Claim: Study finds that persons of lower intelligence are more likely to support President
Status: False.
Example: [Collected on the Internet, 2004]
"Stupid people love Bush" new study proves According to the prestigious Southern California think tank, The Gluton Group, stupid people prefer President [Rest of article here.] |
Origins: Every election cycle brings its share of subtle (and not-so-subtle) humor pieces proclaiming that measurements have determined one candidate's intelligence to be much higher than another's, or
that studies have found supporters of a particular candidate or party are, in general, significantly smarter as a group than supporters of the opposite party. It seems no satirical article that makes reference to a "study" (usually conducted by a fictitious academic or political group), no matter how broadly written, won't be mistaken by some readers for a valid news report. (A similar item from 2001 fooled many a news publication and is still occasionally cited as a genuine by gullible reporters.)
The item excerpted above provides plenty of clues that it is satirical in nature (and about whom it's satirizing): Besides its general premise regarding a supposedly inverse relationship between intelligence and support for President Bush, it also notes that persons with IQs in the
This article is in fact the work of politic satirist
Last updated: 1 November 2004
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