A new poll reveals that American women are more inclined than men to view political assassinations as justifiable amid rising political violence. Conducted by the Network Contagion Research Institute, the survey highlights surprising gender differences in attitudes toward violence against figures like Donald Trump and Zohran Mamdani. The findings come as the United States grapples with recent high-profile incidents, including the killings of Charlie Kirk and UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
The Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI) polled a nationally representative sample of American adults using CloudResearch Prime Panels to gauge views on political violence. Respondents rated, on a seven-point scale, the justification for killing Zohran Mamdani and Donald Trump. Results indicated that 54.7% of women expressed some justification for assassinating Mamdani, compared to 45.2% of men. For Trump, 57.1% of women saw it as somewhat justified, versus 50.1% of men. Women across political spectrums were 14% to 20% more likely than men to endorse such views.
NCRI co-founder Joel Finkelstein described the gender disparity as shocking. "We dug into the data because this felt like it was describing a deeper moral crisis," he told The Daily Wire. "What surprised us, honestly shocked us, was that women were more likely to show tolerance for political violence." Despite women accounting for only 13% of murders in the US over the past five years, the poll uncovered this attitudinal gap.
The survey, timed after recent violence including an attempt on Trump's life, showed broader trends. Among left-of-center respondents, 67% justified killing Trump, up from 56% in an April 2025 poll that also found 50.2% support for assassinating Elon Musk. For Mamdani, 54% of right-of-center and 53.9% of centrists expressed justification, alongside 40.4% of left-of-center participants.
A belief in America's decline linked strongly to these views: 70.3% of those justifying Trump's assassination and 59.8% for Mamdani's shared this outlook. Heavy social media users showed elevated support—left-leaning ones 50% higher for Trump, right-leaning 59% higher for Mamdani. Evolutionary biologist Colin Wright, an NCRI contributor, noted, "Today’s social media platforms reward outrage, absolutism, and symbolic aggression while flattening moral complexity."
Age patterns emerged too: 82% of left-leaning 18- to 29-year-olds and 73% of right-leaning 30- to 44-year-olds indicated some justification. Finkelstein linked women's attitudes to growing polarization and online engagement over the past decade.
