Poll finds majority of voters say US in political crisis after Kirk assassination
Bipartisan concern grows as Quinnipiac poll ties violence and heated rhetoric to a perceived national crisis following Charlie Kirk's killing
A national Quinnipiac University poll released this week finds that a majority of voters believe the United States is in a political crisis in the wake of Charlie Kirk's assassination. The survey shows 79% of voters saying the country is in a political crisis, while 18% disagree. The share declaring a crisis spans party lines: 93% of Democrats, 84% of independents and 60% of Republicans say the nation is in crisis. Poll analysts noted that the Kirk assassination appears to have amplified bipartisan concerns about the trajectory of the country. Tim Malloy, a Quinnipiac polling analyst, said the incident underscores deeply felt worries across the political spectrum.
Kirk, co-founder of Turning Point USA, was shot and killed earlier this month while speaking at Utah Valley University. The poll’s context also references a wave of violence-linked incidents in the broader political environment, including this summer’s killings of former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband at their home, and a nearby top Democratic state senator and his wife who were wounded by gunfire. The poll’s framing highlights how these events have shaped public perception of national politics during a volatile period.
The survey also shows that concern about politically motivated violence remains high. Seventy-one percent of respondents said such violence is a very serious problem today, 22% said somewhat serious, and 4% said not serious. Those figures mark an uptick from Quinnipiac’s June 26 poll, when 54% characterized violence as very serious, 37% as somewhat serious, 6% not so serious, and 2% not a problem at all. The data come as the country confronts a history of political violence linked to prominent figures and events.
In another set of questions, respondents expressed doubts about reducing the temperature of political rhetoric. Nearly six in ten said it will be impossible to lower the temperature on political rhetoric and speech in the United States, while just over a third said it would be possible to cool the tone. The poll also asked about expectations for violence going forward: 54% said political violence will worsen over the next few years, 27% said it will remain about the same, and 14% said it will ease.
President Donald Trump spoke at the public memorial service for Charlie Kirk at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, on September 21, 2025, a moment reflected in the broader public conversation about political leadership and national crisis atmosphere.
The Quinnipiac poll was conducted Sept. 18–21, 2025, with 1,276 self-identified registered voters nationwide. The overall sampling error was plus or minus 3.3 percentage points. The results illustrate broad concern across party lines about the political climate and the role of rhetoric and violence in shaping the national agenda.
