US election poll: One in five believe Covid-19 is a ‘depopulation plan orchestrated by UN’ amid disturbing rise in conspiracy theories
Category: News & Politics
Via: tessylo • 4 years ago • 41 commentsBy: Louise Boyle, The Independent
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
US election poll: One in five believe Covid-19 is a ‘depopulation plan orchestrated by UN’ amid disturbing rise in conspiracy theories
A woman with a QAnon shirt protesting a mandate from the Massachusetts Governor requiring all children, aged K-12, to receive a flu vaccine
(AFP via Getty Images)MoreAmid a disturbing rise in the number of conspiracy theories taking root in the US population , a new poll has fo un d that nearly one in five people believe that the coronavirus pandemic is a “depopulation tactic”.
Some 19 per cent of adults across the country agreed that “ Covid-19 has been intentionally released as part of a ‘depopulation’ plan orchestrated by the UN or New World Order”, according to new polling data shared exclusively with The Independent by HOPE not hate (Hnh), an anti-extremism non-profit.
The survey of 5,500 people also found that nearly a quarter (23 per cent) of Americans asked think that it’s definitely, or probably, true that a Covid-19 vaccine “will be used maliciously to infect people with poison”.
Only slightly more than half (56 per cent) said that they would take a Covid-19 vaccine, when polled last month. Just over one in five (21 per cent) said that currently they would not be vaccinated, 14 per cent said they would definitely not be and another 7 per cent said probably not. The remaining 24 per cent of adults were unsure or preferred not to share their opinions on vaccination.
Men appear far more willing to take a vaccine than women. Four in ten men said that they would strongly agree with being vaccinated compared to 27 per cent of women. More than double the number of women (18 per cent) said they were strongly against a vaccine, compared to men,
Just 16 per cent of Trump voters said they would be willing to take a vaccination against Covid-19 when one emerges, according to the poll, compared to 71 per cent of Biden voters.
Nearly a quarter of American adults believe that a Covid-19 vaccine “will be used to maliciously infect people with poison”, according to new pollingHOPE not hate
The president has muddied the waters around a potential vaccine, alternately offering overly optimistic timelines and then spreading conspiracy theories and misinformation.
This week, the president pushed a conspiracy theory that hospitals are over-classifying coronavirus deaths because “doctors get more money and hospitals get more money" - even though there is no evidence of that and experts say the count is likely under-reported.
“Our doctors get more money if someone dies from Covid. You know that, right?" Mr Trump claimed. “I mean, our doctors are very smart people.”
The president’s promotion of the conspiracy came amid a record surge of coronavirus cases in the US, which is pushing hospitals to the brink of capacity and killing up to 1,000 people every day.
The US recorded 9 million cases on Friday, with almost 229,000 dead since the outbreak of the pandemic early this year, according to a Reuters tally of publicly reported data.
Mr Trump has repeatedly insisted a vaccine could be authorized before election day, even though top government scientists have cautioned that such a rapid timeline is unlikely.
He has also made baseless accusations that the “deep state” at the Food and Drug Administration is slowing down the approval of vaccines.
Former FDA officials warned earlier this month that public perception that a vaccine was being rushed out for political reasons could derail efforts to vaccinate millions across the country.
A report earlier this year from the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) found that given how easily Covid-19 spreads, “60% to 70% of thepopulation may need to be immune to reach a critical threshold of herd immunity to halt the pandemic”.
While the effectiveness of the vaccine plays a role, it suggests that to stop coronavirus spreading would require millions of people in the US, and billions worldwide, to take a vaccine.
Coronavirus remains a top priority for Americans, according to the new Hnh poll. Two-thirds think that the president has mismanaged the pandemic while 55 per cent believing that Covid-19 has shone a light on the vast inequality that exists in American society.
Overall, there is widespread uptake in conspiracy theories across the states.
One-third of Americans (32 per cent) said that they think it is definitely or probably true that “elites in Hollywood, government, the media and other powerful positions are secretly engaging in large scale child trafficking and abuse”, a belief that has proliferated with the far-right conspiracy theory QAnon.
One in 10 Americans identify themselves as supporters of QAnon and of significant concern is the fact that 72 per cent of those who consider themselves strong QAnon supporters think violence is justified to defend something they believe in.
Dr Joe Mulhall, head of research for HOPE not hate, told The Independent : "Measuring conspiracy theory belief is notoriously difficult, and we should be cautious when judging how much people's stated opinions reflect their deeply held views. Even so, we found a depressingly high level of awareness and support for conspiracy theories among large sections of US society - suggesting widespread distrust of the authorities and a feeling amongst many that they aren't masters of their own destiny.
“Whilst some conspiracies are harmless, many anti-vaccine and Covid-19 conspiracies have the potential to cause people to behave in ways that will damage both theirs and their communities' health. There is an urgent need for effective strategies to combat disinformation, not just in America but across the world.”
Over the last few weeks, HOPE not hate has polled a total of 15,500 US adults with 80 questions on a range of political, cultural and attitudinal issues.
The information shared exclusively with The Independent was analyzed by data companies, Hanbury Strategy and FocalData, and is set to be published in a study, “Fear & Hope USA” later this week.
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"Amid a disturbing rise in the number of conspiracy theories taking root in the US population , a new poll has fo un d that nearly one in five people believe that the coronavirus pandemic is a “depopulation tactic”.
Some 19 per cent of adults across the country agreed that “ Covid-19 has been intentionally released as part of a ‘depopulation’ plan orchestrated by the UN or New World Order”, according to new polling data shared exclusively with The Independent by HOPE not hate (Hnh), an anti-extremism non-profit."
Many tRump supporters support these whackjob conspiracy theories. This supports my previous comments of tRump having 20% support, his base.
Are idiots! It's rather scary that so many actually believe conspiracy theories. Yeah, or country is screwed.
And in recent years its gotten considerably worse, as Trump has egged them on!
While he does have his many weak points, he's a master manipulated of the mentally-challenged. One of the better con men is recent history.
Aw c'mon-- os that the best you've got?
(Pretty sad, really
So where do these 62 million people live because this is the first time I've heard of this theory so they must live somewhere else. While I don't doubt that there are some people who might believe this I don't believe it's 19% of the american population. I think this is just made up, look at the graph those are some pretty scientific sounding demographic groups. They should do a real poll and find out what percent of the population is stupid enough to believe this poll.
Never underestimate the stupidity of the American people.
Hmmm. Maybe this poll should be used to determine who should be the subject of a real depopulation conspiracy theory. It can’t hurt to speed up the natural selection process.
Especially among the Qanon supporters.
If COVID was meant to depopulate the world then it isn't working very well. The mortality rate is too low to accomplish that. The SARS-CoV-2 virus has been extremely effective at killing western economies, though. And the West has become even more dependent upon China as a result.
Thank you China.
Riiiight! Because an economic shutdown and recession of China's biggest trading partner really works for their benefit. >sarc<
China has an expendable portion of the population that doesn't require protection. And if China is the only supplier then where will China's biggest trading partners get what they need?
Shutting down the West's economies with a resulting recession greatly benefits China in the long term. China will continue to supply everything needed while the West's economies recover. We can expect China's economy to return to higher growth while the West's economies remain stagnant over the next decade.
Are you suggesting this was a Chinese conspiracy?
Or a QANon conspiracy?
The key word in either is "conspiracy," which translated means BS!
Doubtful that China planned a pandemic. But the technocratic response by the West has been predictable. Neoliberal technocrats have seized the opportunity provided by the pandemic to further weaken democratic national sovereignty with bureaucratic central planning.
China doesn't play by those rules and will not submit to technocratic authority. If there is a conspiracy, that conspiracy is entirely in the West.
You sound like you're convinced there's a conspiracy.
Do you really like the future that Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton gave us? Isn't today's reality what we were promised?
You're deflecting.
Or a Hillary conspiracy?
Or a Bernie Sanders extremist Stalinist conspiracy?
Did you know: Joe Biden is the furthest left most extreme Commie the Democratic party ever had?
Biden is actually far to the left of Chairman Mao, even!
(I know its true-- I heardit on Fox News!!!)
And by the same token, if Hitler had meant to conquer the world, as well as exterminate the jews...well, that also obviously didn't work out to well either,did it?
Same faulty & misleading "logic" as your argument.
There have been 46 million confirmed infections and 1.2 million fatalities out of a population of 7,600 million. The United States has 0.233 million fatalities out of a population of 328 million.
If COVID was intended to depopulate the world or the United States then it will take centuries to achieve that intended objective. Do the math.
Hitler attempted to conquer the world with lies. Isn't that what the technocratic bureaucracy of the West doing? Do the math.
Of my close associates, most of whom are over 50,
I have had one death recently ( Rice Tilley (TX) RIP) and several clients out of work for months,
One tested positive for 90 days and lost his sense of taste and smell and could not return to work until he tested negative. (TX)
Another had it, was hospitalized and sent home. Still cannot breathe well and has no stamina - was ordered back to work or else in GA - they said regardless of his Positive testing he is no longer contagious.
( Glad I don't work there )
Another in GA had basically the whole family test positive with daughter very ill. he was staying in a hotel - haven't heard from him for weeks - employer says he is on leave of absence.
Which one do you envy Nerm ?
It would be more accurate to say that the COVID-19 virus is a weaponized, biological attack used by the US regime against its own people. Moneys recovered from the medical care of the socially murdered seniors will be funneled into the military and the pockets of the wealthiest CEOs.
Ah, I've been looking for someone that has a bridge for sale! Can you get me one, cheap?
The standard, time-worn reply for that-- from the earliest days of Internet Discussion Forums was:
Where can I get some of that stuff that you're smokin'?
But I won't say that because its so old-fashioned, cliched....and under the new and 100% improved CoC on this sight might well be considered to be a very Cardinal Sin (as well as a violation of the brand-new, improved, U.S. gov't inspected. 100% Kosher and totally Halal section of the CoC re: the heinous crime of "Taunting").
So I won't say that-- instead, I'll let your own obsessive paranoia stand so it can be appropriately mocked by those others assembled here on this auspicious day! (Mocking Extreme Paranoia can be fun...I intend to sit back and enjoy the show!
heh
Before there's a vaccine for Covid perhaps we should focus on a vaccine for conspiracy loonies.
"Before there's a vaccine for Covid perhaps we should focus on a vaccine for conspiracy loonies."
LOL! If only such a thing was possible!
Unfortunately there's no cure for "Stuck on Stupid"-- and probably never will be.
Back in January, had we been living in the movie The Andromeda Strain, somebody would have said "There's a fire", but it appears that there wasn't anyone who was capable of knowing that. The only "fires" that they comprehended were on the west coast.
If it can kill off the racists, white supremacists, dangerous militias, peds, rapists, murderers and bullies, I can live with that kind of depopulation.
And melt all the guns.
Not all, but I would settle for some. Some need guns to provide food for their families.
Yet somehow 99% of hunters and fishermen spend many times the value of the meat on their game. It is not unusual for hunters to spend thousands to bag a deer or some trout. Like owning horses, hunting and fishing is now, more and more, a rich man's pastime...
I've never heard of anyone killing somebody with a fishing pole. LOL
Where are Klaatu and Gort when we really need them....
Trump is the only politician I've heard of who deliberately kills off his own voters:
I don't keep up with celebrity gossip so when it was said in this video that Colin Jost just married Scarlett Johansson, I thought it w sas some kind of a joke.
But it turns out its true!
Let's hope the percentages of Trump supporters who will and will not take the vaccine remain steady. I'm not at all surprised that the low information citizen thinks COVID was intentionally released by outside entities for purposes of population control. I think it's more likely that this Administration could be accused of conducting a campaign of population control by promoting herd immunity and mixed messaging on what we all should be doing to keep ourselves and our loved ones safe. If people want to point fingers on depopulation they need not look anywhere else but the current Administration.
With a little help from Trump's friends..over at Faux News!
They are "accesories to the crime"-- they helped Trump spread the word that the virus was merely a Democratic Hoax, that it would soon disappear of its own accord, that Trump and his Munchkins "had it under control", etc, etc.
Amazing stuff!