COVID States Project explores public opinion on US Capitol attack one year later

Rutgers, Northeastern, Harvard and Northwestern recently participated in The COVID States Project, whose latest report observed the current public opinion on the Jan. 6, 2021, storming of the U.S. Capitol building one year later. 

The joint project surveyed 15,269 people across the country from Dec. 22, 2021, to Jan. 5, according to the report. The survey was conducted in order to study the rate of public support and opposition for the storming of the Capitol, opinions about the supposed involvement of Antifa, citizens’ emotional responses to the attack and its impact on the way people view the 2020 election.

Katherine Ognyanova, an associate professor of communication and lead author of the report, said the report found that there is still prevalent division among Americans regarding their opinions about the storming of the Capitol and the factors leading up to it. 

“Disagreement about Jan. 6 is part of a larger pattern of polarized partisan perceptions of American democracy,” she said. “It affects political participation, electoral choices and the way we think about others who disagree with us ideologically. Divisions in public opinion largely reflect the way political elites have shifted their positions about these events over time.”

Ognyanova said the report found that approximately 85 percent of Democrats strongly oppose the storming of the Capitol building, in comparison to 50 percent of Republicans. In addition, 71 percent of Democrats reported that they were very confident in the fairness of the 2020 election, in comparison to 10 percent of Republicans.

The report also found that opposition to the event dropped by eight percent among Independents, increasing partisan splits. Five percent of total respondents expressed support for the storming of the Capitol in comparison to 76 percent who opposed it.

Across political parties, 28 percent of Republicans, 23 percent of Independents and eight percent of Democrats reported that they neither support nor oppose the storming of the Capitol.

In regards to findings on the suspected involvement of Antifa in the event, Ognyanova said there has been a decrease in citizens’ belief that those who stormed the building were related to Antifa. She said this could be because no further evidence has emerged in the past year to prove this notion true.

Ognyanova said it was critical that the report be published since the storming of the Capitol event is still very relevant to the country today.

“The storming of the Capitol building is an important and polarizing event, linked to citizen belief in American democracy and the fairness of our election process,” she said. “One year later, the events of that day are still under investigation by a select committee in Congress.”

Ognyanova also said that overall, the findings of the study demonstrate that the differences in opinions presented by citizens regarding similar events will have the ability to influence the future of American politics going forward.

“The key takeaway here is perhaps that as a country, we continue to be deeply divided in our opinion about American democracy and the fairness of our elections,” she said. “This will likely continue to affect whether and how people choose to participate in politics, including whether they condone political violence.”