Putin Barely Beats Obama as a More Imminent Threat to Americans in New Poll
Policy + Politics

Putin Barely Beats Obama as a More Imminent Threat to Americans in New Poll

REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Terrorism, cyber attacks and increasingly tense relations with Russia are the obvious and most common issues experts cite as the most pressing threats facing the United States, but a new survey provides some insight into what Americans deem the most imminent threats facing their country. 

The Reuters/Ipsos poll that asked some 3,000 Americans what they consider to be the most imminent threat facing the country. The poll listed a variety of potential threats ranging from world leaders to terrorist groups, cyber attacks, climate change and women’s rights (yes, seriously.) 

Related: Devastating New Poll Shows Americans Believe Obama Can No Longer Lead the Country 

Overall, the results aren’t surprising. Coming in at the number one spot is the extreme terror group, Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) followed closely by Al-Qaeda, North Korea’s Leader Kim John Un and Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin, unsurprisingly, was ranked as an imminent threat by about 20 percent of Americans. Not far behind Putin, though, was President Obama—who came in 2 points lower at 18 percent. 

When politics were taken into account, that figure, of course, shot up even further. About a third of Republicans ranked Obama as an imminent threat facing the country—ahead of Putin and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who allegedly used chemical weapons against his own people.  

Related: Here’s Why Obama and Congress’ Approval Ratings Are Up 

Separately, when it came to some of the larger issues, like terrorism, unstable dictators and cyber attacks, Republicans and Democrats were mostly on the same page. 

However, when it came to other listed threats, like climate change and illegal immigration, the groups were deeply divided. While 33 percent of Democrats ranked climate change as an imminent threat, 15 percent of Republicans said climate change ranked global warming as an imminent threat. 

About 46 percent of Republicans cited illegal immigration as an imminent threat, compared to 23 percent of Democrats. 

Related: Devastating New Poll Shows Americans Believe Obama Can No Longer Lead the Country 

The poll also asked respondents to rank the level of threat both political parties pose to the country. Some 31 percent of Republicans consider Democrats to be an imminent threat to the country. Similarly, about 33 percent of Democrats cited the threat Republican’s pose to the country as imminent. 

The poll was conducted online between March 16 through 24 with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.1 percentage points.

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