Statistically, Democrats and Republicans hate each other more than ever

But in the last few years, it seems that the dislike between the two sides has taken to another level. Witnessed this week in Congress, when GOP Representative Paul Gosar of Arizona was criticized for my colleagues Annie Grayer and Clare Foran put it, “posted an edited anime video on social media showing him appearing to kill Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and attack President Biden.”

You can see this very clearly in the numbers. Look at US National Election Research. Since the late 1970s, they have asked Americans regularly to rate on a scale of 0 (very cold) to 100 (very warm) how they feel about each political party.

In 1978, Democrats and Republicans were actually pretty okay with each other. The average Democrat rates the Republican Party as 48, like in the middle. The average Republican rates the Democratic Party a similar 46.

Even at the end of 2000, the respondents were still really nice to the other party. The average Democrat for the opposition is 41, while the average Republican for the opposition is 38.

Perhaps more importantly, there are very few Americans who have truly cold feelings for their partner. Only 10% of Democrats gave the Republican Party zero in 2000, very close to 8% of Democrats who gave the Republican Party zero in 1978.

Likewise, 7% of Republicans assigned the Democratic Party to zero in 2000, compared with 5% who did so in 1978.

Over the past two decades, however, opposition views have plummeted.

The average Democrat has rated the Republican Party just 20 in 2020 – a drop of 21 degrees in 20 years. This is even lower than the 26 that Democrats gave Republicans in 2016, a sign that opposition dislike is still growing.

The average Republican has assigned the Democrats an even lower median score of 16 in 2020. This, like the score given by Democrats to Republicans, is the lowest score on record. .

Perhaps more strikingly, the percentage of Democrats and Republicans who despise the other is almost an unfathomable number.

Nearly a majority of Republicans (48%) give Democrats zero on a scale of 0 to 100. This marks a nearly 600% increase in two decades. Slightly fewer Democrats (39%) give the opposition zero, although this is a nearly 300% increase from the 10% level in 2000.

But to be clear, it’s not just many Democrats who absolutely hate Republicans or vice versa. Each side views the other as dangerous.