Misinformation and conspiracy theories are misleading Americans into believing false accusations that could sway their decisions this election season.
Distrust in scientists among American citizens has increased from 12% in 2020 to a shocking 27% in 2024. This, coupled with a general rise of distrust in the government, has led to a lack of understanding of other political parties and ideals.
Student activist Jaren McGruder shares his belief why Americans’ faith in government has declined.“American democracy is based on trust between government and civilians; however, if a section of the government intentionally spreads misinformation, this creates a larger polarized gap between society as political misinformation and rhetoric builds a distrust between people of opposing political groups,” McGruder stated.
Consequently, the rise of wariness among voters has led to frequent conspiracy theories . These theories, especially regarding the two presidential candidates, may cause voters to misinterpret reality.
Some conspiracy theories include Vice President Kamala Harris not being born in the US, Biden’s resignation from the election being faked, Harris being associated with Sean Combs “P.Diddy” and the man-made creation of Hurricane Milton.
Former President Donald Trump spearheaded many conspiracy theories, creating a cloud of misconception around his supporters. Trump has been known to promote false conspiracy theories during the past three elections for his own benefit.
Students are worried about the consequences of misinformation and conspiracy theories on the minds of politically undecided individuals. “Politicians utilizing misinformation and conspiracy theories to create a distrust and alter their beliefs of what has happened in a situation or with people is just flat out wrong. It results in the actuality of the situation to be hindered for no reason except the gain of another political figure,” added McGruder.
Furthermore, most Americans blindly follow a politician’s blatant false claims as long as it lines up with their own political beliefs, a phenomenon more generally known as confirmation bias.
During the 2020 election, four out of five people showed signs of confirmation bias.
“I believe reliable information is crucial for American voters, as many people are not willing to do extensive research to fact check every claim every politician makes. As politicians share falsified information, we run the risk of American voters not being properly informed and following claims that line up with their political biases. It ruins the point of democracy,” Shared PVHS social studies teacher Brooke Bell.
Lately, AI image creation has been another engine for generating conspiracy theories. As previously stated, Trump endorsed a photo depicting Harris in relations with Combs, which he took down later after discovering its falsified nature.
As conspiracy theories continue to provide misinformation to American voters, the dangers they pose will persist to prove hazardous to the minds of indecisive individuals. Come election day, proper fact checking will ensure Americans are properly informed on who they should vote for.
