{"id":281541,"date":"2025-11-25T10:55:56","date_gmt":"2025-11-25T15:55:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/?post_type=short-read&p=281541"},"modified":"2025-11-25T13:56:51","modified_gmt":"2025-11-25T18:56:51","slug":"nearly-8-in-10-americans-say-politicians-should-avoid-heated-or-aggressive-speech","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2025\/11\/25\/nearly-8-in-10-americans-say-politicians-should-avoid-heated-or-aggressive-speech\/","title":{"rendered":"Nearly 8 in 10 Americans say politicians should avoid heated or aggressive speech"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Most Americans (78%) say elected officials should avoid using heated or aggressive language because it could encourage some people to take violent action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A far smaller share (20%) says that officials should be able to use heated language without worrying about how some people may act, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted Aug. 4-10, 2025, among 3,554 adults.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Related: <\/em><\/strong>Americans say politically motivated violence is increasing, and they see many reasons why<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How we did this<\/summary>\n

Pew Research Center conducted this analysis to understand how the public views the use of heated or aggressive language by elected officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For this analysis, we surveyed 3,554 U.S. adults from Aug. 4 to 10, 2025. Everyone who took part in this survey is a member of the Center\u2019s American Trends Panel (ATP), a group of people recruited through national, random sampling of residential addresses who have agreed to take surveys regularly. This kind of recruitment gives nearly all U.S. adults a chance of selection. Interviews were conducted either online or by telephone with a live interviewer. The survey is weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult population by gender, race, ethnicity, partisan affiliation, education, presidential vote (among voters) and other factors. Read more about the ATP\u2019s methodology<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are the questions used for this analysis<\/a>, the topline<\/a> and the survey methodology<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n

Americans across the political spectrum largely share the view that elected officials should avoid heated language:<\/p>\n\n\n\n