A poll out today by the Public Religion Research Institute shows that 56% of Americans back Long Island Congressman’s Peter King’s hearings into radicalization among American Muslims.
But more than 7 in 10 say that they want the hearings to focus on extremisms from other religious groups as well.
“I think Americans are balancing their fears and sense of fairness,” said Robert P. Jones, the head of PRRI. “They have fears from 9/11 and they want Congress to hold some hearings but they don’t want Muslims to feel singled out.”
The hearings are slated to begin next month, and have provoked outrage from many Muslims and many Democrats, and garned King praise in some Republican circles, including this flattering piece in The National Review. But the survey found that only one-third of Americans have heard about the hearings.
Jones said he was not sure if the approval numbers would after the hearings begin.
“That depends on the tone of the hearings and what happens during them,” he said. “We won’t know until we see it.”
