One in five of Gen Z has a positive view of Osama bin Laden

A new poll shows that one out of five younger Americans has a positive view of Osama bin Laden, and that various age groups hold differing views about the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks.

The poll, conducted by DailyMail.com, also found that three in 10 members of Generation Z thought the views of bin Laden were a “force for good.” When asked how they would describe their view of bin Laden, 8% of 18-to-29-year-olds said they had a completely positive view, while 12% said they had a somewhat positive view.

Bin Laden was head of the terrorist group al Qaeda, which launched the suicide hijacking attacks that killed nearly 3,000 Americans in New York, Pennsylvania and at the Pentagon. He was killed by U.S. special forces in an operation in Pakistan in 2011 after a decade-long manhunt.

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This poll comes over a month after a 2002 letter written by the terrorist leader went viral on TikTok, with some younger viewers saying the letter made them look at the U.S. government in a new way related to conflicts in the Middle East.

Older Americans reacted harshly to the younger generations’ views on the letter, with some saying that most of Gen Z weren’t even alive for the tragic events in 2001, so they wouldn’t understand the impact that it had. Generation Z is defined as people born between 1996 and 2010.

Among Gen Z members in the DailyMail.com survey, 8% said both the al-Qaeda leader’s views and actions were good, while 23% said his views were good but his actions were bad.

For Black voters, 7% said they had a completely positive view of him, while 11% said they had a somewhat positive view. In the poll, 9% of Hispanic voters had a positive view, while 6% had a somewhat positive view. The numbers for White voters were lower, with 3% saying they had a positive view and 3% having a somewhat positive view.

Still, 81% of American voters said they had negative views of bin Laden, while 8% viewed him positively. The poll found that 14% said the terrorist leader had some good in terms of his views, actions or both, while 70% said his both views and actions were bad.