Story highlights Some 70% of those polled said divisions today are at least as big as during the Vietnam War era

Fifty-one percent said President Donald Trump deserves "a lot" of the blame for the dysfunction

Forty-nine percent place "a lot" of blame on news media for causing the dysfunction

Washington (CNN) Amid a growing partisan gap between Democrats and Republicans, a new poll shows that 71% of Americans believe the country's politics have reached a dangerous low point in the Trump era.

According to a Washington Post-University of Maryland poll released Saturday, only 29% said they believed this period in American politics is "similar to most periods of disagreement." And the majority of participants who said politics have reached a dangerous low point said the climate is a "new normal," not "temporary."

Some 70% of those polled from September 27 through October 5 said divisions today are at least as big as they were during the Vietnam War era. For individuals polled who were adults during the Vietnam War, the percentage was higher than the average -- 77%.

A majority of those polled, 51%, said President Donald Trump deserves "a lot" of the blame for the dysfunction in the American political system, below the share placing as much blame on money in politics (65%), wealthy donors (56%) or people with extreme views (56%), but above the share putting a lot of blame on either party (38% for Republicans, 32% for Democrats) or members of Congress (47%).

In addition, 49% place "a lot" of blame on the news media for causing the dysfunction, and the same percentage say social media bears much of the responsibility.

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