JD Vance blames the left for political violence. Decades of data tell another story. - Poynter

""Political violence, it's just a statistical fact that it's a bigger problem on the left," Vance said while guest-hosting The Charlie Kirk Show podcast Oct. 15 in the aftermath of Kirk's killing. About a minute later, he added, "Right now that violent impulse is a bigger problem on the left than the right." A Vance spokesperson did not answer our questions. When referring to left-wing violence, a White House spokesperson recently pointed to a Sept. 28 Axios article about a study by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a nonprofit policy research organization."

"The study found that "2025 marks the first time in more than 30 years that left-wing terrorist attacks outnumber those from the violent far right." The study also showed that for the 30 years before 2025, right-wing attacks had outpaced left-wing attacks. "The rise in left-wing attacks merits increased attention, but the fall in right-wing attacks is probably temporary, and it too requires a government response," the study's authors wrote. Vance's statement oversimplified political violence and drew from part of one study of a six-month period."

"The federal government has no single, official definition of "political violence" and ascribing ideologies such as left-wing and right-wing is sometimes complicated. There is no agreed upon number of left- or right-wing politically violent attacks. Research before 2025 largely points to higher levels of right-wing violence over longer periods of time. Trump has used the administration's statements about rising left-wing violence to designate antifa as a domestic terrorist organization, and administration officials also said they will investigate what they call left-wing groups that fund violence."

A conservative influencer's assassination prompted statements from political leaders blaming left-wing violence. Officials pointed to a CSIS study finding that 2025 marked the first year in more than 30 years with more left-wing terrorist attacks than violent far-right attacks, while the prior 30 years favored right-wing attacks. The study's authors warned the decline in right-wing attacks may be temporary and urged a government response. Definitions and counts of "political violence" lack uniform federal standards, making ideological attributions complicated. The administration has used these findings to label antifa a domestic terrorist organization and to pledge investigations into alleged left-wing funders.

Read at Poynter