It doesn’t matter if large groups of Muslims in New Jersey celebrated the fall of the Twin Towers on 9/11, as long as you believe they did.
And 20 percent of Americans believe they did, despite a lack of evidence that is not surprising, because it didn’t happen.
But what happened is immaterial.
“The belief that American Muslims celebrated 9/11 has become part of a broader anti-Muslim narrative in American politics,” said Dan Cassino, PhD, a professor of Political Science at Fairleigh Dickinson University. “This is less about what actually happened, and more about what seems consistent with existing beliefs.”
Another 38 percent of Americans, according to a Fairleigh Dickinson poll, say they’re not sure whether or not the celebrations, a fantasy of billionaire Donald Trump, actually occurred.
So a majority believe what Trump has been selling, or aren’t sure that it didn’t.
And those who are more informed on the issue, as is the case across the board when it comes to information, are pointy-headed, liberal-media kool-aid-drinking elitists.
“Fact checking isn’t going to have much of an effect on people who don’t trust the fact-checkers,” said Cassino. “Since many consider the media to be partisan, we need another way to help determine what is or isn’t true.”
Ah, so it’s the media’s word against the word of The Donald. No contest there.
According to the poll, 11 percent of Americans say that they trust the media “a great deal,” with another 40 percent saying that they trust it “some,” and 49 percent saying that they have no or “not very much” trust in the media.
The party divide on trust is what you’d expect: 58 percent of Republicans have no or “not very much” trust in the media, compared to only 38 percent of Democrats.
Sixty percent of Trump supporters report similarly low levels of media trust, compared to 36 percent of Clinton supporters.
Looking at the question by party lines, 32 percent of Republicans say that the celebrations happened, with another 40 percent who say they aren’t sure. In contrast, only 13 percent of Democrats nationwide say that the celebrations happened, with 30 percent who say they aren’t sure.
“Increasingly, Republicans and Democrats aren’t just disagreeing about policies, but about facts,” said Cassino. “And the more politically charged a claim is, the more likely we are to see a divide in what people believe.”
From a demographic perspective, more educated Americans are more likely to doubt that the celebrations took place: 58 percent of Americans with a college degree say that they did not occur, compared with 36 percent of those who never attended college.
Which is to say, knowledge is a solid disinfectant, but the stink here is just too much.
– Story by Chris Graham
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