A poll conducted by the conservative American Enterprise Institute that was published this Thursday found that 29 precent of Republicans and 27 percent of white evangelicals believe that the QAnon conspiracy theory is completely or mostly true, the Religion News Service reports.
The percentage of white evangelicals who believe the theory’s fraudulent claims represent the largest out of any religious group.
Daniel Cox, who is the director of AEI’s Survey Center on American Life, said the report suggests conspiracy theories have a wide range of support, but especially when it comes to white evangelicals.
According to Cox, the conspiracy theory is growing in popularity thanks to social echo chambers.
“That kind of environment is really important when it comes to embracing this kind of thinking,” he said. “You’re seeing people embrace this sort of conspiratorial thinking, and everyone in their social circle is like, ‘Yeah, that sounds right to me,’ versus someone saying, ‘You know, we should look at this credulously.’”
White evangelicals are advocates of other conspiracy theories as well, the poll revealed.
“Close to two-thirds (62%) believe there was widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election — despite numerous experts and courts at all levels refuting such claims — and roughly the same percentage (63%) believe President Joe Biden’s victory was ‘not legitimate,'” RNS reports. “A majority (55%) also said they believed it was mostly or completely accurate to say ‘a group of unelected government officials in Washington, D.C., referred to as the Deep State (has) been working to undermine the Trump administration.'”
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