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A shocking new poll finds that a convincing majority of Republicans believe a bizarre conspiracy theory that undergirds the QAnon movement and inspired an attack in Washington, DC.
Respondents to a The Economist/YouGov poll published this week were asked to rate the truth of several conspiracy theories, including the false claim that “Top Democrats are involved in elite child sex-trafficking rings.”
That claim inspired a gunman to attack a pizzeria in Washington, DC and is a central tenet of the QAnon following.
While most Americans don’t believe that statement to be true, among Republican respondents, 52 percent said it’s either “Definitely true” (20%) or “Probably true” (32%) that “Top Democrats are involved in elite child sex-trafficking rings.”
Among Democratic voters, 13 percent said it’s either “Definitely true” (5%) or “Probably true” (8%), and among independent voters, 30 percent said it’s either “Definitely true” (10%) or “Probably true” (20%).
An even greater percentage of Republicans believe that “Regardless of who is officially in charge of the government and other organizations, there is a single group of people who secretly control events and rule the world together.”
Among Republican respondents, 54 percent said it’s either “Definitely true” (16%) or “Probably true” (38%) that “Regardless of who is officially in charge of the government and other organizations, there is a single group of people who secretly control events and rule the world together.”
Among Democratic voters, 18 percent said it’s either “Definitely true” (9%) or “Probably true” (19%), and among independent voters, 40 percent said it’s either “Definitely true” (10%) or “Probably true” (30%).
- The pollsters asked about several other conspiracy theories as well, including:
- The U.S. has been developing bioweapons in biolabs throughout Ukraine
- Many high-level Ukrainian government officials are Nazis or Nazi-sympathizers
- The Ukrainian government is releasing fake videos of bomb attacks and blaming the attacks on Russia
- Vaccines have been shown to cause autism
In each case, Republicans were more likely to believe these claims than Democrats or independents, although none of these beliefs were held by a majority if Republicans.
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