Friendship Networks of White Americans Continue to Be 90% White

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Across demographic groups, Americans’ core friendship networks tend to be dominated by people of their same race or ethnic background—particularly white Americans, among whom 90% of their friendship networks are also white, according to a new survey conducted by Public Religion Research Institute. The new survey of over 5,000 Americans, designed to assess the scope and diversity of Americans’ self-reported friendship networks and their attitudes about racial and religious pluralism in America, follows up on a study PRRI conducted in 2013. …

The composition and homogeneity of Americans’ friendship networks is strongly correlated with their views on questions about American identity, pluralism, Christian nationalism, and the changing demographics of the country. CONTINUED

Public Religion Research Institute

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CBS News poll analysis: Americans have range of views on timing, circumstances of legal abortions

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As we’ve seen in recent CBS News polling, two in three Americans want abortion in their state to be legal in at least most cases. But polling also reveals a spectrum of views on when, and under what conditions, abortion should be permitted. Of those who think abortion should be legal in all or most cases, most would nevertheless set restrictions on when during a pregnancy an abortion should take place. And among those who think abortion should be against the law in most cases, most still think some exceptions should be made. CONTINUED

Fred Backus, CBS News

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New data shows how ‘great replacement’ overlaps with other racial fears

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The political utility of the “great replacement theory” is that it combines two potent, emotionally charged issues on the right. That “theory” — that there is a nefarious group of people hoping to bring immigrants into the United States to shift the nation’s politics to the left — overlaps with Republicans’ mistrust of Democrats and with often visceral opposition to immigration.

But there’s an important, barely veiled subtext as well, the subtext that explains why the “theory” is embraced by white nationalists. The opposition to native-born Americans being “replaced” isn’t opposition to blond-haired Swedish migrants sneaking over the border into Vermont. It’s opposition to non-White migrants edging out White U.S. residents. That, too, makes the “great replacement theory” espoused by people like Fox News’s Tucker Carlson valuable: It’s a way of talking about race without explicitly talking about race. CONTINUED

Philip Bump, Washington Post

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61% of Trump voters agree with idea behind ‘great replacement’ conspiracy theory

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A new Yahoo News/YouGov poll shows that more than 6 in 10 Donald Trump voters (61%) agree that “a group of people in this country are trying to replace native-born Americans with immigrants and people of color who share their political views” — a core tenet of the false conspiracy theory known as the “great replacement.” Less than a quarter of Trump voters (22%) disagree with that statement. …

The survey of 1,573 U.S. adults — which was conducted from May 19 to 22 — found that relatively few Americans (just 34% overall) believe in the underlying idea behind replacement theory, and more than twice as many Americans strongly disagree (33%) than strongly agree (14%) with it. CONTINUED

Andrew Romano, Yahoo News

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Widespread Support for a U.S. Role in the War Between Russia and Ukraine

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Most Americans continue to support the United States’ involvement in the war between Russia and Ukraine, though support for sending funds directly to Ukraine is more tepid and Americans are becoming increasingly wary of making economic sacrifices in order to support effective sanctions.

Overall, support for a U.S. response to the war remains high. Most Americans believe the United States should play a major (32%) or minor (49%) role in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Just 19% feel the United States shouldn’t have a role. While support has not changed since last month, support for the United States playing a major role in the war has dropped from a peak of 40% in March of 2022. CONTINUED

AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research

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Satisfaction With U.S. Dips; Biden Approval Steady at 41%

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Americans’ assessments of the state of the U.S. and the job performance of President Joe Biden and Congress are largely negative as the nation continues to confront a panoply of serious issues. Just 16% of U.S. adults are satisfied with the way things are going in the nation, and job approval ratings of Biden (41%) and Congress (18%) remain subpar and flat. CONTINUED

Megan Brenan, Gallup

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