According to a new poll from Reuters/Ipsos, one-third of GOP respondents said President Barack Obama poses more of an immediate threat to the U.S. than Russian President Vladimir Putin and Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Using a scale ranging from 1 to 5, the voters had to rank countries, organizations, and individuals on their stature as an imminent threat to America. Thirty-four percent of GOP respondents named Obama, twenty-five percent voted for Putin, and twenty-three percent voted for Assad.
Democrats were given the same question and had only one choice of a Republican, Speaker of the House John Boehner; 12% voted for him. Republicans and Democrats ranked the same four individuals at the top of the list: al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri, ISIS executioner Jihadi John, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, and Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Viewing ISIS as an imminent threat were 58% of respondents, while al-Qaeda drew 43%. A percentage of 39 saw cyber attacks as an imminent threat. And roughly 33% were concerned about drug trafficking.
Republicans were slightly more worried about Democrats posing an imminent threat than vice versa: 27% of GOP respondents saw Democrats as an imminent threat, whereas 22% of Democrats thought Republicans pose an imminent threat.