CONSPIRACY THEORIES PROSPER:
25% OF AMERICANS ARE “TRUTHERS”

Sixty-three percent of registered voters in the U.S. buy into at least one political
conspiracy theory, according to results from a recent Fairleigh Dickinson University PublicMind
Poll. The nationwide survey of registered voters asked Americans to evaluate four different
political conspiracy theories: 56 percent of Democrats and 75 percent of Republicans say that at
least one is likely true. This includes 36 percent who think that President Obama is hiding
information about his background and early life, 25 percent who think that the government knew
about 9/11 in advance, and 19 percent who think the 2012 Presidential election was stolen.
Generally, the more people know about current events, the less likely they are to believe in
conspiracy theories – but not among Republicans, where more knowledge leads to greater belief
in political conspiracies.

The most popular of these conspiracy theories is the belief that President Obama is hiding
important information about his background and early life, which would include what’s often
referred to “birtherism.” Thirty-six percent of Americans think this is probably true, including 64
percent of Republicans and 14 percent of Democrats.

“This conspiracy theory is much more widely believed mostly because it’s been
discussed so often,” said Dan Cassino, a professor of political science at Fairleigh Dickinson
University and an analyst for the poll. “People tend to believe that where there’s smoke, there’s
fire – so the more smoke they see, the more likely they are to believe that something is going
on.”

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