---
title: "Republicans Believe Obama is a Muslim"
description: "A rising number of Republicans incorrectly believe Barack Obama is a Muslim."
date: "2010-09-13"
authors:
  - name: "Pew Research Center"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2010/09/13/republicans-believe-obama-is-a-muslim/"
---

# Republicans Believe Obama is a Muslim

A rising number of Americans — nearly one-in-five — incorrectly believe Barack Obama is a Muslim. The belief that the president is a Muslim is even more pronounced among Republicans. Fully 31% say Obama is Muslim, up 14 points from March 2009. An additional 39% of Republicans say they do not know Obama’s religion, up 11 points from March 2009. Just a quarter of Republicans (27%) correctly identify Obama as a Christian. Independents are also more likely to say Obama is Muslim; 18% currently do, up from 10% in 2009. While the number of Democrats who say Obama is Muslim (10%) has not changed much, fewer today say he is a Christian (55%, down nine points since 2009). Those who say Obama is a Muslim overwhelmingly disapprove of his job performance, while a majority of those who know that he is a Christian approve of the job Obama is doing. Most Americans (60%) who claim Obama is a Muslim say they learned about his religion via the media. [Read More](https://www.pewresearch.org/pubs/1701/poll-obama-muslim-christian-church-out-of-politics-political-leaders-religious)