Democrats are much more likely than Republicans to blame former President Donald Trump for the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, according to a poll released Sunday.
The ABC/Ipsos poll found that 58% of U.S. adults surveyed believe Mr. Trump bears a “great deal” or a “good amount” of responsibility for the siege, while 41% said he holds “just some” or no responsibility.
The partisan split was dramatic: A whopping 91% of Democrats responded that Mr. Trump was a “great deal” or “a good amount” to blame, while 78% of Republicans said he bore “just some” or none of the responsibility.
The results, coming nearly a year after the attack, were virtually unchanged from the findings of the poll’s Jan. 13 survey, which showed that 57% saw Mr. Trump as responsible.
Also holding steady were the views on the legitimacy of President Biden’s election. The poll found 65% view the 2020 presidential results as legitimate versus 33% who believe the election was not legitimate. The January 2021 split was 68% to 32%.
The latest poll also found that 72% believe the riot’s participants were “threatening democracy,” while 1 in 4 responded that the mob was “protecting democracy.”
“Broken down by party identification, Democrats are nearly unanimous (96%) in believing that those involved in the attacks were threatening democracy,” said the ABC analysis. “Republicans are more split, with 45% saying it was a threat and 52% saying those involved in the riot were ‘protecting democracy.’”
The survey comes with Mr. Trump sparring with the House select committee investigating the attack, which saw rioters descend on the Capitol as Congress moved to certify the 2020 presidential election results, forcing Vice President Mike Pence and lawmakers to flee.
The ABC/Ipsos poll of 982 U.S. adults was conducted Dec. 27-29, with a partisan division of 29-25-36% for Democrats-Republicans-independents.
BREAKING: Nearly a year after the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, a strong majority of Americans condemn it and believe former Pres. Trump is at least partially to blame, new @ABC News/Ipsos poll finds. https://t.co/09o4qGxtRC
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) January 2, 2022
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• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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