Sixty percent of Democratic voters would approve of the United States military overthrowing President Donald Trump. Another 12 percent said they'd have "mixed feelings" about it — not opposed, just undecided about whether a junta would be preferable to an elected president. That's 72 percent of the Democratic electorate either cheering for or shrugging at a military coup.
The poll also asked about assassination. Twenty-nine percent of Democrats said they'd support it.
The numbers come from a survey of 683 Democratic voters conducted by the Center for Strategic Politics in partnership with Liberal Currents, a left-leaning policy magazine. The poll wasn't commissioned by a conservative outlet looking to embarrass anyone. Liberal Currents published it themselves, on their own website, under the headline "What Are Democrats Thinking?" — apparently without realizing the answer would be "about overthrowing the government."
The survey asked respondents to rate five scenarios in which Trump leaves office before his term ends. Impeachment and conviction scored a net approval of +80 among Democrats. The 25th Amendment — Trump's own Cabinet declaring him unfit — came in at +77. Death by natural causes landed at +40. A military coup scored +32. Assassination was the only scenario that went negative, at -12, though even there, 29 percent of respondents individually backed it.
The pollsters themselves summarized it with clinical precision: "We polled five routes for Trump to leave office before the end of his term. A plurality of Dems support four of them, including a military coup and death by natural causes. The only one underwater, an assassination, is still supported by 29%."
That framing — "the only one underwater" — tells you everything about where the baseline sits. The floor of acceptable Democratic opinion now includes military overthrow of a sitting president. Assassination is the outlier only because it didn't crack a majority.
The poll didn't stop at removal fantasies. Criminal prosecutions of Trump administration officials drew clear majority support across every category tested. Prosecuting ICE and Border Patrol personnel scored +63. Prosecuting Stephen Miller, Trump's senior adviser, came in at +61. Prosecuting Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth registered +53. Fifty-seven percent of respondents supported prosecuting both Trump and Biden officials over Gaza — a number that suggests the appetite for criminal charges isn't even partisan anymore. It's structural.
The policy numbers track the same direction. Sixty-nine percent of Democratic voters support expanding the Supreme Court. Sixty-eight percent want to accept more immigrants. A majority backs eliminating the Senate filibuster. Majorities support public ownership of healthcare, pharmaceuticals, the power grid, rail, and artificial intelligence. Only 24 percent of Democratic voters trust the government "somewhat" or "strongly" — and yet those same voters want that government to own and operate more of the economy.
The people who don't trust the institution want the institution to have more power. The people who think the president is a tyrant want his political opponents imprisoned. The people who spent 2021 calling January 6th an insurrection now poll at +32 on a military coup.
Eighty-six percent would feel positive about impeachment and removal. Eighty-four percent would feel positive about a Cabinet coup via the 25th Amendment. Sixty percent would feel positive about the military stepping in. Twenty-nine percent are fine with a bullet.
The poll's title asked what Democrats are thinking. The crosstabs answered.