Republicans were, though, more likely to believe Russian disinformation claims than their Democratic counterparts, with 57.6% falling for at least one Russian disinformation claim, compared with just 17.9% of Democrats and 29.5% of people who didn’t identify with one particular party.
I looked at the 10 false claims used for the test. Most of them were ridiculously easy to dismiss as false. The only one I had difficulty with was identifying whether social security cuts were part of “Project 2025” agenda, due to the agenda being very extensive (the source says 922 pages) and me not living in a country that it’s about. Thus I’d have answered “not sure”. I’d have also answered “not sure” about the birth place of some terrorist.
If people stumble on these, people are really poorly informed or unable / unwilling to inform themselves.
Some guesses.
the US media environment is very entertainment-focused?
the US education system leaves things to be desired?
the US population spends a high amount of time in social media echo chambers?
do Republicans spend more of online time in bot-infested places?
do they have lower bot recognition and fact checking skills?
are they drinking the kool-aid because their great leader drank it, so it seems legit?
In general, propaganda works. That’s why people pay for it. When you have a delicate equilibrium and you can push it past the tipping point with little effort, that’s the most economical way of disabling an opponent. :( Using force would require a spending a trillion, but using disinformation, you can get outcomes with a tiny amount.
The problem with these debunks is that the “false claim” is adjusted so that it is easier to debunk.
By specifically focusing on polio it can be claimed this was never true. Remove the word polio and there is partial truth. Some combined vaccines still contain tiny amounts Thimerosal though most don’t.