Poll: 15-20% of Americans agree with QAnon beliefs

Fifteen to 20% of Americans believe in tenets central to the far-right QAnon conspiracy theory movement — a minority, but not an insignificant number — a new poll by the Public Religion Research Institute found.

The more than 5,100 people who were surveyed were asked about three core QAnon beliefs, with roughly a quarter of Republicans agreeing with the wild statements. 

Fifteen percent of all Americans and 23% of Republicans said they agree that “the government, media, and financial worlds in the U.S. are controlled by a group of Satan-worshipping pedophiles who run a global child sex trafficking operation.”

Twenty percent of Americans and 28% of Republicans said they believe that “there is a storm coming soon that will sweep away the elites in power and restore the rightful leaders.”

And when asked if they believe that “because things have gotten so far off track, true American patriots may have to resort to violence in order to save our country,” 15% of Americans and 28% of Republicans agreed.

While Republicans are more likely to support them, QAnon conspiracy theories also are finding an audience among independents and Democrats, the survey found. 

Thirteen percent of independents and 7% of Democrats said they agree that there is a cabal of Satanists who control the government, media and financial worlds and also run a child sex ring. Eighteen percent of independents an 14% of Democrats believe there is a coming “storm.” And 14% of independents and 8% of Democrats agree that violence might be necessary to put the country back on track.

PRRI, a nonpartisan, nonprofit research organization, said it conducted the poll to “understand how this loosely connected belief system is influencing American politics, religion, and media.”

Robert P. Jones, the group’s founder and CEO, noted in a tweet that the 15% of Americans who believe in QAnon amounts to about 30 million people. If QAnon were a religion, it would be roughly the same size as white evangelical Protestants or white mainline Protestants, he added.

The survey found that news consumption habits likely play a key role in whether someone supports QAnon beliefs. For instance, nearly half of those surveyed (48%) who said they trust the far-right TV networks Newsmax and OAN said they believe in the “storm.”

And QAnon supporters are more likely to believe in conspiracy theories in general, according to the poll. For example, 73% of QAnon backers believe that the presidential election was stolen from Donald Trump, compared to 29% of Americans overall. And while 9% of the general population believe a surveillance microchip is being planted in COVID-19 vaccines, that number soars to 39% among those who agree with the QAnon movement.

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