Yes, I know to beware of generalizations. I also know that polls reflect public opinion, not fact.
Nevertheless, a new Gallup poll reflects something else — and that is the power of liberal media bias to sway public sympathy.
Here are the results of the poll (via a Fox News tweet). The survey asks respondents whether they view last Sunday’s massacre in Orlando as an act of Islamic terrorism, an act of domestic gun violence, or some combination of the two:
Will this presidential election be the most important in American history?
Poll: Do you view the incident in Orlando as more… pic.twitter.com/22F7BV97zR
— Fox News (@FoxNews) June 18, 2016
I appreciate that more “adults” (the pollsters’ term) consider the attack an act of radical Islamic terrorism than a domestic shooting. But the fact that fewer than half of the respondents bothered to learn about the background of the shooter or discounted what they learned is troubling.
Here are a few of the more salient facts that have emerged about Omar Mateen:
- As a teenager, he cheered in school upon learning about the attacks on 9/11.
- He listened passionately to “sermons” by America hater and al Qaeda recruiter Anwar al Awlaki.
- He repeatedly made comments to coworkers about his connections to terrorists, which ultimately worried some of them enough to contact the FBI.
- He cased out other crowded venues for the attack, including Disney World, but ultimately settle on Pulse night club because it was a “gay” hangout, and as a devout follower of shariah law, he despised gays.
- According to a Florida gun shop owner, Mateen tried to buy heavy-duty body armor and bulk ammunition.
- During the attack, Mateen phoned 911 three times, once for the sole purpose of swearing his dying allegiance to ISIS.
There are a lot of dots there that are easy to connect, yet 41% of respondents saw this incident as a shooting and nothing more. They see it that way even though in the largest and most deadly attack on American by Islamic terrorists, one that killed 3,000 innocents, not a single shot was fired nor a single firearm brandished.
