Republicans May Not Be As Close To Their Democrat Friends As They Think, Poll Suggests

Republicans are more likely to be friendly with members of the opposite political party than Democrats are, according to an NBC News survey released Friday morning.

The newly released poll found that over 8 in ten Republicans, or 82%, said they are “close” friends with at least one Democrat. Meanwhile, 64% of Democrats said they have at least one “close friend” who is a member of the opposite party, the survey found.

NBC News’ survey showed that 87% of respondents who said they were “moderate” Republicans responded that they have a close Democratic friend, while 79% of self-identified “conservative” Republican voters said the same. Moreover, 78% of “moderate” Democrats said they have a close GOP friend, compared with just 57% of “liberal” Democrats, according to the poll.

Of voters who were identified as “core” Republican supporters, 77% said they have a close friend who is a Democrat, while 90% of “soft” GOP voters said the same, according to the survey. Moreover, 57% of “core” Democratic voters said they have a close pal in the opposite party, while 73% of “soft” Democrats responded the same way, the poll found.

A Pew Research Center survey published on July 23 found that 46% of Americans identify with or lean toward the GOP, while 45% are affiliated with or lean Democrat. Men are now 12 percentage points more likely than women to be affiliated with the Republican Party, and women were 12 points more likely than men to be involved with the Democratic Party, according to the same survey.

There have notably been several instances of political violence in the U.S. this year, including the Sept. 10 assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, as well as Democratic Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband being assassinated in June. The Department of Homeland Security reported in September that there has been a 1000% rise in assaults against Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

Additionally, a Gallup poll released in October found that the vast majority of U.S. adults, 62%, said they believe there should be a third political party in the U.S. while 30% responded that the GOP and the Democratic Party already “do an adequate job of representing” Americans.

The NBC News poll surveyed 1,000 registered U.S. voters from Oct. 24 to 28 using a mix of telephone interviews and an online survey sent via text message. The poll’s margin of error is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.