A full 20 percent of Americans believe it’s likely the U.S. government is using the Covid-19 vaccine to microchip the population, according to a YouGov/Economist survey of 1,500 respondents. The poll showed that 65 percent of respondents said that the scenario is probably or definitely false, and 14 percent were unsure.
Broken down by political leanings, 8 percent of Biden voters believe it, while 29 percent of those who voted for Donald Trump believe somewhat or definitely in the microchip theory.
When asked whether the Covid-19 virus threat was exaggerated for political reasons, Biden voters overwhelmingly said it likely was not. 82 percent said it was probably not or definitely not exaggerated, while 13 percent said it was likely or definitely exaggerated.
Trump voters took a different view: 76 percent said the threat was probably or definitely exaggerated, and only 17 percent said it probably or definitely was not exaggerated.
That same poll found that liberals are quite familiar with the QAnon phenomenon. In the poll, 23 percent of respondents overall had heard a lot about QAnon, 43 percent had heard a little, and 34 percent were unfamiliar with the concept.
Liberals were much more familiar with QAnon, possibly because of the fixation of mainstream media on QAnon trends. 40 percent of Biden voters were very familiar with QAnon, 42 percent were somewhat familiar, and 18 percent were not familiar.
For conservatives, 15 percent of Trump voters were very familiar with the QAnon trend, 52 percent were a little familiar, but 33 percent had not heard of it.
QAnon is a message board on the internet that is described by Wikipedia as a discredited far-right conspiracy theory alleging that a cabal of Satan worshipers and pedophile/cannibals run a global sex trafficking ring and conspired against President Donald Trump. The mainstream media used the online message board as a boogeyman during the 2020 election cycle. No one knows how many people pay attention to the various QAnon theories that are occasionally spun.
Associated Press describes it: “Loosely tying these movements together is a general distrust of a powerful, often leftist elite. Among them are purveyors of anti-vaccine falsehoods, adherents of Trump’s “Big Lie” that the 2020 presidential election was stolen and believers in just about any other worldview convinced that a shadowy cabal secretly controls things.”
Taking the QAnon question further, 88 percent of Biden voters had a negative opinion of the QAnon trend, while only 46 percent of Trump voters held a negative position on the matter.
73 percent of Biden voters didn’t know anyone who adheres to QAnon, but 14 percent of Biden voters know someone who does believe QAnon. 78 percent of Trump voters didn’t know anyone associated with QAnon, and only 8 percent said they know someone who is.
When asked the question if they believe millions of illegal votes were cast in the 2020 general election, 90 percent of Biden voters said probably or definitely not, while 83 percent of Trump voters said probably or definitely yes.
YouGov describes itself as an international research data and analytics group.
