From President Obama’s alleged efforts to round up all guns in the country to so-called “false flag” operations, a poll released Wednesday shows widespread acceptance of government conspiracy theories among Republicans.
According to the findings from Democratic-leaning Public Policy Polling, a large majority of Republicans — 62 percent — said they believe that the Obama administration is “secretly trying to take everyone’s guns away.” As a point of comparison, 36 percent of all Americans and 14 percent of Democrats said they feel the same way.
A poll in May showed that 44 percent of Republicans believe that an armed rebellion “might be necessary.”
PPP’s survey also showed that 42 percent of Republicans believe that Muslims are secretly implementing Sharia Law in the U.S. judicial system, compared with 26 percent of all Americans and just 12 percent of Democrats who believe the same.
Twenty-one percent of Republicans believe that the government carries out mass shootings and other terrorist attacks and then blames those actions on others, a conspiracy referred to as “false flag” operations. Only 13 percent of all Americans and nine percent of Democrats said they believe the government engages in “false flag” operations.
Some fringe conservatives argued that the Boston Marathon bombings were actually the result of a “false flag” operation, a theory that was even floated by a Republican legislator in New Hampshire.
