Younger Americans less concerned about political violence and free speech threats: AP-NORC poll
October 29, 2025
A new AP-NORC poll finds that in the tumultuous political climate marked by this year’s assassination of a conservative activist Charlie Kirk in Utah and Democratic legislators in Minnesota, younger adults are much less worried about political violence than older adults. About 4 in 10 Americans are concerned about political violence directed at conservatives or liberals, the survey found, but anxiety about violence on either side of the political spectrum is lower among younger adults. There’s also a substantial partisan divide, with Republicans and Democrats expressing high concern about violence against their own side — and relatively few saying they’re worried about violence against the other side.