unchanged since June.
Unsurprisingly, Republicans who most trust Fox News (30%) or far-right news outlets (44%) are more likely than those who most trust mainstream news (16%) to be QAnon believers. Just 8% of Republicans who trust Fox News and 12% of Republicans who trust far-right news, compared to 28% of Republicans who trust mainstream news, are QAnon rejecters.
Fox News [sic] does seem to be a source of the problem here.
White evangelical Protestants (26%) are the religious group most likely to agree that true American patriots might have to resort to violence in order to save our country, while 23% of those who follow non-Christian religions, 22% of Hispanic Catholics, 19% of white Catholics, 19% of other Christians, 17% of white mainline (non-evangelical) Protestants, 16% of Black Protestants, and 13% of religiously unaffiliated Americans agree.
The belief that violence could be an option is stronger among those who support former President Donald Trump and view changing culture as a threat. Among those who think the 2020 election was stolen from Trump, 39% agree that true American patriots might have to resort to violence in order to save our country, compared to only 10% among those who do not think the election was stolen.
One piece of good news, though:
For the first time since PRRI has polled the question, more than half of Americans—51%, including 55% of independents—say the Republican Party has been taken over by racists, compared to 45% who say it is trying to protect America from outside threats. In 2019 and 2020, 48% and 49%, respectively, said the Republican Party had been taken over by racists, and 50% of Americans said the Republican Party was trying to protect the American way of life.
On the other hand, "44% say...that [the Democratic Party] has been taken over by socialists." Nothing like ideological delusion!
This is slightly hopeful too:
More than nine in ten Americans say that it is somewhat or very important to being “truly American” to believe in individual freedoms, such as freedom of speech (slightly up from 91% in 2018 to 95% today), to believe that every citizen should be able to vote in elections (93%), to accept people of diverse racial and religious grounds (up from 86% in 2018 to 92% today), and to respect American political institutions and laws (91%). Nearly eight in ten (79%) say it is somewhat or very important to being truly American to be able to speak English.[4] This percentage has gone down consistently, from 89% in 2015 to 83% in 2018 and 79% today.
Fewer Americans, but still a majority, think it is very or somewhat important to being truly American to believe that capitalism is the best economic system (59%) and to believe in God (56%). Thinking a belief in God is important to being truly American declined substantially, from 69% in 2015 to 52% in 2018. Republicans are significantly more likely than Democrats to think that both belief that capitalism is the best economic system (77% and 50%, respectively) and belief in God (78% and 45%, respectively) are important to being truly American. Independents closely mirror all Americans. Most religious groups have similar beliefs, but members of non-Christian religions and religiously unaffiliated Americans are less likely than Christian groups to say that believing capitalism is the best economic system (50% and 44%, respectively) and believing in God (40% and 21%, respectively) are important to being truly American.
As someone who aspires to be truly unAmerican, this does present some challenges, since while I have no time for the non-existent deity, I do support free speech, voting rights, and religious and racial tolerance, indeed, acceptance.
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