Has the fringe gone mainstream?
A poll says a third of us are Obama 'birthers' or 9/11 'truthers—were we always this paranoid?
“Is extremism becoming mainstream in 21st-century American politics?” said Tom Jensen at Public Policy Polling. It sure looks like it, judging by our latest national poll. A third of the country, 35 percent, either thinks that Barack Obama was born outside the U.S. (including 42 percent of Republicans) or that George W. Bush intentionally allowed 9/11 to happen (25 percent of Democrats). And “a very troubled 2 percent” buys into “both conspiracy theories.”
It’s bad enough that only 59 percent of voters think Obama was born in the U.S., said Eric Kleefeld in Talking Points Memo, but 14 percent of Democrats say they think Bush is the Antichrist, and 19 percent of Republicans think the same of Obama. As PPP’s Jensen notes, it’s “strange times in American politics.”
The 9/11 “truthers” and Obama “birthers” may be new phenomena, said Arthur Goldwag in the Chicago Tribune, but what historian Richard Hofstadter called “the paranoid style in American politics” is not. The John Birch Society called Eisenhower a “dedicated agent of the communist conspiracy,” while Bill Clinton was said to be selling drugs and “bumping off” enemies. Still, that doesn’t make today’s delusional “conspiracism” any less “mind-boggling.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
It’s true that “the ‘paranoid’ style did not return suddenly this summer,” said David Greenberg in Slate, but we also can’t understand today’s “birthers and town hall screamers and Glenn Beck acolytes” by using Hofstadter’s “Goldwater-era” treatise on “right-wing fringe politics.” But Hofstadter is useful is when he talks about the history of paranoid politics—viewing past fringe movements makes today’s “more comprehensible and perhaps less fearsome.”
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
How the woke right gained power in the US
Under the radar The term has grown in prominence since Donald Trump returned to the White House
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK
-
Codeword: April 24, 2025
The Week's daily codeword puzzle
By The Week Staff
-
Crossword: April 24, 2025
The Week's daily crossword
By The Week Staff
-
The JFK files: the truth at last?
In The Spotlight More than 64,000 previously classified documents relating the 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy have been released by the Trump administration
By The Week Staff
-
'Seriously, not literally': how should the world take Donald Trump?
Today's big question White House rhetoric and reality look likely to become increasingly blurred
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK
-
Will Trump's 'madman' strategy pay off?
Today's Big Question Incoming US president likes to seem unpredictable but, this time round, world leaders could be wise to his playbook
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK
-
Democrats vs. Republicans: who are the billionaires backing?
The Explainer Younger tech titans join 'boys' club throwing money and support' behind President Trump, while older plutocrats quietly rebuke new administration
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK
-
US election: where things stand with one week to go
The Explainer Harris' lead in the polls has been narrowing in Trump's favour, but her campaign remains 'cautiously optimistic'
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK
-
Is Trump okay?
Today's Big Question Former president's mental fitness and alleged cognitive decline firmly back in the spotlight after 'bizarre' town hall event
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK
-
The life and times of Kamala Harris
The Explainer The vice-president is narrowly leading the race to become the next US president. How did she get to where she is now?
By The Week UK
-
Will 'weirdly civil' VP debate move dial in US election?
Today's Big Question 'Diametrically opposed' candidates showed 'a lot of commonality' on some issues, but offered competing visions for America's future and democracy
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK