Misconceptions regarding US President Barack Obama’s religion are still rife with 29 per cent of Americans still believing he is Muslim, according to a CNN/ORC poll.
Obama, the first African American to hold the office of president, was born in Hawaii and is a Christian. However, when Americans were asked about his religious beliefs and place of birth, 29 per cent answered he was a Muslim, while 80 per cent said he was born in the United States.
In April 2011, amid questions raised by Donald Trump, Obama had released a certified long-form birth certificate, showing he was born at Honolulu’s Kapiolani Hospital on August 4, 1961.
Despite that, the poll findings suggest there are still misperceptions regarding the US president’s background. When asked “Where was Obama born, as far as you know?”, only 80 per cent of adults said they believe Obama was born in the United States. The other 20 per cent said he was born outside the country, including nine per cent who believe there is solid evidence of that and 11 per cent who say it is just their suspicion.
Although nearly three in 10 say they think Obama is a Muslim, a large number of Americans say he is a Christian. Among all adults, 39 per cent say they believe Obama is a Protestant or other Christian, four per cent think he’s Catholic, two per cent Mormon, one per cent Jewish and one per cent something else. Another 11% say he’s not religious, and 14% that they just don’t know.
The findings are consistent with polls conducted by ABC News and Washington Post in April 2010. The CNN/ORC Poll was conducted by telephone from September 4 to September 8 among a random national sample of 1,012 adults.
