Almost A Quarter of Americans Now Believe in QAnon
The Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) American Values survey, released in October, reveals a significant uptick in belief in the QAnon conspiracy movement among Americans between 2021 and 2023.
The study measured responses to three key questions pertaining to QAnon beliefs:
- The government, media, and financial worlds in the US are controlled by a group of Satan-worshipping pedophiles who run a global child sex trafficking operation.
- There is a storm coming soon that will sweep away the elites in power and restore the rightful leaders.
- Because things have gotten so far off track, true American patriots may have to resort to violence in order to save our country.
The results were not promising, maybe even terrifying, but certainly not shocking with the proliferation of disinformation, especially as the nation moves deeper into the oncoming presidential election.
Approximately one-quarter of Americans now agree that a group of Satan-worshipping pedophiles controls the US government, media, and financial worlds, a notable increase from 15% in 2021. 27% believe in an impending storm that will oust the current elites from power, up from 20% in the previous year. And 23% of respondents believe that violence may be necessary to save the country, compared to 15% in 2021.
PRRI categorized respondents into three groups: QAnon believers, doubters, and rejecters.
The study indicates a rise in QAnon believers from 14% to 23% since March 2021. Conversely, the percentage of those completely rejecting QAnon beliefs decreased from 40% to 29%, while doubters increased slightly from 46% to 49% in 2023.
QAnon belief is typically associated with the far-right. But there is an alarming growth of believers on the Democrat side which saw the figure double from 7% to 14%, coupled with a decrease in rejecters from 58% to 43%.
Independents exhibited a similar trend, with QAnon believers rising from 12% to 22%, and rejecters falling from 40% to 30%. Among Republicans, 29% now qualify as QAnon believers, up from 23% in 2021, and rejecters decreased from 21% to 14%.
Regarding religious beliefs, white evangelical Protestants are identified as the most likely QAnon believers at 30%, Black Protestants at 26%, and Hispanic Catholics at 24%.
These results show only one part of how deeply divisive American values have become in the last few years and how chaotic the path toward democracy has become. The survey also found that 75% of Americans agree that the future of American democracy is at risk in the 2024 presidential election — and the belief only varies slightly across party lines. 84% of Democrats are most likely to agree, while it’s 77% for Republicans and 73% for independents.
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