Americans are overall pessimistic on reducing intense political conflict; half of those polled say heated language by leaders makes violence more likely
Also:
- 58% say it is always unacceptable to be happy about the death of someone they oppose; 89% say political violence is always unjustified
- Majorities of all partisan groups view tariffs as a bargaining chip for Trump, not policies he intends to enforce
- Approval of Trump’s job performance continues to slowly decline, with 43% approval now
- Majorities think that Trump policies increase inflation and that inflation will increase in the next year
Please note: Complete Poll results and methodology information can be found online at law.marquette.edu/poll
MILWAUKEE – A new Marquette Law School Poll national survey conducted following the shooting death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk on Sept. 10, 2025, finds that 38% of Americans think the threat of violence against political leaders is a very big problem, with an additional 38% who say it is a moderately big problem. It is seen as a small problem by 19% and not a problem at all by just 4%.
Half of Republicans say the threat of violence is a very big problem, while 27% of independents and 30% of Democrats see it as a very big problem.
Asked which is a bigger problem, 27% of respondents say left-wing violence while 22% say right-wing violence. Just over half, 51%, say both are equally a problem. Perception of this is dramatically different for each party. Among Republicans, 57% say left-wing violence is the bigger problem and just 3% say right-wing violence is more of a problem. Democrats see a near mirror image, with 50% who see right-wing violence as the bigger problem and only 4% who say left-wing violence is the greater problem. Independents see equal blame for both sides, with 87% saying left and right are equally a problem, 4% saying the left is more of the problem, and 9% saying the right is the bigger problem.
The survey was conducted Sept. 15-24, 2025, interviewing 1,043 adults nationwide, with a margin of error of +/-3.3 percentage points.
Just under half, 49%, say elected officials using heated or aggressive language to talk about political opponents makes political violence much more likely. Thirty-seven percent say this makes violence somewhat more likely, and 14% say such rhetoric does not make political violence at all more likely. While Republicans view the threat of political violence as a bigger problem than do Democrats, perceptions between the parties are reversed on the question of aggressive political language and violence. Among Republicans, 39% say aggressive political speech makes violence much more likely, while 63% of Democrats say such speech makes political violence much more likely. Among independents, 40% say aggressive language makes violence much more likely.
Americans are pessimistic about finding a way to reduce intense political conflict and violence, with 31% saying a path to reduction can be found and 69% saying the country is so divided that intense political conflict and violence are going to escalate. A majority of each party and of independents see escalating conflict as likely, with 63% of Republicans, 72% of independents, and 73% of Democrats saying violence is going to escalate.
A majority of Americans, 58%, say it is always unacceptable for a person to be happy about the death of a public figure they oppose, with 29% saying this is usually unacceptable, 9% saying it is usually acceptable, and 4% saying it is always acceptable. Seventy-eight percent of Republicans say such happiness is always unacceptable, 49% of independents say it is always unacceptable, and 41% of Democrats say it is always unacceptable. The number of those likely to say pleasure over the death of a political opponent is always unacceptable rises with age, with people under 30 years old least likely to say pleasure over the death of a political opponent is always unacceptable, at 45%. The figure rises to 51% among those 30-44, 61% among those 45-59, and 69% for those 60 or older.
Political ideology shows a strong gradient in the acceptability of feeling happy over the death of a political opponent. Among those who describe themselves as very liberal, 26% say such happiness is always unacceptable, as do 40% who say they are somewhat liberal. Among self-described moderates, 56% say this is always unacceptable. Of those who say they are somewhat conservative, 71% say this is always unacceptable, as do 80% of those who are very conservative.
A very large majority, 89%, say violence is never justified in order to achieve political goals, and 11% say violence can sometimes be justified. A majority of each partisan group, age group, and ideological group also say violence is never justified. The minority view, that violence can sometimes be justified, is larger among Democrats (15%) than among Republicans (6%); among those under 30 years old (14%) than among those 60 or older (5%); and among those who describe themselves as very liberal (25%) than among those who say they are very conservative (10%).
Respondents were asked how much they knew about Charlie Kirk before his shooting death. Twenty-three percent say they knew a lot about him, while 44% report having known a little and 33% saying they knew nothing at all about him. Kirk was better known among Republicans, 33% of whom say they knew a lot, than among independents (11%) and Democrats (18%). Kirk’s efforts to persuade and mobilize young voters are reflected in the finding that 30% of those 18-30 years old say they knew a lot about him, compared to 23% among those 30-44 and 20% for those 45-59. Among those 60 years old or older, 22% say they knew a lot about Kirk prior to his death. Kirk was especially well known among those who describe themselves as very conservative, 45% of whom said they knew a lot about him. He was also relatively well known among those self-described as very liberal, 32%, while only 12% of moderates said they knew a lot about him before his death.
A majority of respondents, 53%, approve of the way President Donald Trump has responded to the shooting death of Kirk, while 47% disapprove. Views of Trump’s response differ sharply by party, with 89% of Republicans approving, compared to 39% of independents and 18% of Democrats.
Presidential approval
Approval of Trump’s overall job performance in September stands at 43%, with disapproval at 57%. This continues a series of small declines since Trump took office in January, when 48% approved and 52% disapproved. The full trend is shown in Table 1. (All results in the tables are stated as percentages.)
Table 1: Trump approval
Among adults
| Poll dates | Approval | ||
| Net | Approve | Disapprove | |
| 9/15-24/25 | -14 | 43 | 57 |
| 7/7-16/25 | -10 | 45 | 55 |
| 5/5-15/25 | -8 | 46 | 54 |
| 3/17-27/25 | -8 | 46 | 54 |
| 1/27-2/6/25 | -4 | 48 | 52 |
| Marquette Law School Poll, national surveys, latest: Sept. 15-24, 2025 | |||
| Question: Overall, how much do you approve or disapprove of the way Donald Trump is handling his job as president? | |||
Approval remains strong among Republicans at 81%, although this is a decline of 8 percentage points since January, and shows almost 1-in-5 Republicans now disapprove. Among independents, 27% approve, a decline of 10 percentage points since January. Democratic approval is 8%, 1 point lower than in January. The full trend by party is shown in Table 2.
Table 2: Trump approval, by party ID
Among adults
| Poll dates | Approval | ||
| Net | Approve | Disapprove | |
| Republican | |||
| 9/15-24/25 | 62 | 81 | 19 |
| 7/7-16/25 | 72 | 86 | 14 |
| 5/5-15/25 | 74 | 87 | 13 |
| 3/17-27/25 | 74 | 87 | 13 |
| 1/27-2/6/25 | 78 | 89 | 11 |
| Independent | |||
| 9/15-24/25 | -46 | 27 | 73 |
| 7/7-16/25 | -24 | 38 | 62 |
| 5/5-15/25 | -38 | 31 | 69 |
| 3/17-27/25 | -35 | 32 | 67 |
| 1/27-2/6/25 | -26 | 37 | 63 |
| Democrat | |||
| 9/15-24/25 | -84 | 8 | 92 |
| 7/7-16/25 | -86 | 7 | 93 |
| 5/5-15/25 | -84 | 8 | 92 |
| 3/17-27/25 | -80 | 10 | 90 |
| 1/27-2/6/25 | -82 | 9 | 91 |
| Marquette Law School Poll, national survey, Sept. 15-24, 2025 | |||
| Question: Overall, how much do you approve or disapprove of the way Donald Trump is handling his job as president? | |||
Approval of Trump varies substantially across individual issues, with his highest approval of 55% for handling border security, followed by his response to the Kirk shooting at 53%. And net approval is negative on all other issues, with Trump’s lowest approval rating being 28% for handling information about Jeffrey Epstein, one percentage point below the 29% approval for dealing with inflation and the cost of living. In between these extremes, net approval of Trump’s job performance is negative on each issue, meaning that more disapprove than approve of his handling of immigration, sending National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., his job performance overall, the economy, tariffs, the Israel-Hamas war, and the Russia-Ukraine war (to maintain the order of his best-to-worst scores on those items surveyed). Across all issues, net approval ranges from +10 (border security) to -44 (Epstein) percentage points, as shown in Table 3.
Table 3: Trump job approval across issues
Among adults
| Issue | Net | Approve | Disapprove |
| Border security | 10 | 55 | 45 |
| Response to Kirk shooting | 6 | 53 | 47 |
| Immigration | -8 | 46 | 54 |
| Sending National Guard to D.C. | -10 | 45 | 55 |
| Overall | -14 | 43 | 57 |
| The economy | -20 | 40 | 60 |
| Tariffs | -24 | 38 | 62 |
| Israel-Hamas war | -32 | 34 | 66 |
| Russia-Ukraine war | -34 | 33 | 67 |
| Inflation/cost of living | -42 | 29 | 71 |
| Information about Jeffrey Epstein | -44 | 28 | 72 |
| Marquette Law School Poll, national survey, Sept. 15-24, 2025 | |||
| Question: Overall, how much do you approve or disapprove of the way Donald Trump is handling his job as president? | |||
| Question: Overall, how much do you approve or disapprove of the way Donald Trump is handling each of the following issues? | |||
The variation in approval across issues is substantially driven by variation in approval among Republicans and independents, with less variation from Democrats. Among all adults, approval ranges from 55% to 28%. Among Republicans the range is from 89% to 46%, a spread of 43 percentage points. Independents vary less, from 46% to 14%, a variation of 32 percentage points. For Democrats, the range is smaller still, from 23% to 5%, a difference of 18 percentage points. A majority of Republicans approve of Trump’s handling of all issues except information about Jeffrey Epstein, while Trump fails to win majority approval on any issue among independents, and he holds less than 25% support on all issues among Democrats.
Table 4 shows approval on each issue by party identification, as well as approval by all adults for comparison. The table is presented in order of approval among all adults.
Table 4: Trump job approval across issues, by party identification
Among adults
| Issue | All adults approve | Rep approve | Ind approve | Dem approve |
| Border security | 55 | 88 | 46 | 23 |
| Response to Kirk shooting | 53 | 89 | 39 | 18 |
| Immigration | 46 | 82 | 31 | 12 |
| Sending National Guard to D.C. | 45 | 80 | 34 | 12 |
| Overall | 43 | 81 | 27 | 8 |
| The economy | 40 | 73 | 24 | 10 |
| Tariffs | 38 | 72 | 24 | 8 |
| Israel-Hamas war | 34 | 65 | 14 | 9 |
| Russia-Ukraine war | 33 | 61 | 20 | 8 |
| Inflation/cost of living | 29 | 57 | 14 | 5 |
| Information about Jeffrey Epstein | 28 | 46 | 26 | 9 |
| Marquette Law School Poll, national survey, Sept. 15-24, 2025 | ||||
| Question: Overall, how much do you approve or disapprove of the way Donald Trump is handling his job as president? | ||||
| Question: Overall, how much do you approve or disapprove of the way Donald Trump is handling each of the following issues? | ||||
Opinion of past presidents
The Marquette Law School Poll asked favorability ratings for each president from Ronald Reagan to Trump. Reagan has the most positive net favorability at +28 points, followed by George H. W. Bush and Barack Obama, each with net favorability of +17 points. Bill Clinton and George W. Bush also have positive net favorability, each at +8 points. The current president, Trump, has a net negative favorability of -15 points, while Joe Biden has the lowest net rating, -24 points. The two earliest presidents, Reagan and George H. W. Bush, both have relatively high percentages saying they haven’t heard enough about them to have an opinion, as do Clinton and George W. Bush to a lesser degree.
These ratings are shown in Table 5, arranged in order of net favorability.
Table 5: Favorability of past presidents
Among adults
| President | Net favorability | Favorable | Unfavorable | Haven’t heard enough |
| Ronald Reagan |
