Claim:

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

Rating:

Context:

The YouGov poll conducted between October 31 and November 1, 2024, among US citizens aged 18 and over, 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 did some bad things” and 7% saw him as “equally good and bad”. Additionally, 12% of respondents were “unsure” of their opinion of Hitler.

At the beginning of November 2024, a rumor spread further social media that nearly a quarter of Americans credit Hitler was a good man.

(X user @IImpartialTruth)

Some posts that supported the claim include a screenshot of an article published by the English-language Israeli newspaper The Jerusalem Post, titled “Nearly a quarter of Americans think ‘Hitler was a good person’ – poll.”

A user X, whose post has garnered nearly 150,000 views at the time of writing, subtitled screenshot (archived): “Are we back?”

(X user @lifepeptides)

“It’s happening”, another X post he statedreaching 1.7 million views, 39,000 likes and 4,300 shares as of this writing. The screenshot also appeared on Reddit.

However, the survey itself result from YouGov, which surveyed 1,077 Americans, did not show that nearly a quarter of respondents viewed Hitler as a good person. Therefore, we rated this statement as false.

Source of screenshot

The screenshot attached to the social media posts comes from a article published by The Jerusalem Post on November 9, 2024. The headline of the article did read: “Nearly a quarter of Americans think ‘Hitler was a good person’ – poll.”

The caption read: “Most Americans think Hitler was a bad person at 65%, with majorities across party lines, with Democrats at 75%, Republicans at 60% and Independents at 59%. The article continued:

Nearly a quarter (23%) of Americans think Adolf Hitler was a good person, with Democrats at 18%, independents at 20% and Republicans at 33%, according to a recent poll released by YouGov on November 4.

However, the title of the article was misleading and did not represent the actual results. The poll showed 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 did some bad things”, and 7% saw him as “equally good and bad”. Additionally, 12% of respondents were “unsure” of their opinion of Hitler.

We addressed ourselves The Jerusalem Post for a comment and we’ll update this report if we hear back.

About the Survey

The POLL was conducted by a survey and market research company YouGov from October 31 to November 1, 2024, among US citizens aged 18 and over.

right survey resultsparticipants were drawn from YouGov’s enrollment panel to be representative of the US adult population, with responses weighted by gender, age, race, education, turnout in the 2020 election and presidential vote, party affiliation, and voter registration. Political identification reflected an estimated distribution of 33% Democrat and 31% Republican. Conducted through online interviews, the survey included 1,077 respondents, with a margin of error of ±3.9%.

In early November 2024, its results were reported by news outlets such as The Washington Post and Newsweek. “For Nearly Half of Trump Voters, Open Appreciation of Hitler Is Acceptable,” The Washington Post he titled his article, while Newsweek had the headline: “One in Five Americans Don’t Think Hitler Was All Bad: Poll.”

According to official YouGov documentthe actual breakdown of the responses provided a much clearer picture:

• 1% saw Hitler as “a thoroughly good person”;

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

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

This leaves 65% of those who saw Hitler as “a completely bad person” and the remaining respondents saying he was a bad person who did some good things.

You can see the full survey results Here.

(YouGov)

We have contacted YouGov for comment and will update this report if we hear back.

For further reading, we investigated other Hitler rumors, including:

Sources:

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

Emery, David. “Donald Trump said ‘Mein Kampf’ had a ‘profound effect’ on him?” Snopes, Apr 17 2019, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/trump-hitler-mein-kampf/.

“Nearly a Quarter of Americans Think ‘Hitler Was a Good Person’ – Poll.” The Jerusalem Post | JPost.Com, 9 Nov 2024, https://www.jpost.com/american-politics/article-828218.

PerryCook, Taija. “Did Trump once say ‘I need the kind of generals Hitler had’?” Snopes, 25 Oct. 2024, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/trump-hitler-generals/.

Reporter, Theo Burman Live News. “One in Five Americans Don’t Think Hitler Was Evil: Poll”. Newsweek, 5 Nov. 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. Accessed 13 November 2024.

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