Revealed: Everyone but far-left feels intimidated into silence

Conservatives, centrists, and moderate liberals all feel afraid of speaking their minds for fear of reprisals, according to a disturbing new survey released this week by YouGov and the Cato Institute.

Sixty-two percent of respondents find that the current “political climate these days prevents them from saying things they believe because others might find them offensive,” with almost a third fearful that expressing disfavored opinions could get them fired, according to the survey. 

Conservatives and Republicans felt self-censorship most intensely at 77 percent, though majorities of Democrats, Independents, centrist liberals, and moderates also answered that they felt the same way. “Strong liberals” were the only category in which a majority (58 percent) said they felt safe openly expressing themselves.

The results follow another survey finding the vast majority of Americans think social media has too much power and influence over U.S. politics, and come as little surprise given the country’s ongoing debate over “cancel culture” and left-wing activists’ aggressive efforts to stigmatize dissenting viewpoints – from the alleged firing of a Michigan high-school coach for supporting Trump, to the rise of “safe spaces” on college campuses, to America’s leading corporations in a variety of fields buckling under pressure to endorse and donate money to Black Lives Matter (BLM).

On the Fourth of July, President Trump called cancel culture “the very definition of totalitarianism, and it is completely alien to our culture and our values, and it has absolutely no place in the United States of America.” Speaking at Mount Rushmore, he vowed that his administration would “expose this dangerous movement, protect our nation’s children, end this radical assault, and preserve our beloved American way of life.”

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