By Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Belief of Americans in antisemitic conspiracy theories and tropes has nearly doubled since 2019, an Anti-Defamation League (ADL) survey showed on Thursday.
The survey asked Americans how much they agreed with statements expressing anti-Jewish tropes or conspiracy theories and found that more than half of Americans believed at least one, the New York-based advocacy group said.
About 85% of Americans believed at least one anti-Jewish trope, compared with 61% in 2019, the ADL said, adding that 20% of Americans believed six or more anti-Jewish tropes, substantially more than the 11% in 2019.
Reports of antisemitism have increased nationwide. The issue drew headlines after Republican former President Donald Trump hosted white supremacist Nick Fuentes and Ye, the musician formerly known as Kanye West, at his private club in Florida. Trump said the encounter with Fuentes happened inadvertently while he was having dinner with Ye.
Ye has drawn widespread criticism for a spate of antisemitic comments – including praise for Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler – and was suspended from social media platforms.
About 39% of the respondents in the ADL survey believed Jews were more loyal to Israel than the United States.
The survey, which had responses from 4,000 individuals collected in the autumn of 2022, presented 14 statements to respondents and asked them if they believed them to be “Mostly/Somewhat True” or “Mostly/Somewhat False.”
The White House addressed rising antisemitism in a roundtable event with Jewish leaders in December and President Joe Biden established an inter-agency group to coordinate efforts to counter antisemitism.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
