Do 14% of Americans Really Suspect that President Obama is the Anti-Christ?

[n2doc]

Aug 1, 2013

Since Barack Obama first began campaigning for the presidency, people have said some crazy things about him. “He is a socialist Muslim with a radical anti-colonial agenda who was born in Kenya,” for example.

Commentators described the accusations as a racist reaction to an African-American president. Others comforted themselves that they were the ramblings of a lunatic fringe. But polls indicated otherwise. A 2012 Harris Interactive poll found that the following percentage of Americans believed about President Obama that:

He is a socialist (40%)
He wants to take away Americans' right to own guns (38%)
He is a Muslim (32%)
He wants to turn over the sovereignty of the United States to a one world government (29%)
He was not born in the United States and so is not eligible to be president (25%)
He may be the Anti-Christ (14%)
He wants the terrorists to win (13%)

These beliefs split clearly along partisan lines. Republicans believed the following about President Obama:

He is a socialist (67%)
He wants to take away Americans' right to own guns (61%)
He is a Muslim (57%)
He wants to turn over the sovereignty of the United States to a one world government (51%)
He was not born in the United States and so is not eligible to be president (45%)
He may be the Anti-Christ (24%)
He wants the terrorists to win (22%)

Although these are extreme examples, they are typical of how polls about facts show clear partisan bias. In 2012, years after American officials failed to find any signs of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, 63% of Republicans believed in their existence. (As did 15% of Democrats.) Democrats (falsely) underrate economic performance under Reagan while Republicans do the same for the economy under Clinton.

Academics often explain this ideological gap in the realm of facts as a result of partisanship influencing how we acquire and process information. Four economists, however, recently decided to challenge the sincerity of these reported beliefs. (Perhaps they were inspired by the fact that 14% of Americans report believing that Obama may be the Anti-Christ.)

more

http://priceonomics.com/do-14-of-americans-really-suspect-that-president/

[uponit7771]

1. Yes and of those 65% post on DU

[Sheepshank]

7. I was about to say that 100% of them are conservative right wingers.

makes your statement all the more clear

[onehandle]

2. I'm 100% sure that Ted Cruz is the Anti-Christ.

The Canadian has never claimed otherwise...

[Berbalang]

13. You're in luck! I have proof that he is the Anti-Christ!

In regards to Ted Cruz possibly being the Anti-Christ I cannot help noticing that:

A=18=6+6+6
B=24=6+6+6+6
C=30=6+6+6+6+6
D=36=6+6+6+6+6+6
(Continue pattern through the alphabet.)

T=132
E= 42
D= 36
C= 30
R=120
U=138
Z=168
——–
666

I freely give permission to use and spread this proof.

[LeftofObama]

3. I wouldn't be surprised to find that 14% of Americans believe

the sun rises in the west and sets in the east.

[GalaxyHunter]

4. strange. There are some strange people out there!

I wonder how the views of us here at DU compare to those of other Americans?

Would the views expressed here on DU look just as strange to other Americans?

we here look at those 14% and wonder about them, I wonder how our views would compare to others...







Does anyone have or know of numbers about how Americans feel about Single Payer?

[theHandpuppet]

5. Should have also asked them...

... how many believe the earth is 6,000 years old.

[Deep13]

6. When I was still a believer, I thought it was probably Hitler. nt

[Sheepshank]

8. maybe that explains with the RW'ers are so apt to correlate Obama with Hitler

completely forgetting that fascism is an extreme RW political niche.

[Iggo]

9. The fact that ANY percent even believe there IS an anti-christ.

[Sheepshank]

10. I wonder how many of those that claim Obama is the antichrist (a Christian term)

also say they believe Obama is a Muslim?

[LongTomH]

11. Duhhhhh!!!!! Can Americans really be that dumb?

Sadly, every time I ask that question, the answer comes back: Yeah, they can!!!!!

[RebelOne]

12. Yeah, there are a lot of morons out there.

Just check out raptureready.com as they believe Obama is the antichrist just as they believe that Jesus will be back any day to take them to heaven.