Analysis of congressmembers' statements following George Floyd's death: Who apologizes and how does the public react?

Abstract Because political leaders have the power to shape policy and social norms surrounding important societal issues, we wondered what U.S. politicians said following George Floyd's death. We gathered, coded, and analyzed the first relevant formal statement from members of the U.S. Senate (Study 1a; N = 94) and House of Representatives (Study 1b; N = 355), and participants rated deidentified versions of these statements (Study 2; N = 317). Across the U.S. Senate and House samples, even after controlling for potential covariates, Democrats were more likely to acknowledge harm toward the Black community, express forbearance, and call to repair the system (elements of an apology) whereas Republicans were more likely to praise the system, praise police, and condemn violent protests. In Study 2, we found that statements by Democrats were viewed as more effective than those by Republicans, and Democratic congressmembers were viewed more favorably overall by a relatively liberal sample. These participant ratings were partially explained by the coded statement content. Future research would do well to continue to explore what leaders say in the wake of tragedy, how the public receives these statements, and whether these statements are linked to positive change.