For 20% of Americans, Obama is Muslim
August 19, 2010 by Yppo · Leave a Comment
For 20% of Americans, Obama is Muslim – One in five Americans believe – wrongly – that President Barack Obama is a Muslim. So says a survey by the Pew Research Center from July 21 to August 3 with 3003 people.
The U.S. president, goes to church regularly and has made numerous public statements about his Christian faith since joining the White House in January 2009.
Meanwhile, the number of Americans who correctly identify Obama as Christian has declined by nearly half in a year to 34%.
According to the survey, one third of Republicans think the U.S. president is Muslim, almost double from last year.
The number of persons not enrolled in a political party (independents) and who share this misconception has increased eight points to 18%.
This poll was conducted before the American president’s statements last week that upheld the right of Muslims to build a mosque near the site of the Sept. 11 attacks in New York, on behalf of freedom of religion guaranteed by the Constitution. Statements that have caused a media storm and raised the emotions of families of victims of the attacks.
Among those surveyed who say Obama is Muslim, 60% say they have learned this through the media.
