A new poll by the far-left Southern Poverty Law Center found that nearly half of young Democrat men support assassinating political figures they consider dangerous to the country or democracy.
The finding was buried in the cross tabs of a poll that claimed the “hard right” favors so-called replacement theory. The poll of 1,500 adult Americans was conducted by the center and Tulchin Research to “examine the extent to which the extremist beliefs and narratives that mobilize the hard right have been absorbed by the wider American public.”
“We found that the ideas underpinning the white nationalist ‘great replacement’ narrative recently cited by an alleged white supremacist terrorist in Buffalo, New York, have become thoroughly mainstream on the political right,” the SPLC said of its findings.
Southern Poverty Law Center says 44% of “young Democratic men” are open to the idea of assassinating political leaders. pic.twitter.com/nayDmXzfxI
— J Michael Waller (@JMichaelWaller) June 9, 2022
But as Democrats and several media outlets did in the wake of the May 14 shooting that left 10 dead and three injured, the SPLC conflated “replacement theory,” an anti-Semitic trope that claims Jews are out to change America’s demographics for malevolent purposes, with the belief many conservative share that Democrats’ immigration agenda involves bringing in people they believe are predisposed to voting Democrat.
Perhaps more damning is the finding that 44% of “younger Democratic Men” approve of “assassinating a politician who is harming the country or our democracy.” The number was 34% for their Republican counterparts.
The poll was taken in late April and released earlier this month.
The findings are particularly disturbing given that a man fitting the poll’s description was arrested Wednesday morning outside Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s home with a gun, a knife, zip ties, and tactical gear. He allegedly told authorities he intended to kill the jurist.
The suspect, Nicholas John Roske, age 26, of Simi Valley, California, allegedly wanted to assassinate Kavanaugh because of the justice’s perceived pro-gun and anti-abortion positions. Roske was charged with attempted murder of a Supreme Court Justice.
The SPLC, founded in 1971 as a legal advocacy organization, is famous for condemning conservative organizations as “hate groups,” including the Alliance Defending Freedom and the American College of Pediatricians. It reportedly has nearly $500 million in assets.
“It is now clear that the SPLC has proven to be a hate-filled, anti-Christian, anti-conservative organization and nothing more than a weapon of the radical Left, whose goal is to bully people into compliance with their ideology,” a group of 25 faith-based groups and leaders stated in a 2019 letter to corporate donors. “Fail to comply with their demands, and you will be labeled as a hate group or an extremist.”
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