Ipsos Poll: Trump Voters Answer Questions about Current Events Incorrectly

A troubling, but not surprising, result

Jemar Tisby, PhD

is a Christian, a historian, and the author of “The Color of Compromise,” “How to Fight Racism,” “The Spirit of Justice,” and the great Substack,

Footnotes by Jemar Tisby

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One of his recent posts discusses a troubling, but not at all surprising, poll from Ipsos. People who incorrectly answered questions about the current state of immigration, crime, and the economy — meaning their perceptions were out of line with reality — were far more likely to vote for Trump than for Harris.

What are we to make of this poll? In Tisby’s view, these misinformed voters live in a conservative media ecosystem that promotes misinformation and propaganda.

I know that sounds conspiratorial, but keep in mind three things:

1. The Department of Justice charged Tenet Media and a number of Russian citizens for funneling payments from Vladimir Putin’s government to conservative influencers in the U.S. to espouse specific talking points.

According to the DOJ charges, Russia paid Tenet to pay YouTubers and podcasters to talk about divisive culture war issues (trans athletes in high school!) and cast doubt on U.S. support for Ukraine (why are we spending money there instead of here?).

2. Various conservative mega-donors have “discovered,” funded, and supported the most popular conservative-leaning YouTubers and podcasters for years.

Taylor Lorenz

explains how conservative donors coordinate to identify, elevate, and amplify conservative voices. They’re not doing so out of the kindness of their hearts; these donors view these creators as advertising for conservative ideas.

Many of these creators, like Joe Rogan and Theo Von, are not explicitly “political,” which makes their discussions of politics all the more potent for those who don’t pay attention to political news.

3. People gripe about prices while spending money like they don’t care.

According to the Federal Reserve, low, middle, and high-income households have all been increasing their real average spending (adjusted for inflation) since mid-2023. People across the income distribution are griping about prices at the same time they’re spending more money than ever.

What could explain that cognitive dissonance? It’s plausible, if not probable, that tens of millions of Americans spend much of their day listening to YouTubers and podcasters bitch about high prices.

Misperception becomes reality.

What are Christians to do?

1. Check our own media diet. Where do we get most of our news? Are we getting it from news sources or entertainers who sometimes chat about news?

2. Speak truth. When we have opportunity to point out problematic media diets and correct misperceptions, we should do so. Christians are supposed to be people of truth and integrity.

3. Rest. You can’t do it all. You can’t change every mind. Know when to walk away.

Blessings.