Most Americans are concerned anti-police rhetoric, routinely touted by Democrats and radical leftists, will lead to a shortage of police officers and ultimately endanger public safety, a Rasmussen Reports survey released Wednesday found.
The survey, taken April 13-14 among 1,000 likely U.S. voters, asked respondents, “How concerned are you that the growing criticism of America’s police will lead to a shortage of police officers and reduce public safety in the community where you live?”
Sixty-three percent said they are either “very” or “somewhat” concerned, compared to 29 percent who said they are “not very” or “not at all” concerned. Seven percent said they are not sure.
A majority of Republicans, Democrats, and independents said the rhetoric has prompted at least some level of concern– 84 percent among Republicans, 52 percent among Democrats, and 59 percent among independents.
Notably, 52 percent of black voters also said they are concerned, and 61 percent of non-white voters expressed the same sentiments.
Additionally, 62 percent of Americans identified being a police officer as “one of the most important jobs in our country today.”
The survey’s margin of error is +/- 3 percent.
The survey comes as far-left Democrats up their calls to defund police and, in some cases, end policing and incarceration altogether.
“Policing in our country is inherently & intentionally racist. Daunte Wright was met with aggression & violence. I am done with those who condone government-funded murder,” Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) said last week.
“No more policing, incarceration, and militarization. It can’t be reformed,” she concluded:
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) told Breitbart News in an exclusive interview on Monday that radical Democrats, as well as the corporate media, are only feeding the division in the country.
“Corporate media is one of the most divisive forces in our country. They foment division. They foment these things. A lot of the time, they won’t tell the whole facts,” he said of recent stories of officer-involved shootings.
“For example, the guy in Kenosha, Wisconsin — they didn’t talk about why the police were there. The guy had sexually assaulted this woman. He was harassing her. She called the police because she was in danger. They tried to arrest. He resisted. And they cut out all the stuff and they act like these police are just going out and doing this, you know, for racial reasons, which is not true,” he continued.
The corporate media, he added, “don’t report facts, they spin narratives.”
“And so you can have the exact same situation happen in other parts of the country but if whoever is the suspect or the police — if it’s different, it doesn’t fit their narrative, then it just goes on the cutting room floor,” DeSantis said. “So it’s all about furthering a narrative regardless of the facts.”
On Monday, the Republican governor signed what has been dubbed Florida’s “anti-rioting” bill, which effectively takes defunding the police “off the table” in the Sunshine State.