The man who orchestrated the deadliest attack on American soil is the late-Osama bin Laden, the founder of Al-Qaida. However, a new poll has revealed that a fair share of Gen Zers don’t believe he’s such a bad guy.
According to a poll by the DailyMail, one in five young Americans have a positive view of the terrorist leader. 31% of Gen Z voters believe the views of bin Laden, who killed thousands on Sept. 11, 2001, “were a force for good.”
NewsNation talked to the man who conducted the poll, James Johnson, founder of J.L. Partners. Johnson said he’s disgusted by the findings.
“The families of the victims spoke to the DailyMail about this poll, and they talked about their anger and frustration, and disgust at this viewpoint… and all I can say is I sympathize entirely with them,” Johnson said.” And I completely share their disgust.”
Some lawmakers said the findings may serve as a warning.
“20 percent of young people have a positive view of Bin Laden,” Rep. Jared Moskowitz wrote on X. “While we focus on enhancing our physical borders, we must also realize foreign countries have infiltrated our kids minds through online propaganda.”
When questioned about their perception of the 9/11 mastermind, 8% of individuals aged 18 to 29 expressed a “completely positive” view, with 12% holding a “somewhat positive” opinion of bin Laden. Additionally, 8% of the Gen-Z group said his views were good, but his actions were bad.
The poll comes a little over a month after bin Laden’s “Letter to America” went viral on TikTok. The video has since been taken down, but not before it sparked debate amongst young Americans about the Israel-Hamas war.
The video condemns U.S. support for Israel’s occupation of Gaza, and resonated with some who called for a cease-fire in the war.
Time reports one user said, “Everything we learned about the Middle East and 9/11, and ‘terrorism’ was a lie.”
Others on social media criticized the video as sympathizing with terrorists or giving credence to violence.
“Content promoting this letter clearly violates our rules on supporting any form of terrorism,” TikTok said in a statement on X. “We are proactively and aggressively removing this content and investigating how it got onto our platform.”
The man responsible for nearly 3,000 deaths in the U.S. was known for his antisemitic views, and as the war in Gaza continues, those views are on the rise.
FBI Director Christopher Wray said antisemitism is reaching “historic levels” in the U.S.
The DailyMail study comes during a tipping point in worldviews, with many pro-Palestinian protests on the rise in major cities across the U.S. and college campuses.
Police charged a 19-year-old at Columbia University with assault after she allegedly attacked a 24-year-old Jewish student in October for putting up posters of Israeli hostages.
Some college leaders are under fire for their lack of response to antisemitism on campuses.
Former President of the University of Pennsylvania Liz Magill resigned after a congressional hearing in which she was asked whether calls for Jewish genocide would be grounds for bullying and harassment under campus policies.
Magill and the other presidents from Harvard and MIT responded it would be “context dependent.” Her reply prompted the Wharton Board of Advisors to call for her immediate resignation.
Another DailyMail poll in October, found one in 10 voters under the age of 30 had a positive view of Hamas, despite the group’s rampage through Israel, killing 1,300 people and militants kidnapping more than 200 others.
