'Political poison': Voter sentiment plummets as GOP say US headed in the wrong direction

An AP-NORC poll conducted shortly after the slaying of MAGA influencer Charlie Kirk shows that Republicans have a dismal outlook on the direction in which the country is headed.

The poll shows that only about half in the GOP see the nation on the right course, down from 70 percent in June. The shift is even more glaring among Republican women and Republicans 45 and under.

“I’ve spent a lot of time worrying about the worsening political discourse and, now, the disturbing assassinations,” Chris Bahr, a 42-year-old Texas Republican, told the AP.

Political violence and civil discord are cited as the reason for the 20-point plummet.

“If you’d have talked to me two weeks ago, I wouldn’t have brought it up as a main concern but more of a gnawing feeling,” Bahr said. “It’s something I’ve been thinking about. But now it’s violence, while before it was just this sense of animosity and division.”

Mustafa Robinson, a 42-year-old Pennsylvania Republican truck driver blames the bleak outlook on the rising cost of living.

“It’s like, you think you’re heading in the right direction with your career and your job, but everything around you is going up in price. It seems like you can’t catch a break,” he said.

In total, the poll says only one-quarter of Americans say things in the country are headed in the right direction, down from about 4 in 10 in June.

The poll also shows that three-quarters of Republican women say the country is going in the wrong direction, up from 27 percent in June.By comparison, 56 percent of Republican men say the country is going the wrong way, up from 30 percent in June.

Joclyn Yurchak, a 55 year-old Pennsylvania Republican says violence, crime and the overall combative climate are problematic.

“It’s all the violence, not just political. There’s just so much crime in the country. It’s disgusting,” she said. “Nobody has respect for anybody anymore. It’s sad."

The drop in Republicans who see the country headed in the right direction is bigger than the decline between October 2020 and December 2020, after Trump lost to President Joe Biden, the poll says.

“It’s more similar in scope to the decline that occurred in the first two months of the COVID pandemic,” explains the AP.

Minnesota Republican Jeremy Gieske, 47, said it’s the “political poison” affecting him most.

“We have villainized others, like we’re on the brink of social collapse," Gieske said. "Is Kirk the straw that breaks the camel’s back or sets off a powder keg? It’s on everyone’s mind.”