America’s Slide Toward Violence and Third-World Chaos
A disturbing transformation is underway in American political discourse—one that threatens the very foundations of our democratic republic. According to a recent study by the Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI), we are witnessing the normalization of political violence at a scale previously unimaginable in modern American society.
The findings, highlighted in a recent article by Matt Margolis, are sobering: nearly half of left-leaning respondents surveyed believe that assassinating political and business figures like Donald Trump or Elon Musk would be morally justifiable. This isn’t isolated rhetoric; approximately 40% of the same respondents endorsed vandalizing Tesla dealerships as a legitimate protest. These statistics don’t merely represent fringe elements but indicate what NCRI researchers describe as a “coherent belief system” linking support for assassination with property destruction.
PJ Media: Bombshell Study Reveals How Many Leftists Support Killing Trump and Musk
A disturbing new report has uncovered a troubling trend: violent political rhetoric — including open calls for the assassination of public figures like President Donald Trump and Elon Musk — is rapidly becoming normalized on the left.
According to the Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI), more people are now not only rationalizing politically motivated violence but celebrating it as some twisted form of social justice. The shift is alarming, and the data shows that it’s been accelerating in recent months.
The Pattern of Escalation
What makes these findings particularly alarming is the acceleration of this mindset. Following the July 2024 assassination attempt on then-candidate Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, social media platforms—particularly those favored by left-leaning users—saw a surge in comments expressing disappointment that the shooter had failed. The NCRI study confirms what many observers noted anecdotally: this wasn’t just emotional venting but part of a growing ideological framework where violence is increasingly viewed as an acceptable political tool.
This pattern bears a striking resemblance to societal breakdowns witnessed in unstable nations, where political assassination, mob violence, and destruction of property become normalized when institutions fail and trust collapses. The United States still maintains functioning courts, elections, and civic institutions, but the foundation supporting these structures weakens when significant segments of the population begin viewing violence as a legitimate alternative to democratic processes.
Historical Context and Warning Signs
America has weathered political violence before. The assassination of Abraham Lincoln in 1865 nearly derailed Reconstruction. The 1960s saw the killings of John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., and Robert Kennedy during a period of profound social unrest. However, today’s environment differs in a crucial aspect: the systematic normalization of violence through digital echo chambers that accelerate radicalization.
Joel Finkelstein, who led the NCRI research, noted to Fox News Digital that this isn’t just scattered expressions of anger but represents a clustered belief system. The connection between supporting assassination and endorsing property destruction reveals an ideological framework where violence is viewed as justified against perceived enemies.
This ideological shift, where half of any political group views murder as acceptable, mirrors the erosion of social contracts seen in societies descending into chaos. The gradual breakdown of civic norms typically precedes more widespread instability, as history has repeatedly demonstrated from post-WWI Germany’s street violence to Latin American nations where political murders spiraled into broader disorder.
Root Causes and Urban Epicenters
The causes behind this normalization run deeper than immediate political frustrations. America has experienced a decades-long decline in institutional trust—Gallup polling from 2024 showed public confidence in government at a mere 16%—coupled with a media ecosystem that monetizes outrage and division. These factors create fertile ground for radicalization.
This deterioration manifests most visibly in urban centers, where declining public safety, compromised law enforcement, and growing lawlessness create what the article describes as “Somalia Outposts”—areas where violence gains traction and norms of civil society weaken. While the entire nation isn’t experiencing third-world conditions, these localized breakdowns serve as warning signs of potential broader decay.
The Stakes and Path Forward
The normalization of political violence threatens America’s fundamental character. A society where assassination becomes semi-acceptable risks transforming into one where power is seized rather than democratically transferred—the hallmark distinction between stable democracies and volatile, underdeveloped states.
America’s constitutional republic was designed specifically to channel political disagreements through ballots rather than bullets. This civilizational achievement—replacing violent power struggles with peaceful transitions—stands among humanity’s greatest governance innovations. Yet this achievement requires continual renewal of our commitment to nonviolence as the baseline for political engagement.
The NCRI study’s red flags demand urgent, bipartisan scrutiny. If violence sheds its stigma and digs deeper as a political weapon, America faces more than division—it risks the collapse of the civic order that sets it apart from shaky, third-world states.
The path forward requires recommitting to foundational principles: that political differences, however passionate, must be resolved through democratic institutions rather than violence; that public figures, regardless of their politics, deserve physical safety; and that the strength of American democracy lies in our collective rejection of violence as a means to political ends.
Without this recommitment, the current flirtation with political violence threatens to develop into a relationship our republic cannot survive.