- A poll of 1,500 Americans found a majority of self-identified Republicans believe demographic changes are caused by liberal leaders.
- This unfounded idea, known as replacement theory, was widely cited in documents believed to have been left by Buffalo shooter.
- The poll also found large portions of younger respondents approve of violence to achieve political change.
A month before a white gunman shot and killed 10 people, most of them Black, in Buffalo, New York, a poll found that seven out of 10 Republicans believe in the “Great Replacement.”
That conspiracy theory, which was heavily cited in online postings believed to have been left by the Buffalo shooter, claims that political forces are intentionally changing the demographics of the country to affect future elections.