A majority of Americans now believe the country is "going to hell in a handbasket", according to a new Fox News poll.

Fifty-six percent of voters said in the Thursday poll that things are "going to hell in a handbasket." A majority of voters across party lines also said they view people as behaving more rudely than in the past.

Eighty-one percent of Republicans say people are less courteous, as do 77 percent of Democrats and 76 percent of independents.

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The vast majority of voters, 81 percent, also believe that the nation's societal bonds are weakening.

The new poll comes after a week of challenging civil discourse, as people have taken sides in the ongoing feud between President Trump Donald John TrumpBubba Wallace to be driver of Michael Jordan, Denny Hamlin NASCAR team Graham: GOP will confirm Trump's Supreme Court nominee before the election Southwest Airlines, unions call for six-month extension of government aid MORE and the NFL over whether athletes should be allowed to kneel in protest during the national anthem.

Voters were found to be very divided over the protests, with 55 percent saying that kneeling during the national anthem was inappropriate, as compared with 61 percent who said so in 2016, according to Fox. Only 41 percent view kneeling as an appropriate way to protest, an increase of 32 percent over the past year.

The Fox News poll was conducted between Sept. 24 and 26 among a sample of 1,107 registered voters. The margin of error is 3 percentage points.