{"id":2679569,"date":"2026-10-09T07:45:19","date_gmt":"2026-10-09T11:45:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignpoll-1-in-5-undergrads-says-u-s-deserved-9-11-nearly-half-endorse-violence-against-hate-speech\/"},"modified":"2026-10-09T07:52:17","modified_gmt":"2026-10-09T11:52:17","slug":"utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignpoll-1-in-5-undergrads-says-u-s-deserved-9-11-nearly-half-endorse-violence-against-hate-speech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignpoll-1-in-5-undergrads-says-u-s-deserved-9-11-nearly-half-endorse-violence-against-hate-speech\/","title":{"rendered":"Poll: 1 In 5 Undergrads Says U.S. Deserved 9\/11"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Futm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignpoll-1-in-5-undergrads-says-u-s-deserved-9-11-nearly-half-endorse-violence-against-hate-speech%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2679569&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A recent poll conducted by the Buckley Institute reveals alarming attitudes among American college students. Over 20% believe that the U.S. deserved the 9\/11 attacks, with even higher percentages among liberal students. Additionally, nearly half of undergraduates think violence can be justified to stop hate speech, with liberals being more supportive than conservatives. The survey shows a meaningful shift toward socialism, with 42% preferring it over capitalism, and a growing acceptance of criminalizing offensive speech, especially among liberals. Many students also express diminished pride in America, with onyl 65% feeling proud of their country. There is a notable concern over increasing support for political violence, censorship, and anti-American sentiments, highlighting worrisome trends on college campuses regarding free speech, patriotism, and ideological extremism.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-body body-md bdr-top-black pt-30\">\n<div class=\"row justify-content-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12\">\n<figure class=\"article-thumbnail mb-30 mb-sm-60\">\n<div class=\"article-thumbnail-caption d-flex align-items-center justify-content-md-end label-xs mt-15\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-camera me-10\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Image Credit<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/newtown_grafitti\/6219961958?ref=opendemocracy.net\">Newtown Grafitti \/Flickr<\/a> \/ <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/2.0\/\">CC BY 2.0<\/a>       <\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-share text-center article-share-simple\">\n<h5 class=\"label-sm mb-10\">Share<\/h5>\n<ul class=\"article-share-list list-unstyled m-0 p-0\">\n<li class=\"article-share-facebook m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/10\/09\/poll-1-in-5-undergrads-says-u-s-deserved-9-11-nearly-half-endorse-violence-against-hate-speech\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-facebook\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Facebook<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-twitter m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=Poll: 1 In 5 Undergrads Says U.S. Deserved 9\/11, Nearly Half Endorse Violence Against \u2018Hate Speech\u2019&#038;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/10\/09\/poll-1-in-5-undergrads-says-u-s-deserved-9-11-nearly-half-endorse-violence-against-hate-speech\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Twitter<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-truth-social m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/share?title=Poll: 1 In 5 Undergrads Says U.S. Deserved 9\/11, Nearly Half Endorse Violence Against \u2018Hate Speech\u2019&#038;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/10\/09\/poll-1-in-5-undergrads-says-u-s-deserved-9-11-nearly-half-endorse-violence-against-hate-speech\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" fill=\"currentColor\" style=\"width:36px;height:auto;\" viewbox=\"0 0 92 93\"><path d=\"M69.444 55.716H56.772v10.37h12.672zM64.487 37.795V27.32H38.666v38.664h13.18v-28.19zM21.05 27.321h12.653v10.471H21.051z\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/><\/svg>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Truth Social<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-link m-0\">       <button data-clipboard-text=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/10\/09\/poll-1-in-5-undergrads-says-u-s-deserved-9-11-nearly-half-endorse-violence-against-hate-speech\/\" data-tooltip-content=\"Copied!\" class=\"clip tooltip\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-link-variant\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Copy Article Link<\/span>       <\/button>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\">       <a href=\"mailto:?subject=Poll: 1 In 5 Undergrads Says U.S. Deserved 9\/11, Nearly Half Endorse Violence Against \u2018Hate Speech\u2019&#038;body=%20https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/10\/09\/poll-1-in-5-undergrads-says-u-s-deserved-9-11-nearly-half-endorse-violence-against-hate-speech\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-email\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article via Email<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\"><span class=\"printfriendly pf-button  pf-alignleft\">                     <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\" rel=\"nofollow\" onclick=\"window.print(); pfTrackEvent(&#039;Poll: 1 In 5 Undergrads Says U.S. Deserved 9\/11, Nearly Half Endorse Violence Against \u2018Hate Speech\u2019&#039;); return false;\" title=\"Printer Friendly, PDF &#038; Email\">                     <span id=\"printfriendly-text2\" class=\"pf-button-text\"><i class=\"mdi mdi-printer\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/span>                     <\/a>                 <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<div class=\"pf-content\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Just weeks after the United States commemorated the 25th anniversary of the 9\/11 terrorists attacks, a new poll reveals more than one in five undergraduate students believe America deserved the attacks, while nearly half of all undergraduate students think physical violence is justified to stop so-called hate speech. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/buckleyinstitute.com\/2026-national-undergraduate-survey\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Buckley Institute\u2019s 2026 National Undergraduate Student Survey<\/a> polled 803 American undergraduate students between September 5 and 14.<\/p>\n<div id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-1879121452\" class=\"d-flex justify-content-center fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2 fdrlst__b89e9-entity-placement\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1463670073398-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A shocking 22 percent agreed that America deserved 9\/11, including 28 percent of liberal students. Notably, leftist streamer Hasan Piker \u2014 who campaigned with Michigan Democrat Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed and cozies up to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani \u2014 has said America deserved 9\/11. Meanwhile, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediaite.com\/media\/news\/mamdani-backed-candidate-who-said-us-brought-9-11-on-itself-wins-state-senate-seat\/?\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Aber Kawas<\/a>, a Democratic Socialist of America member and nominee for the New York state Senate, has said that America brought on 9\/11 because of capitalism, alleged white supremacy and racism, and alleged Islamophobia.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The poll also found that 45 percent of American college students believe physical violence can be justified to stop hate speech \u2014 among which 54 percent of liberals agree compared to 30 percent of conservatives.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cInterestingly, 72% of those who agree that physical violence can be justified to stop hate speech also agree that hate speech is protected by the First Amendment,\u201d The Buckley Institute found. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Shortly after Charlie Kirk was murdered on a Utah college campus for his free speech, a <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/09\/10\/left-wing-violence-is-still-an-existential-threat-to-the-republic\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">YouGov survey<\/a> conducted from September 10-12 asked respondent whether they think \u201cit is ever justified for citizens to resort to violence in order to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/sec-eyes-forcing-companies-to-disclose-data-on-social-issues-sparking-politicization-concerns\/\" title=\"SEC Eyes Forcing Companies To Disclose Data On \u2018Social\u2019 Issues, Sparking \u2018Politicization\u2019 Concerns\">achieve political goals<\/a>?\u201d Twenty-five percent of respondents who identified as \u201cvery liberal\u201d said it can be justified, while 17% of self-identified liberals said the same. Just nine percent of people who identify as either conservative or very conservative said it was justified.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Meanwhile, a recent <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/09\/22\/poll-death-wish-dems-want-trump-dead-or-taken-out-by-military-coup\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">poll<\/a> conducted by the Center for Strategic Politics <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/09\/22\/poll-1-in-3-democrats-would-be-happy-to-see-trump-assassinated\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">found<\/a> \u201cDemocrats want Trump\u00a0out by (almost) any means necessary\u201d \u2014 including assassination.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Buckley Institute similarly found that support for criminalizing free \u2014 but offensive \u2014 speech has reached its highest levels in the three years that the survey has polled this question. Forty percent of college students agreed that \u201coffensive speech should be subject to criminal prosecution.\u201d Forty-seven percent of liberal students supported criminalizing offensive speech and was \u201cthe only ideological group among which a plurality agree with doing so,\u201d according to the poll.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis year\u2019s survey demonstrates that censorious attitudes remain stubbornly high on America\u2019s college campuses,\u201d Buckley Institute Founder and Executive Director Lauren Noble said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The study also found that college students have swung in favor of socialism. Forty-two percent of respondents would rather live under socialism compared to 28 percent who would prefer to live under capitalism. The Buckley Institute states that the 14 percentage point gap is the highest one in the five years the question has been asked. Notably, the same students who favor socialism over capitalism were more likely to support shouting down speakers they disagree with and violence to stop so-called hate speech, according to the study.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The same students who favored socialism were also more likely than students who favored capitalism to believe America deserved 9\/11 and think offensive speech should be criminalized. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And, in America\u2019s 250th birth year, only 65 percent of college students said they were proud to be American. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cLiberal students are the least proud ideological group at 62%, then moderates at 67%, and conservatives at 86%. Notably, men were 20 points more likely to agree that they are proud to be American than women,\u201d the study found. <\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">\n<div class=\"article-author-description fst-italic\">      Brianna Lyman is an elections correspondent at The Federalist. Brianna graduated from Fordham University with a degree in International Political Economy. Her work has been featured on Newsmax, Fox News, Fox Business and RealClearPolitics. Follow Brianna on X: @briannalyman2<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-30 bdr-top-bold-black\">\n<div class=\"row g-0 align-items-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6\">\n<div class=\"article-author-profile d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center justify-content-md-start\">\n<div class=\"article-author-details\">\n<div class=\"label-md\">Brianna Lyman<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author-twitter label-sm d-flex align-items-center mt-10\">             <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter me-5\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>             <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Visit on Twitter<\/span>            <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/briannalyman2\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text-decoration-none\">@briannalyman2<\/a>           <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6 d-flex justify-content-center justify-content-md-end mt-15 mt-md-0\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/author\/briannalyman\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">More Articles<\/a>     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-tags no-print bdr-top-black mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-15 pt-md-45\">\n<ul class=\"list-unstyled d-flex flex-wrap align-items-center mb-0 mx-n10 p-0\">\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/911\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">9\/11<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/america-250\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">America 250<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/charlie-kirk\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Charlie Kirk<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/college-students\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">college students<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/first-amendment\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">First Amendment<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/free-speech\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">free speech<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/hasan-piker\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Hasan Piker<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/political-violence\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">political violence<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Over 20% of undergrads believe America deserved 9\/11<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":2679570,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/6219961958_f51291fba0_o-e1791491095673.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[56199,4023,50878,86956],"class_list":["post-2679569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-9-11-2","tag-college","tag-poll-2","tag-undergraduates"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/6219961958_f51291fba0_o-e1791491095673.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2679569","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/74"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2679569"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2679569\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2679579,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2679569\/revisions\/2679579"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2679570"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2679569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2679569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2679569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}