Poll: 1 In 5 Undergrads Says U.S. Deserved 9/11, Nearly Half Endorse Violence Against ‘Hate Speech’

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. The Buckley Institute’s 2026 National Undergraduate Student Survey polled 803 American undergraduate students between September 5 and 14. A shocking 22 percent agreed that America deserved 9/11, including 28 percent of liberal students. Notably, leftist streamer Hasan Piker — who campaigned with Michigan Democrat Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed and cozies up to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani — has said America deserved 9/11. Meanwhile, Aber Kawas, 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. The poll also found that 45 percent of American college students believe physical violence can be justified to stop hate speech — among which 54 percent of liberals agree compared to 30 percent of conservatives. “Interestingly, 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,” The Buckley Institute found. Shortly after Charlie Kirk was murdered on a Utah college campus for his free speech, a YouGov survey conducted from September 10-12 asked respondent whether they think “it is ever justified for citizens to resort to violence in order to achieve political goals?” Twenty-five percent of respondents who identified as “very liberal” 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. Meanwhile, a recent poll conducted by the Center for Strategic Politics found “Democrats want Trump out by (almost) any means necessary” — including assassination. The Buckley Institute similarly found that support for criminalizing free — but offensive — speech has reached its highest levels in the three years that the survey has polled this question. Forty percent of college students agreed that “offensive speech should be subject to criminal prosecution.” Forty-seven percent of liberal students supported criminalizing offensive speech and was “the only ideological group among which a plurality agree with doing so,” according to the poll. “This year’s survey demonstrates that censorious attitudes remain stubbornly high on America’s college campuses,” Buckley Institute Founder and Executive Director Lauren Noble said in a statement. 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. 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. And, in America’s 250th birth year, only 65 percent of college students said they were proud to be American. “Liberal 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,” the study found. 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