Majorities in both parties say democracy in danger of collapse: poll

Majorities of Democratic and Republican respondents in a new poll said that they think U.S. democracy is in danger of collapse.

The Quinnipiac University poll found that 67 percent of all of those surveyed said democracy is in danger, up 9 points from January. 

Seventy-two percent of registered Democratic voters and 70 percent of Republicans expressed fears about the future of U.S. democracy, as did 69 percent of independents. 

The fears are higher among women, at just over three-quarters, than among men, at 58 percent — and higher by 1 point among white adults than among Black adults, 70 percent to 69 percent.

The results follow polling showing concern about the nation’s democracy, including a recent survey in which threats to democracy ranked as the top concern for a plurality of voters. 

President Biden is expected to give a prime-time political address Thursday evening to argue against the “extremist threat to our democracy” he blames on former President Trump and his “Make America Great Again” movement.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Wednesday said Biden is giving the speech “because he thinks our democracy is at risk.”

Biden has long pushed against the positions of the former president and his base, but has been ramping up his own rhetoric ahead of this year’s midterms.

At a Democratic National Committee event in Maryland last week, Biden told a crowd that “Trump and the extreme MAGA Republicans have made their choice — to go backwards full of anger, violence, hate, and division.”

“Now you need to vote to literally save democracy again,” he said.

The Quinnipiac University poll of 1,584 U.S. adults, conducted Aug. 25-29, has a margin of error of 2.6 percentage points.