While in the days following the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, Americans called for unity and to put aside political differences, a new poll has found that the sentiment may already be waning.
According to an AP-NORC poll, 66% of U.S. adults say they are very (32%) or somewhat (34%) pessimistic about the current state of politics in the country.
Additionally, the poll found that 16% were very (3%) or somewhat (13%) optimistic about the nation’s politics. Another 18% reported being neither pessimistic nor optimistic.
Those who reported having pessimistic views about the state of politics are still down 2% from when the same poll was run late last year but up from when it was run in early 2023.
Optimism about the country’s political climate is on the rise, being up 6% from the most recent survey and up 10% from results pollsters received in late 2023.
The survey from the AP-NORC was conducted July 25-29, days after President Joe Biden announced that he would not seek reelection and instead endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, who is now the presumptive Democratic nominee.
The survey included responses from 1,143 adults. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.1 percentage points.