Kerby Anderson

A recent poll of Americans conducted by NewsGuard and YouGov is disturbing on its face. It is even more concerning the deeper you delve into the data. The topline comment is that a sizable number of Democrats and a small number of Republicans believe the assassination attempts on President Trump were fake.

The pollsters found that a third (34%) of Democrats said the White House Correspondents Dinner was staged, and more than four in ten (42%) said the shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania was staged. A much smaller percentage of Republicans (13%) said the dinner was staged, and just seven percent said that the Butler shooting was staged.

The Democrat percentages are huge and one of the reasons Democratic Senator John Fetterman shamed his party by saying that, “Assassinations + political violence are real. My party can’t be the tin foil hat brigade.” He even added, “I was there a table away and I promise you, this was not staged.”

The fact that Americans in either party make these statements illustrate how much of a significant number don’t believe what they read and see. Instead, they buy into any conspiracy that might be floated on social media.

At Butler, the president was shot, two men were killed (if you count the shooter), and two others were seriously wounded. This isn’t just believing in a conspiracy; this is political fantasy.

But it gets worse. The poll questions gave respondents the option of saying they were not sure. If we add these together, a majority of Americans (56%) say the dinner was staged or are unsure and a majority of Americans (53%) say the Butler incident is staged or are unsure.

This majority lives in a fantasy world, but unfortunately most of them will vote in November. We should be very concerned.