Assassination culture rises among US women significantly, new study finds

“Assassination culture,” or public tolerance for politically motivated violence, is on the rise in the United States after a year of alarming bloodshed, according to a new national study — especially among women.

The researchers also said they found that excessive social media use and growing pessimism about the country’s future may be eroding basic civility.

“I thought we would see a group of unemployed men who would support this,” said Joel Finkelstein, director of the Network Contagion Research Institute, which studies emerging threats to national security, civics and American youth online.

The National Council of Resistance of Iran has studied the issue The culture of assassination Since before the assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, who shared a previous report by the group warning of the phenomenon months before his death, in the wake of two failed attacks on President Donald Trump.

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Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, tips hats to the crowd on May 1, 2025, at UC San Diego’s Town Square. (Michael Ho Wai Li/SOPA Images/LightRocket)

“As a survivor of two assassination attempts — and most recently watching his dear friend Charlie assassinated — no one understands the dangers of political violence more than President Trump,” White House Press Secretary Abigail Jackson told Fox News Digital. That’s why, after Charlie’s assassination, President Trump made strong, unified statements urging all Americans to “commit to the American values ​​for which Charlie Kirk lived and died.” Values ​​of freedom of expression, citizenship, rule of law, patriotic devotion and love of God.”

The message appears to have failed to resonate with a worrying part of the country. Finkelstein said the research found three surprising things in common with people who are most likely to condone political violence.

“I thought we were looking for unemployed men and young men, and that’s not what we’re seeing,” Finkelstein told Fox News Digital.

They spend a lot of time on social media. They believe that the United States is an “empire in decline.” They are likely to be female.

Bill Maher explores the relationship between internet memes and recent political violence

Pennsylvania Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro, left, and his family survived an arson attack on the governor’s residence last year. Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, right, was shot and killed at Utah Valley University in an alleged politically motivated assassination during a public event. (Reuters/Rachel Wisniewski, Trent Nelson/Salt Lake Tribune/Getty Images)

“We see these hideous pictures of Luigi Mangione “It’s been packaged into a kind of sex symbol. And I think we’re probably seeing some downstream effects of that on people who use social media a lot, on females,” Finkelstein said.

He later added: “He’s like Che Guevara.”

Mangione is accused of assassination UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in December 2024. He has pleaded not guilty and has not yet gone to trial.

Luigi Mangione appears in Manhattan Supreme Court during a hearing in the murder case of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York, New York on December 8, 2025. (Sarah Yenisel/Pool via Reuters)

Thompson’s murder came after two failed attempts on the president’s life Donald Trump. Months later, Kirk was fatally shot while giving a speech in Utah.

Erica Kirk has a strong rebuke to those who celebrate her husband’s assassination

While the study found that support for violence was higher among women, the suspect in each of these cases was male.

“In general, violence has decreased… especially homicides,” Finkelstein said. “Their numbers have decreased, but what is really interesting is that political violence has increased.”

In numbers:

The researchers asked more than 1,000 participants across the country on a scale of zero to six about two prominent political figures, Trump and the mayor of New York City. Zahran Mamdani.

The study examined tolerance for violence, not the intention to commit it.

Zahran Mamdani, then-mayor-elect of New York, and President Donald Trump during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Friday, November 21, 2025. (Yuri Grebas/Abaca/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

For questions about the justification of political violence, a score of zero meant that the participant considered political violence to be completely unjustified. Anything above zero means that the respondent believes there is at least some justification. A score of six means that the respondent believes political violence is “completely justified.”

According to the National Council of Resistance of Iran, 67% of center-left respondents saw the killing as justified, compared to 54% of the right. A year ago, the centre-left’s approval rating was 56%. Women in general were more likely to support assassination culture, at 15%, 14.8% for Trump, and 21.2% for Mamdani.

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While support for assassination culture is on the rise on both sides of the political spectrum and across both genders, the study found it is particularly pronounced on the left, and among women of any ideology.

UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in an undated photo provided by UnitedHealth. The CEO was shot from behind and killed on his way to an investor conference in New York City in what prosecutors described as a politically motivated assassination. (AP Photo/UnitedHealth Group via AP)

“It’s still more pronounced on the left in our data,” Finkelstein told Fox News Digital. “That’s really obvious, but it’s growing on the right.”

Older participants across the board were less likely to condone political assassinations. The group least likely to agree is conservative males. Liberals, about 75 percent, are more likely to be women, Finkelstein said.

In response to the poll results, the White House called for an end to violent rhetoric, especially regarding how the far left talks about conservatives.

“President Trump and the entire administration will not hesitate to tell the truth — for years, far-leftists have vilified their political opponents as Nazis and fascists, inspiring left-wing violence,” Jackson said. “It must end.”

Mamdani’s office did not respond to a request for comment on the study.

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Finkelstein said that those who expressed tolerance for violence against their political opponents were more likely to accept political violence against their side.

“It is a spiritual crisis of faith in democracy,” Finkelstein said.

He warned that culturally, young people may spend too much time on social media, leading to dangerous consequences.

He added: “I think the results taken together indicate that this is a moral matter, and this is a spiritual crisis – not a partisan one.” “And we need to deal with it this way. That means we need people to come together to talk about the cracks that are appearing in our national family.”