Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Donald Trump's supporters 'believe President Obama is a Muslim born in another country'

A poll of Republican voters found the GOP electorate were confused over his religion

Heather Saul
Wednesday 02 September 2015 09:40 EDT
Comments
U.S. President Barack Obama
U.S. President Barack Obama

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

More than half of Republican supporters believe President Obama is a Muslim, a poll of the GOP electorate has found.

A survey by Public Policy Polling (PPP) examined Donald Trump's sway with GOP voters and highlighted his continuing lead over his rivals in the run up to the Republican Presidential nominations.

It found those polled wrongly believed President Obama was a Muslim, when he actually identifies as a Christian.

Mr Obama, who was born in Hawaii, has openly described his “deep faith” in the past, saying in 2007 his belief was rooted in Christianity, although his father was a Muslim.

Public Policy Polling (PPP) said Trump was benefiting from a Republican electorate who believe President Obama is a Muslim who was not born in the US, with 66 per cent of Trump’s supporters believing he is Muslim, and only 12 per cent saying he is a Christian.

“Trump's beliefs represent the consensus among the GOP electorate,” the US based polling firm said in a summary of results. “Fifty one per cent overall want to eliminate birthright citizenship. Fifty four per cent think President Obama is a Muslim. And only 29 per cent grant that President Obama was born in the United States. That's less than the 40 per cent who think Canadian born Ted Cruz was born in the United States.”

However, as the Washington Post points out, the small sample size could suggest the PPP's results are overstated, while the three limited options for answering what respondents believe his religion is - Christian, Muslim, or 'not sure', may have influenced the outcome.

It also concluded Trump is winning in the opinion polls over Megan Kelly, after sparring with her in the GOP debate and subsequently criticising her and the Fox News network on Twitter.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in