Surprise: Americans ‘Highly Intolerant’ of Other People’s Political Views, New Poll Shows

Monica Sanchez | October 9, 2019
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A new Rasmussen poll released on Wednesday reveals what most of us regularly see in the news and daily life:

Most Americans are “highly intolerant” of each other’s political views.

According to the poll data, a whopping 70 percent of Americans feel their fellow citizens “are less tolerant of each other’s political opinions than they were in the past.”

“Only 11% say they are more tolerant of political differences, while 14% regard the level of political tolerance as about the same,” Rasmussen reports. “

Along party lines, the perception of intolerance worsens, with 72 percent of both Republicans and Democrats who say they believe Americans are less tolerant of the political opinions of others. Sixty-five percent (65%) of Independents agree.

Interestingly, "Democrats (34%) are more likely than Republicans (26%) and unaffiliated adults (26%) to say the upcoming election has caused a rift with a friend or family member."

While the political intolerance in general remains high, it reflects a slight drop from January 2017 following President Trump’s inauguration, when 77 percent of Americans said they felt their counterparts were less tolerant of each other's views and 40 percent said the election worsened relationships with friends or family.

“These findings are nearly identical to attitudes just before Election Day among voters in 2016 and among all Americans in 2012,” writes Rasmussen.

This comes as lawmakers clash over Democrats' impeachment efforts against President Donald Trump and the 2020 race heats up with yet another Democratic presidential primary debate looming in November. 

The new Rasmussen survey of 1,000 American adults was conducted Sept. 29-30 and has a margin sampling error of three percentage points.

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