Then-Secretary of State Colin Powell testifies on Iraq's alleged weapons programs to the United Nations Security Council on Feb. 5, 2003. Poll: Half of Republicans still believe WMDs found in Iraq

Republicans and Fox News viewers are more likely to hold false beliefs about the president and the war in Iraq, according to a new poll.

In a Public Mind poll from Fairleigh Dickinson University released Wednesday, more than half of Republicans — 51 percent — and half of those who watch Fox News — 52 percent — say that they believe it to be “definitely true” or “probably true” that American forces found an active weapons of mass destruction program in Iraq.


Thirty-two percent of Democrats, 46 percent of independents, 41 percent of people who reported to watch CNN and 14 percent of MSNBC viewers answered similarly.

Overall, 42 percent still believe that troops discovered WMDs, a misleading factor in the decision to invade Iraq in 2003. It was later found that Iraq did have individual stockpiles of chemical weapons, but there was no active WMD program in the country.

Thirty-four percent of Republicans believe that rumors of President Barack Obama not being a legal citizen of the United States are “definitely true” or “probably true.” Only 7 percent of Democrats also held this belief. Even after Obama released his birth certificate, 22 percent of independent voters still believe that Obama is probably or definitely not a U.S. citizen.

Fox News viewers were much more likely than others to believe the “birther” rumors. Thirty percent of Fox News viewers thought the rumors were “definitely” or “probably true,” higher than the combined amount of MSNBC and CNN viewers who thought the same.

Thirteen percent of Americans believe that the Secret Service is intentionally leaving the president unprotected as part of a plot — including 16 percent of Democrats, who said this is “definitely” or “probably true.” Only 12 percent of independents and 8 percent of Republicans believed the same. Non-white participants were twice as likely to believe in a Secret Service plot against the president.

This poll was conducted between Dec. 8-15 among 964 people and has a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.

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