Raleigh, N.C. – PPP’s latest round of conspiracy-theory related questions finds that Republicans are more likely than Democrats to believe various government-related conspiracy theories, similar to results we found on our first round of conspiracy polling last April. Overall, 36% of Americans and 62% of Republicans believe that the Obama Administration is secretly trying to take everyone’s guns away; just 14% of Democrats believe the same. One in four Americans say that President Obama is secretly trying to figure out a way to stay in office beyond 2017 – including almost half of Republicans (44%). And 26% of Americans think that Muslims are covertly implementing Sharia Law in American court systems, while 55% don’t think so and another 19% aren’t sure. There’s a huge partisan breakdown on this one as well – 42% of Republicans fear Sharia Law making its way into America’s courts while just 12% of Democrats
agree.
13% believe that the U.S. government engages in so-called “false flag” operations, where the government plans and executes terrorist or mass shooting events and blames those actions on others, 70% disagree. Republicans (21%) are more than twice as likely as Democrats (9%) to believe this theory. 19% say there is a secret society such as Skull and Bones that produces America’s political and financial leaders to serve the wealthy elite. And 17% of voters said they think a group of world bankers are slowly eliminating paper currency to force most banking online – only to cut the power grid so regular citizens can’t access money and are forced into worldwide slavery. Nearly one in three Republicans (27%) believe the electronic currency theory while just 10% of Democrats agree.
We asked voters whether they thought the government has engaged in the assassination of entertainers such as John Lennon and Tupac Shakur and political leaders such as Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. whose message they didn’t like. Voters were nearly twice as likely to think the government killed political leaders to silence them (23% yes, 61% no) than entertainers (12% yes, 72% no).
One of the most widely-believed theories involved the rigging of professional sporting events. 32% said they think major sporting events such as the NBA playoffs or the Super Bowl are sometimes rigged by league offices and referees to increase ratings and revenue for the sports, just 49% said they were certain this doesn’t happen, and 19% aren’t sure. One topic that united most Americans was the issue of extraterrestrial life. Three out of four participants answered that the government does not harbor a ‘Men in Black’ organization to keep humans from discovering alien life; compared to just 6% who did. And only 3% of those polled believe that the US has been conspiring with aliens for technology advancements.
PPP surveyed 790 registered voters on September 25th and 26th. The margin of error is +/-3.5%. This poll
was not authorized or paid for by any campaign or political organization.
Topline results are below. Full results, including crosstabs, can be found here.
Q1 Do you think the Obama Administration is
secretly trying to take everyone’s guns away,
or not?
Yes………………………………………………………… 36%
No …………………………………………………………. 54%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 10%
Q2 Do you think the U.S. government engages in
so-called “false flag” operations, meaning that
the government sometimes plans and executes
mass shootings or terrorist events, and then
makes it look like those activities were carried
out by others, or not?
Yes………………………………………………………… 13%
No …………………………………………………………. 70%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 17%
Q3 Do you think there is a secret society such as
Skull and Bones that produces most of
America’s political and financial leaders to
serve the interests of the wealthy elite, or not?
Yes………………………………………………………… 19%
No …………………………………………………………. 50%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 31%
Q4 Do you think that a government organization
such as the Men in Black exists to stop people
from finding out that aliens do exist and live
among humans on Earth, or not?
Yes………………………………………………………… 6%
No …………………………………………………………. 75%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 19%
Q5 Do you think the U.S. government has
engaged in the assassination of entertainers
who have tried to spread a counterculture
message they didn’t like, such as John
Lennon, Kurt Cobain, Tupac Shakur, and
others, or not?
Yes………………………………………………………… 12%
No …………………………………………………………. 72%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 16%
Q6 Do you think the U.S. government has
engaged in the assassination of political
leaders who tried to spread a political message
they didn’t like, such as Bobby Kennedy, Martin
Luther King, Jr., and others, or not?
Yes………………………………………………………… 23%
No …………………………………………………………. 61%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 16%
Q7 Do you think it’s easy to have a person killed
and get away with it if you have enough
money, or not?
Yes………………………………………………………… 54%
No …………………………………………………………. 27%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 18%
Q8 Do you think that major sporting events like the
NBA playoffs or the Super Bowl are sometimes
rigged by referees and league offices to create
an outcome that will lead to better ratings and
more money and publicity for the sport, or not?
Yes………………………………………………………… 32%
No …………………………………………………………. 49%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 19%
Q9 Do you think that a group of world bankers is
slowly eliminating paper currency until most
banking is done electronically, and then will cut
the power grid so that most citizens will not
have access to any money and will be forced
into worldwide slavery, or not?
Yes………………………………………………………… 17%
No …………………………………………………………. 65%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 19%
Q10 Do you think the U.S. government has a secret
fleet of black helicopters that will be used in an
eventual United Nations military takeover of the
United States, or not?
Yes………………………………………………………… 9%
No …………………………………………………………. 71%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 20%
Q11 Do you think Barack Obama is secretly trying
to figure out a way to stay in office beyond
2017, or not?
Yes………………………………………………………… 25%
No …………………………………………………………. 66%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 9%
Q12 Do you think the U.S. government has secretly
allowed aliens to take over our society in
exchange for help with industrial technological
advances, such as electric power and the
microwave, or not?
Yes………………………………………………………… 3%
No …………………………………………………………. 86%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 10%
Q13 Do you think Muslims are covertly
implementing Sharia Law in American court
systems, or not?
Yes………………………………………………………… 26%
No …………………………………………………………. 55%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 19%
Q14 Would you describe yourself as very liberal,
somewhat liberal, moderate, somewhat
conservative, or very conservative?
Very liberal ……………………………………………… 12%
Somewhat liberal …………………………………….. 16%
Moderate………………………………………………… 33%
Somewhat conservative……………………………. 19%
Very conservative ……………………………………. 20%
Q15 If you are a woman, press 1. If a man, press 2.
Woman ………………………………………………….. 52%
Man……………………………………………………….. 48%
Q16 If you are a Democrat, press 1. If a Republican,
press 2. If you are an independent or identify
with another party, press 3.
Democrat ……………………………………………….. 39%
Republican……………………………………………… 34%
Independent/Other…………………………………… 27%
Q17 If you are Hispanic, press 1. If white, press 2.
If African-American, press 3. If other, press 4.
Hispanic…………………………………………………. 10%
White …………………………………………………….. 76%
African-American …………………………………….. 10%
Other……………………………………………………… 3%
Q18 If you are 18 to 45 years old, press 1. If 46 to
65, press 2. If you are older than 65, press 3.
18 to 45………………………………………………….. 42%
46 to 65………………………………………………….. 38%
Older than 65………………………………………….. 20%