Nearly three-quarters of Americans think that the assassination of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk will have an impact on national politics, a new Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics survey found.
According to the survey, conducted by Morning Consult from Sept. 10-15, 48% of adults believe Kirk’s shooting and death will have a major impact on national politics. Another 25% believe his death will have a minor impact.
Just 10% of respondents say it will have no impact on politics at the national level and 17% say they aren’t sure.
The poll also showed Americans are very worried about rising political violence, civil unrest, polarization, and other signs of fraying societal trust.
In the days since Kirk was shot and killed at an outdoor public event at Utah Valley University, there has been an outpouring of concern and sympathy for the conservative activist.
Kirk, 31, was the founder of Turning Point USA, one of the largest organizations for conservative youth in the country. He was a staunch supporter of President Donald Trump and is credited with helping turn out younger voters in the recent election.
After the shooting, Trump ordered flags to be flown at half mast in Kirk’s honor and said he was going to posthumously award him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the country. Vice President JD Vance flew to Utah to bring Kirk’s body back to Arizona aboard Air Force Two, and other conservatives have made efforts to honor Kirk’s life and legacy in the days since his death.
Kirk’s death has been marked by calls to end political violence in the United States, but it has also increased politically divisive rhetoric. Conservative activists have brought attention to people who celebrated Kirk’s assassination, as Attorney General Pam Bondi on Monday said her department would be examining those who engaged in “hate speech” in relation to his death.
The story has dominated the national, and even international, news cycle for multiple days. The suspect, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, was officially charged Tuesday by the Utah County Attorney’s office on seven counts, including aggravated murder, obstruction of justice, witness tampering and more.
In the news
According to the survey, 30% of Americans said they were following the news coverage of Kirk’s murder very closely and 36% said they were following it somewhat closely.
One-fifth of respondents said they were not following the news of his death too closely. And 9% said they weren’t keeping track of it at all while 5% said they had not heard of it until they were asked for the survey.
Conservative leaning people and those who identify as Republicans were more likely to say they were following the news closely than Democrats or independents.
While Kirk made a name for himself speaking on college campuses and connecting with younger voters, the survey found that those ages 65 or older were more likely to be following the news surrounding his death than people in other age brackets.
One-third, 33%, of respondents said they were not at all familiar with who Kirk was before the shooting and 19% said they had heard his name before, but were not familiar with his work. However, almost half of all respondents had some level of familiarity with the commentator, who was popular on social media channels and in conservative circles.
According to the survey, more male respondents were familiar with Kirk and his work than female respondents.
Almost half, 47%, said they were very shocked to learn about Kirk’s death and 22% said they were somewhat shocked. About 18% of respondents said they were not very shocked or not shocked at all to learn about the shooting while 12% said they had no opinion.
Reaction approval
On the national level, Americans were fairly split over how they believe Trump has responded to Kirk’s shooting.
The survey found that 28% strongly approve of Trump’s response and 14% somewhat approve, but the president’s reaction wasn’t overwhelmingly positive. One-fifth of respondents say they don’t know or don’t have an opinion about Trump’s reaction, 9% say they somewhat disapprove and 29% say they strongly disapprove of the president’s response.
Gov. Spencer Cox was thrust into the spotlight after the shooting, quickly mobilizing state law enforcement during the search for a suspect and teaming up with the FBI on the federal level to facilitate the investigation.
He consistently delivered a message of turning down the volume on politics and urging Americans to debate and interact with civility, while highlighting much of Kirk’s legacy and work.
Among those who heard Cox’s reaction, a plurality said they approved — with 41% saying they strongly approve or somewhat approve of the governor’s response, while 17% said they somewhat or strongly disapproved. Four out of 10 Americans said they don’t know or don’t have an opinion about Cox’s response.
National trends vs. Utah results
The same survey questions were asked of Americans and Utah residents, where the shooting occurred and the suspect is from. It found that Utahns felt more impacted by the shooting and death than public at large.
While 66% of Americans in a national survey say they were either somewhat or very closely following the news about the shooting, 82% of Utahns say they were tracking the story.
Utahns were more aware of who Kirk was before the shooting happened, and more shocked that he was killed through political violence in their state.
The survey found that while 47% of national respondents say they were very shocked to learn of Kirk’s death, 64% of Utah respondents said the same.
Utahns were also more likely than national respondents to say they believe the assassination will have an impact on national politics. On the national level, 48% of people say the shooting will have a major impact on national politics and 25% believe it will have a minor impact. In Utah, 50% say it will have a major impact and 31% say it will have a minor impact.
While the incident occurring on a campus in Utah could fuel some of that belief, it also could be furthered by the Utah congressional delegation’s commitment to Kirk’s legacy. Sen. Mike Lee and Rep. Mike Kennedy filed a resolution last week condemning Kirk’s death.
The resolution passed the Senate unanimously on Tuesday evening.
Utahns largely felt similarly about Trump’s response to the shooting as the general public did, but more strongly approved of Cox’s response and coordination in the days since the incident.
Among Utahns, 59% said they strongly or somewhat approve of Cox’s response, compared to 21% who somewhat or strongly disapprove.
The Utah survey was conducted Sept. 10-15 among 502 Utah adults and has a margin of error of +/- 4 percentage points. The national survey was conducted Sept. 10-15 among 2,239 adults and has a margin of error of +/- 2 percentage points. Both Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics surveys were conducted by Morning Consult.