Women are more likely than men to believe political assassination can be justified as “assassination culture” rises, according to polling exclusively obtained by The Daily Wire.
Women on both the Left and the Right were 14% to 20% more likely than men to believe the political assassination of high-profile figures could be justified, the <a href="https://networkcontagion.us/wp-content/uploads/Assassination-Culture_-How-Shifting-Gender-Patterns-Signal-a-New-National-Instabilitypdf.pdf">Network Contagion Research Institute</a> (NCRI) found. The poll comes amid a spike in political violence marked by the assassinations of Charlie Kirk and UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, as well as the attempt on President Donald Trump&#8217;s life.
What is most surprising about the findings, according to NCRI&#8217;s co-founder Joel Finkelstein, is that those who justified political assassinations were not part of traditional high-risk groups, but people of all persuasions and demographics.
“We dug into the data because this felt like it was describing a deeper moral crisis,” Finkelstein told The Daily Wire. “We assumed young men would be driving this, given unemployment, disengagement, and declining graduation rates. That’s why we explicitly examined gender. What surprised us, honestly shocked us, was that women were more likely to show tolerance for political violence.”
To conduct the poll, NCRI used CloudResearch Prime Panels, from a nationally representative sample of American adults concerning political attitudes, public figures, and views on the future of the United States. Respondents were asked to rate, on a seven-point scale, “How unjustified or justified would someone be if they killed Zohran Mamdani?” and “How unjustified or justified would someone be if they killed Donald Trump?”
Although women commit far fewer murders in the United States — accounting for roughly 13% of all killings over the <a href="https://www.fbi.gov/news/press-releases/fbi-releases-2024-reported-crimes-in-the-nation-statistics#:~:text=The%20FBI%20released%20detailed%20data,by%20participating%20law%20enforcement%20agencies.">past five years </a>— the poll found they were more likely than men to say a political assassination could be justified. Specifically, 54.7% of women compared with 45.2% of men expressed some justification for Mamdani, while 57.1% of women expressed some justification for Trump, compared to 50.1% of men.
<div id="attachment_1029717" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1029717" class="size-large wp-image-1029717" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/Screenshot-2026-01-19-at-10.54.17-AM-1024x571.png" alt="" width="1024" height="571" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/Screenshot-2026-01-19-at-10.54.17-AM-1024x571.png 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/Screenshot-2026-01-19-at-10.54.17-AM-300x167.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/Screenshot-2026-01-19-at-10.54.17-AM-768x428.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/Screenshot-2026-01-19-at-10.54.17-AM.png 1396w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />(NCRI)</div>
Looking at the results for women alongside broader social trends, Finkelstein offered a hypothesis for the pattern.
“Over the past decade, women, especially younger women have become more politically polarized, more emotionally moralized, and more immersed in online political identity formation,” he said. “That shift predates our study. What we’re seeing now may be the downstream effect of those longer-term changes.”
NCRI ran a similar poll in April 2025 that specifically tracked “assassination culture” among left-leaning respondents. The survey found that 56% of participants left of center said the assassination of Trump to be justified, while 50.2% said the assassination of Elon Musk would be justified. 
The results made waves in the media and were publicly <a href="https://x.com/charliekirk11/status/1909391943802703899">shared by</a> Charlie Kirk just five months before he himself became the target of a politically motivated assassination.
In the most recent poll, assassination culture was measured by asking respondents if they believed the political murder of two high-profile figures — Trump and Mamdani — could be justified. 
Among left-of-center respondents, belief that politically motivated assassination is justified rose to 67 %, while 58.1 % of centrists and 42.5 % of right-of-center respondents indicated at least some level of justification for killing Trump. Support for the assassination of Mamdani was also high, with 54 % of right-of-center respondents and 53.9 % of centrists expressing similar views along with 40.4% of left of center.
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-1029723 aligncenter" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/Untitled-design-1024x363.png" alt="" width="1024" height="363" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/Untitled-design-1024x363.png 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/Untitled-design-300x106.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/Untitled-design-768x272.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/Untitled-design.png 1195w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></div>
NCRI said the timing of the poll captured heightened exposure to real-world violence, which they say may help explain shifts in attitudes toward its acceptability. 
While respondents differed in political ideology, the poll found a common thread among those who justified political assassination: a strong belief that America is in decline. Among respondents who said assassinating Trump could be justified, 70.3 % also believed the country is in decline, while 59.8 % of those who justified the assassination of Mamdani reported the same.
Social media use was linked to support for political assassination. Left-of-center respondents who used social media the most scored 50% higher on a measure of justification for murdering Trump than those who used it the least. On the right, the most active social media users scored 59 % higher on justification for murdering Mamdani compared with the least active users.
Experts suggest that online platforms may amplify extreme rhetoric and normalize aggressive behavior. 
“Today’s social media platforms reward outrage, absolutism, and symbolic aggression while flattening moral complexity,” Colin Wright, an evolutionary biologist and contributor to NCRI told the Daily Wire. “In these spaces, punishment is not just normalized but aestheticized. Violence is reframed as meaningful, expressive, or even admirable, which lowers the psychological barriers that usually keep it in check.”
Age differences were also notable among respondents who justified political assassination. On the left, support was highest among younger adults, with 82 % of 18- to 29-year-olds indicating some level of justification. On the right, the highest support appeared among those aged 30 to 44, with 73% expressing justification.

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Women Are More Likely To Support Political Assassinations, Poll Shows