I think all we have to do is look back and see how easy it was to convince so many Americans that Saddam Hussein was responsible for 9/11. The people who, back then, despite all the evidence to the contrary still believed Saddam was involved in the 9/11 attack are virtually the same people today who believe the election was stolen or somehow rigged.
Six years later there was still a significant percentage of the population who believed Saddam was responsible (32%), about the same number who still believe that the election was stolen.
"The Bush administration was eager to mobilize the anguish of the 9/11 attack to support the war. Despite the intelligence community’s unequivocal conclusion that Iraq had nothing to do with either 9/11 or al-Qaida, the administration let Americans believe the contrary.
Consequently, the United States went to war in Iraq on a false pretense that it was somehow avenging those killed by al-Qaida. A Washington Post poll conducted two years after 9/11 dramatically illustrated the story: 69% of Americans at the time believed Saddam Hussein was “personally” involved in the 9/11 attack. Even more staggering, 82% believed Saddam provided assistance to Osama bin Laden. Both were utterly false.
One lesson of the past 20 years is the imperative of an informed public. Sadly, we are still a long way from an enlightened public.”