Unfounded Rumors Claim About 25 Percent of Americans Believed Hitler Was a Good Person

Claim:

The results of a November 2024 YouGov poll showed that almost a quarter of Americans thought Hitler was a good person.

Evaluation:

Context:

The YouGov poll, conducted between October 31 and November 1, 2024, among U.S. citizens aged 18 and over, found that only a small portion of respondents had positive or mixed views of Hitler. Only 1% saw him as “a completely good person,” 4% saw him as “a good person who does some bad things,” and 7% saw him as “equally good and bad.” Additionally, 12% of those surveyed were “unsure” about their views on Hitler.

An early November 2024 rumor spread social media Almost a quarter of Americans to believe Hitler was a good person.

(X user @IImpartialTruth)

Some of the posts making the claim included a screenshot of an article by English-language Israeli newspaper The Jerusalem Post titled “Nearly a quarter of Americans believe ‘Hitler was a good person’ poll.”

One X user, whose post has nearly 150,000 views as of the time of this writing. subtitled screenshot (archived): “Are we back?”

(X user @lifepeptides)

Another X post “It’s Happening” statedAs of this writing, it has reached 1.7 million views, 39,000 likes and 4,300 shares. Screenshot also appeared at: reddit.

But the real survey results YouGov’s research, which surveyed 1,077 Americans, did not show that nearly a quarter of those polled saw Hitler as a good person. Therefore, we evaluated this claim as false.

Source of Screenshot

The screenshot added to the social media posts was taken from a source. article It was published by The Jerusalem Post 9 November 2024. The headline of the article was indeed: “Nearly a quarter of Americans believe ‘Hitler was a good person’ – survey.”

The subhead read: “A majority of Americans think Hitler was a bad person, 65%; party-wide majorities, Democrats 75%, Republicans 60%, and Independents 59%.” The article continued:

However, the title of the article was misleading and did not reflect the actual results. The poll found that only a small proportion of respondents had positive or mixed views of Hitler. Only 1% saw him as “a completely good person,” 4% saw him as “a good person who does some bad things,” and 7% saw him as “equally good and bad.” Additionally, 12% of those surveyed were “unsure” about their views on Hitler.

we reached Jerusalem Post For a comment. We will update this report if we receive a response.

About the Survey

questionnaire Conducted by survey and market research company YouGov Among U.S. citizens ages 18 and over between October 31 and November 1, 2024.

according to results of the surveyparticipants were selected from YouGov’s engagement panel to be representative of the U.S. adult population, with responses weighted by gender, age, race, education, 2020 election turnout and presidential votes, party affiliation, and voter registration. Political identity reflected an estimated split of 33% Democrat and 31% Republican. 1,077 participants participated in the survey, which was conducted via web-based interviews, with a margin of error of ±3.9%.

In early November 2024, its results were reported by news outlets such as: Washington Post And news week. “Open appreciation of Hitler is acceptable for nearly half of Trump voters.” Washington Post Newsweek’s headline was: “One in Five Americans Doesn’t Think Hitler Was All Bad: Survey.”

Official According to YouGov documentThe actual breakdown of responses provided a much clearer picture:

• 1% considered Hitler a “totally good person”;

• 4% saw him as “a good person who did some bad things”;

• 7% saw him as “equally good and bad person”;

• 12% said “not sure.”

This leaves 65 percent who view Hitler as a “totally bad person”; The remaining participants say he is a bad person who does some good things.

You can see all the survey results Here.

(YouGov)

We’ve reached out to YouGov for a comment and will update this report if we hear back.

We also investigated other rumors about Hitler to find out more:

Sources:

About YouGov | YouGov. https://yougov.co.uk/about. Access date: 13 November 2024.

Emery, David. “Did Donald Trump Say ‘Mein Kampf’ Had a ‘Profound Impact’ on Him?” Snopes, April 17, 2019, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/trump-hitler-mein-kampf/.

“Nearly a quarter of Americans believe ‘Hitler was a good person’ – Survey.” Jerusalem Post | JPost.Com, 9 November 2024, https://www.jpost.com/american-politics/article-828218.

PerryCook, Taija. “Did Trump Once Say ‘I Need the Kind of Generals Hitler Had’?” Snopes, October 25, 2024, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/trump-hitler-generals/.

Reporter, Theo Burman Live News. “One in Five Americans Doesn’t Think Hitler Was Completely Bad: Survey.” Newsweek, 5 November 2024, https://www.newsweek.com/hitler-had-some-good-ideas-american-poll-1980293.

Two-Thirds of Americans Say Hitler Was Completely Evil; 20% think Trump would say the same | YouGov. https://today.yougov.com/politics/articles/50864-two-thirds-of-americans-say-hitler-was-completely-bad. Access date: 13 November 2024.

Wrona, Aleksandra. “Did JD Vance Once Call Trump ‘America’s Hitler’?” Snopes, July 18, 2024, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/vance-trump-hitler-quote/.