Part of the reason that people are so easily led and/or misinformed is the ignorance of U.S. history and government since civics stopped being taught in most schools.
Via NY Post:
When people from other parts of the world become US citizens, they have to pass a test that includes questions about how our system of government works. Why shouldn’t native-born Americans have to know the same?
Many Americans grew up with civics classes. But today, civics instruction has largely been abandoned — former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor calls this “the quiet crisis in education.”
The good news is that a dozen states are trying to make civics a requirement for high-school seniors.