September 19, 2025 • 34 mins
A new Carolina Journal poll shows mixed public sentiment on the country’s direction, as well as approval ratings for President Trump and Governor Stein. The poll also highlights early numbers in the 2026 U.S. Senate race between Michael Whatley and Roy Cooper. Governor Stein’s trip to Washington, D.C., to request $13.5 billion in Helene recovery aid remains in the spotlight. At UNC Wilmington, classes are canceled Friday after a reported gunman on campus was determined to be a false alarm. The poll also found that political violence and public transit safety are growing concerns, with one-third of college students saying violence is an acceptable way to silence campus speech.
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Speaker 1 (00:08):
It's five oh five and welcome into a Friday edition
of the Carolina Journal News Hour News Talk eleven, ten
ninety nine three WBT. I'm Nick Craig. Good morning to you.
We'd like to keep a pretty close eye on what
is going on throughout the state of North Carolina. We'll
continue that trend this morning. We've got a brand new
poll out at Carolina Journal dot com to walk us
through some of those details this morning. It's my pleasure
(00:30):
to welcome the editor in chief of Carolina Journal dot com,
Donna King, to the News Hour this morning. Donna, pretty
much every political poll starts off with this top question,
are things heading in the right direction the wrong direction
for the country? What do North Carolina voters think about
the first eight or nine months or so of the
Trump administration.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Sure, we're actually seeing an increase in this poll, which
was out the fourteenth and fifteenth of September, so it's
pretty new cool. The biggest one that I'm seeing is
fifty three point seven percent of people are saying that
the country is going off on the wrong track. Yeah,
that's an increase up from our August our August poll,
(01:10):
so just in the last month. But it's important, I
think to note that because this was out in the
field the fourteenth and fifteenth, that was just after we
saw the assassination of Charlie Kirk and the crime and
the murder on the light rail in Charlotte. So folks
are really feeling a little bit rattled by what we
were seeing in the news.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
So I think that that accounts for some of that spike.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
But generally, you know, we're seeing folks who are among Republicans,
we're much more likely to say we're headed in the
right direction. Democrats were more likely to say we were
off on the wrong track. Independence, which actually is leaning
a little bit more conservative. Throughout this poll, in all
the different questions, was saying right direction was about thirty
eight percent.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
In wrong track was about fifty seven percent.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
Yeah, definitely some interesting numbers there, and we then kind
of parlayed that, follow it up with Okay, maybe things
aren't heading in the right direction for you. What are
some of those issues. It's no surprise, Donna, the it's
the economy, stupid. I mean, it's always a top issue
in political polling, and we're seeing that in this in
this most recent poll as well.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Absolutely so one of the things that we really talked
about was what issues are you really going to be
talking about going into the North Carolina.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
Is US Senate race. This is something that you.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
Know, we still have a year ago, haven't even gone
through the primaries yet, but it really does tell us
where people are, and we were seeing that the economy
and inflation cost of living is still the very top
of the pile for people as they are starting to
think about how they might vote in twenty twenty six.
You combine that with the economy and jobs certainly much
(02:44):
more than that. So you know, I think it's an
ongoing issue and it's something that we're going to be
keeping track of certainly throughout the next year, but it
really is the biggest thing. What we did add though
in this one that we haven't asked before is will
the political party of the candidates impact how you vote?
(03:05):
And we haven't asked that one before, but I thought
it was really interesting.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
It came in at number two.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
So seventeen percent of North Carolina voters said that the
political party of the candidate, not one of our policy
issues that we had listed, was the most important, including
even among independents who said that the party the political
party of the candidates is really going to play a
role in how they vote.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
Yeah, I mean, it's hard to argue that the political
lines are not being dug in further into the sand
on both sides of the political really digging in their
heels on a variety of issues, and that is seemingly
affecting some of those voters. So, Donald, we talk about
the right and wrong direction. Folks are thinking things are
not heading in necessarily in the right direction. Yet our
(03:48):
poll is showing for the first time that President Donald
Trump's approval in his second term, he is now above water.
It's a very slight percentage advantage approved versus disapproved, But
the president is not completely getting drowned out in his
unapproval numbers, right right.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
Yeah, So that is one thing.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
We found that forty nine point four percent approve of
how Donald Trump is performing as president, forty nine percent disapproved,
So you know, his numbers are up a little bit,
but they still are forty nine point four to forty
nine percent in approval disapproval rating for Donald Trump as president.
And some of that you know later in the later
(04:26):
in the poll, we asked who owns this economy? Who
do you credit for this economy, and most people, particularly Republicans,
said that they credit Donald Trump that you know, with
just you know, not even a year in that that
they're crediting Donald Trump with this economy.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
And yeah, that's probably going to be the case.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
And I would expect those numbers to increase the longer
that he's in office.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
Well, and I think that could potentially pose an issue
for the president. Donna. As we've discussed tariffs a variety
of times here on this show, we've got consistent coverage
over on our website, Carolina Journal dot com. One of
the things that we continue to hear from economists is
that the full impact of tariffs have not really trickled
down through the economy yet. We could be looking at
(05:09):
that as we head into the latter parts or early
parts of next year. If folks are saying, yeah, the
economy is Trump's responsibility and it's his doing, He's going
to have to own the good and the bad.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
Sure, sure, I mean, you know, that is one of
the things that we've been watching really closely because as
they take effect and as things happen to prices, how
they impact prices. That's going to go on into the
fall so how will that change how people perceive Donald
Trump and how they perceived the tariffs. But we did
find that majority of people said that they were willing
to let them work to see if they can get
(05:40):
prices to come down. But most people said that they
really weren't willing to wait more than eighteen months to
two years for them to work on bringing prices down. So,
you know, patients is kind of narrow, but for the moment,
it appears that voters are willing to give them a chance.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
Let's turn our attention back to the state of North Carolina.
Governor Stein has been in office pretty much just as
long as as Donald Trump. Yes, he was the ag before,
so a relatively well known figure had a huge election
night victory in November of last year. What if voters
currently think about the job that Democrat Governor Josh Stein
is doing.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
Sure approval is high for Governor Stein right now, it's
fifty point five percent, which is pretty high. I think
he actually exceeds Cooper as he was leaving office thirty
one percent for disapproval, But that leaves a big eighteen
percent of folks who are unsure, and that really was
what it comes down to. They don't know enough about him,
and his center of support is in the Triangle area
(06:36):
around the capitol, about sixty percent approval rating here in
the Triangle. Everywhere else is in the forties. So I
think a lot of that speaks not necessarily that they
don't like him, it's more that they just don't know him.
And I think he also had ad a lift there
at the beginning because he can work with lawmakers Republican
lawmakers in Helene recovery. So I think it's still early
in the process, but so far a pretty high job
(06:57):
approval rating for Governor Stein.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Donald, you and I have talked about this both publicly
and privately, as you talk about Stegn's approval being essentially
limited to at least the positive numbers limited to the
Triangle area and in and around the state capitol. This
has always been the larger problem of there's a lack
of what's going on in North Carolina politics that really
trickles outside of Raleigh. Maybe Charlotte's a little bit of
(07:21):
a different example because it is such a major, large metro,
but that stuff very infrequently trickles out to the mountains
or the coast.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
Sure, yeah, Actually that's really true, people are very invested
in their local politics, their state legislative politics and elected officials,
but the governor's role doesn't really get out there as
much unless it is in the Triangle area. But there's
so much state government here that is part of that
executive branch. I think that's why you see high ratings
here in the Triangle area. And also Cooper and Stein
(07:51):
have been really good about kind of keeping their head down,
not letting things get out unless they control it. Control
the messaging, control, access control, you know, the event that
Gribbin huttings and that kind of thing. So I think
that's why you really see high support up for the
boss here in Raleigh, but you really don't hear much
outside of Raleigh.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
Coming up in March of next year, there will be
a primary for both Republicans and Democrats as we turn
the corner and head towards what is expected to be
a very expensive and highly contentious midterm election in twenty
twenty six from Washington, DC down here to North Carolina Donna.
While the primary hasn't happened, there are two major candidates
that have announced and are running pretty hard campaigns to
(08:30):
this point. Former Democrat Governor Roy Cooper, former head of
the North Carolina Republican Party and head of the RNC,
Michael Wattley. What is our polling looking like for these
two very not necessarily well known, but very documented candidates.
These are not newcomers just popping onto the scene.
Speaker 3 (08:50):
No, certainly not. They definitely aren't.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
And one of the things that we noted you'll remember
from the August poll is that there was a name
recognition deficit with Michael Wattley that presumed we're Publican candidates.
Speaker 3 (09:00):
Certainly, though we're not through the primary just yet.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
There are other candidates, other Republicans running for that nomination
for US Senate. Michael Wattley is the focus at the
moment because he does have an endorsement from Donald Trump,
which here in North Carolina is pretty powerful. We saw
that in the twenty twenty four elections. So Michael Wattley
closing that gap with Roy Cooper, who has nearly universal
name recognition.
Speaker 3 (09:23):
It's the Democrat candidate.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
And Democrats are good at kind of clearing the field
for the chosen candidate. Certainly Cooper would would be would
count for that. So Michael Wattley now is at forty
two percent likely to vote for him, which is a
gain of three points and really has gained ground and
he really only trails Cooper by like four percent. Cooper
(09:46):
has about a forty six percent in this latest poll.
So those are some tight numbers. And you know, if
we were any closer to the election, we would say
it was almost neck and neck. But then again, we
you know, have more than a year to go before
the Senate race.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
It is pretty.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
Remarkable, though, who a relatively unknown candidate For most people,
unless you're a real, you know, politico, you may not
know who Michael Watley is. He used to be the
director of the North Carolina GOP and was director chairman
of the r NC at the national level, but this,
I believe is his first run for actual office, so
(10:22):
a lot of folks just didn't know who he was.
But now he's within four points of Governor Cooper and
everybody knows who he is.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
Well, and Donna, you know, we haven't headed to the
best part of the year. When you can't turn on
the television without seeing political ad after political ad after
political ad. Your mailbox every day is full of them.
Text messages, emails were not anywhere near close to that
fourteen months out from that election. Yet it does appear
that at least for the Republican candidate presumed Republican candidate
(10:50):
in this race, that he is doing at least something
to grow that name.
Speaker 3 (10:54):
I'd be yeah, I think he really is.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
I mean he's if you know him, you know that
he is somebody who will who is out on the
stump a lot for him, and it sounds like they
are working hard to boost that name ID. They may
have gone in knowing what the issues would be, and
that would be the biggest one, is name I D.
Especially when you're going up against somebody who is so
well known like Roy Cooper. Roy Cooper had fairly positive
(11:17):
approval ratings when when he was governor, and he spent
i mean close to forty years in statewide elected office
between the Attorney General and governor. He really was in
a state employee, a government elected official for his almost
his entire career. And this is Michael Watley's first run
(11:38):
of this. So even though he's been in politics for
a very long time, solid on policy, people just didn't
know who he is. And but there will be some
things he'll have to overcome, name I D being being
that big one. And then, as we said before, whatever's
happening with the tariff policy and will that be affecting
prices Because he's so closely tied to President Trump, that
(11:59):
might be an issue as he comes up. But then again,
Cooper's going to have to have some things he has
to overcome, things like shutting down the state government and
public schools during COVID and the messover at the DMV,
and you know, all of these things are really going
to be quite an issue. Certainly problems bureaucratic nightmare, stafoos
in storm recovery. You know, all of those things happened
(12:19):
under his watch. So both have some things that they're
tackling to try and get down into November of twenty
twenty six.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
And that's obviously this race and this poll question is
one that we are going to keep very close tabs
on as we go through the next year or so.
We'll keep you up to date with that over on
our website, Carolina Journal dot com, and right here on
the Carolina Journal News Hour, we'll continue with details out
of our September Carolina Journal poll with Donna King coming
up after this. You're listening to the Carolina Journal News Hour.
(12:53):
It's five twenty three. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal
News Hour, Newstock eleven, ten ninety nine three WBT. We'll
get back with King on some of our September poll
numbers coming up here a little bit later on in
the show of this morning. Before that, we are finally
getting some more details this morning from Governor Josh Stein
and his Wednesday visit to a Washington, d C. To
(13:15):
talk with Congressional delegates as well as those in the
United States Senate about additional aid for North Carolina from
Hurricane Helene. The governor, as well as local officials from Buncombe, Ash, Haywood,
Matt Madison, and Rutherford Counties all traveled to DC on
Wednesday to meet with the administration and members of Congress.
(13:38):
The governor, as we have been talking about all week,
requesting thirteen and a half billion dollars from the federal government.
In a press release, the governor noted, quote, it's been
nearly a year since Hurricane Helene, and while we are
grateful for every dollar of federal support we have received,
we need more. I was pleased to meet with the
(13:59):
Trumpet administration and members of our congressional delegation to advocate
for that additional thirteen point five billion dollars to strengthen
western North Carolina recovery, getting folks back into their homes,
boosting small business, supporting local governments, and repairing at critical infrastructure.
It's important to note that the storm is estimated to
(14:22):
have cost somewhere in the ballpark of sixty billion dollars,
which is almost more than double the state's yearly budget,
which sits a little over thirty billion a year. That
thirteen and a half billion dollar request breaks down into
a couple of different large areas. Eight billion dollars from
HUD to rebuild homes and provide funding for small businesses
(14:43):
and complete repairs to critical infrastructure. Four hundred million dollars
from the Small Business Administration in forgivable small business loans
to those as of folks affected in the western half.
One point six billion dollars from the United States Department
of Transportation that's the USA DOT to restore roads as
well as critical infrastructure, including permanent repairs on Interstate forty,
(15:08):
which is currently operating in a temporary status. Sometimes as
some portions of I forty out west, it is just
one lane in each direction, speed limits thirty five to
forty five miles an hour, so one point six billion
dollars to solidify some of those repairs, as well as
nearly two billion dollars from the Federal Emergency Management Agency,
(15:30):
or FEMA, primarily for Special Community Disaster Loans, which is
a loan setup to help local governments finance, police and
fire protections, help with revenue collection, pay things like hazard insurance,
trash collection, and public a facility maintenance. While there are
four areas restoring homes, supporting small businesses, of bolstering government,
(15:52):
and building roads that make up most of the thirteen
and a half billion dollars worth of requests from Congress,
the governors said that the state is still waiting for
six billion dollars that Congress appropriated last December with the
American Relief Act, the governor saying, quote, so far, North
Carolina has received or been awarded federal funding equivalent to
(16:15):
about nine percent of the total damage of Hurricane Helene.
States that were similarly devastated following Hurricanes Katrina, Maria, and
Sandy saw seventy percent of their damages covered by federal funding.
The average is typically between forty and fifty percent of
total damage in a federal relief dollars. Stein's twenty three
(16:37):
billion dollar Stein's twenty three billion dollar request includes six
billion dollars worth of previously appropriated monies, which would bring
that total of federal support from North Carolina up to
around forty seven percent. Coming up next week and we
will be talking about it. September the twenty fourth will
mark that one year date when her Kane Helene brought
(17:01):
so much destruction and devastation to western North Carolina. We
will be diving into a variety of details on that
next week. We'll also be trying to catch up with
some small business owners and other folks that have been
dealing with the recovery and dealing with some of these
relief efforts over the past calendar year to see how
(17:21):
things are going as the state continues to push forward
after the devastation and destruction of Helene. That's coming up
next week. You can read some more, including us some
pictures of Governor Stein, those representatives and delegates from North
Carolina and members of Congress. We've got pictures of those
(17:41):
and some additional details This morning over on our website
Carolina Journal dot com. That stories headline Stein and County
officials go to DC to advocate for more Helene recovery funding.
You can read those details at Carolina Journal dot com.
(18:02):
It's five thirty five. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal
News Our News Talk eleven ten ninety nine three WBT.
A scary situation unfolding at the UNCW that's the University
of North Carolina at Wilmington yesterday evening as there were
reports late evening around seven pm about an active shooter
on campus that caused the campus to be in lockdown
(18:23):
for the better part of three hours before officials from
the college reported to students, faculty, staff, and community members
that that was a false alarm and noted quote. Please
be aware that much misinformation is circulating on social media.
Here are some facts about today's events. This afternoon and evening,
(18:45):
multiple reports came in claiming that an armed attacker was
on campus. The reports have been investigated and found to
be untrue. We intend to thoroughly review each of these
sources and provide more details in the coming days. U
and CW made some national news this week as well,
after students on campus argued and debated over the what
(19:07):
is known as the UNCW Spirit Rock it was painted
with a Charlie Kirk memorial on Monday, to only have
an early Tuesday morning left wing agitators on campus to
cover that memorial with buckets of paint. That did receive
a national news from major outlets including Fox News and others.
(19:28):
And this report last night of an armed shooter on
campus again being reported from multiple reports on social media
a lot of misinformation. I'll note as well at eleven
forty last night that you the college down on another
update saying quote in an abundance of caution, UNCW will
cancel classes on Friday and all assignments and exams are postponed.
(19:51):
Students in fully online programs should consult with their instructors
on how this could impact their courses. Also noting that
the library will be closed as well and many other
facilities on campus, as there have been anonymous threats made
on social media about some limited acts of violence on
the campus on Friday. This is an active and dynamic
(20:12):
situation as political tensions do continue to rise after the
assassination of Charlie Kirk last Wednesday. We'll keep an eye
on the details right here on the Carolina Journal News Hour,
where it's now five point thirty seven News Talk eleven
ten ninety nine to three WBT. We are keeping you
up to date this morning on the latest ongoings in
(20:33):
North Carolina with our new September Carolina Journal pull. As
we continue our discussion this morning, Donna King, the editor
in chief of Carolina Journal dot com, joins us on
the news hour. Donna, Unfortunately, Charlotte, North Carolina has been
getting some increased media national media coverage over the last
couple of weeks. It's not because a new big business
(20:53):
is opening or anything of that nature. It's after the
horrific murder of twenty three year old Irena Zaruska on
a show Arlotte light rail in late August that has
really gripped the nation. There's been a lot of discussion
on it, including even from President Donald Trump. Now we're
learning details about a congressional hearing that's going to be
taking place here in Charlotte in the next couple of weeks.
(21:15):
So what are folks thoughts on public transit in our
new poll sure In.
Speaker 2 (21:19):
This poll, we asked voters in North Carolina likely voters,
how confident are you that public transit in your area
is safe from crime? So only about twenty seven percent
of folks that it was somewhat confident, and twelve percent
said very confident. But when you look at overall not
confidence levels, you know, the totals are pretty pretty grim.
(21:42):
I mean, we're looking at close to forty percent of
people say they are not confident.
Speaker 3 (21:48):
Two percent weren't even sure.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
And some of that might be because they may not
have a lot of public transportation or they just simply
don't use it. In Charlotte, which is what we're watching
so closely, about about fifty percent of folks say that
they believe that public transit is not safe in their area.
And I was actually there the earlier this week. My
daughter lives in the South End neighborhood where the murder happened,
(22:10):
right there at the stop actually, and you know, there's
definitely a tension of tension in the neighborhood around where
this crime happened.
Speaker 3 (22:18):
And it's a nice area.
Speaker 2 (22:19):
I mean, there's an abacromy and fits right across the
street from from the stop where she was murdered, but
there is it's tough, and I think that's what city
leaders are worried about, and that they're worried people won't
use it, and now they have to deal with, of course,
you know, federal and state level officials saying, hey, what's
going on down there and are you really keeping people safe?
Speaker 1 (22:39):
Well, and it's also relevant coming up a little bit
later this year, Donna, ahead of the midterm elections, there's
going to be a sales tax increase on the ballot
for voters in Charlotte in Mecklenburg County to fund additional
public transportation projects. To me to be, that's going to
be a tough issue to deal with when half of
people in the area say I don't feel safe writing
public transit seems like they probably would not be in
(23:02):
favor of having more of their money taken away to
fund something that either a they don't want to use
or be they don't feel safe to do it anyway.
Speaker 2 (23:10):
Sure sure, Well, in talking to people in Charlotte this week,
the number one thing that I heard from most people
who use it on a regular basis is that it's
really not secure because no one checks tickets. There's no
turnstyle to get on it. You can literally, you know,
just walk straight up and get on one of the cars.
And there are monitors occasionally, you don't see them very
often there are monitors on these to make sure people
(23:33):
are you know, have a ticket and aren't misbehaving. But
if they are stopped by a monitor, that monitor is
not a police officer, they just jump off and get
onto another car. So it really isn't a super secure line,
and I think that's what we're seeing. Just simple railings
and turnstiles may deter some but you know, there's also
nonprofits in the city who can hand out passes for free,
(23:56):
so that's not really a it's not really a barrier,
but those kind of things that I think most commuters
would like to see have some sort of the measures
in place to keep it secure.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
Obviously, that is a major national story, and here a
local story that we'll be keeping an eye on as well, Donna.
One of the other huge national stories that really kind
of suck a lot of the air out of the
room from the Charlotte story, which was getting huge national
attention throughout the early and middle parts of last week,
the assassination of Charlie Kirk that happened last Wednesday on
(24:29):
the campus of UVU in the Utah. That event taking
place a thirty hour man hunt. A suspect is now
in custody charges levied against the Utah prosecutors and really Donna.
One of the concerning things in all of this has
been some of the response with people cheering on his assassination, saying,
(24:49):
now we need to go after his wife next, we
need to go after more and more Republicans. This has
been a very interesting thing to watch predominantly unfold on
social media. What a North Carolina voters think about political violence?
Speaker 3 (25:02):
Sure?
Speaker 2 (25:02):
Sure, well, I mean, first we kind of wanted to
set a base level, how concerned are you with the
rise of political violence in the United States? Ninety four
point nine percent of people said they are concerned about
the rise of political violence. Of those eighty two percent,
so they're very concerned about the rise of political violence.
I keep in mind this was in the field there
(25:24):
just a few days after the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
So certainly this is a point when we can agree
on and maybe that's the first step, right, is that
among Democrats and Republicans and independence in our poll, they're
all concerned about the rise of political violence. But the
question is what do you do about it? And who
really is to blame. One of the other questions that
(25:45):
we said is who do you think is to blame
for political violence, and about thirty four percent, which is
the largest single amount, said politicians on elected officials were
to blame. The second most selected was twenty six percent
said the media is activists as an option, and then
social media company. So activists only got about sixteen percent
of the blame here among the respondents of this poll.
(26:09):
And some of that I think is interesting because to me,
it shows there might be a disconnect in what people
think who people think are spreading, you know, negative things
on social media. They may think it's coming from a politician,
they may think it's coming from the media.
Speaker 3 (26:23):
Often it is.
Speaker 2 (26:23):
An active activist group that's passing these things around on
social media. So that was an interesting point. But overall,
you when it comes down to it, sixty percent of
people say it's elected officials in the media who are
to blame for political violence. But you can tell it's
a split on parties. Democrats were much more often saying politicians,
(26:44):
which to me says that they're Donald Trump, and Republicans
were more likely to say that it was the media
to blame for the rise in political violence. The big
one though, something that we were really curious to say,
is what's the tolerance right for violence? Do you believe
it's ever acceptable to use violence or as fascination attempts
against political leaders or public figures with him?
Speaker 3 (27:06):
You disagree?
Speaker 2 (27:08):
Ninety three point four percent of people, regardless of parties,
say it is never acceptable to resort to political violence,
and that was encouraging. And remember these are North Carolina voters.
That says who we are as a state, regardless of party. Now,
Democrats were a little more likely to say that it
is sometimes acceptable, but it was still, you know, in
the single digits to do so, So that is encouraging.
(27:30):
It says what North Carolina really is that maybe perhaps
we're not following that long march toward violence, but North
Carolinians were a little more willing to accept harassing public
figures when they're out grocery shopping, at restaurants or whatever.
Seventy four percent said no, it is never acceptable. Twenty
(27:50):
percent said yes, it is acceptable to harass public figures
when they're running going about their normal every day life.
So those things are really interesting. In moderates kind of
lean toward what Republicans said. In all of those questions,
we've got to watch those closely because unaffiliated, that's our
largest voting block in North Carolina.
Speaker 1 (28:10):
Yes, that is a very interesting voting block, Donna. We
have a lot more that we didn't have a chance
to get into this morning. Folks maybe want to dive
into some more of the data, more of the details.
Where can they go and do that?
Speaker 2 (28:20):
Absolutely, head over to Carolina Journal dot com. All those
crosstats are there and you can really dig in and
let us know what you think.
Speaker 1 (28:27):
We appreciate the information and the insight. This morning, the
editor in chief of Carolina Journal dot com, Donna King,
joins us on the Carolina Journal News Hour. The sixth
annual WBT Little Heroes Blood Drive continues next week Thursday,
September the twenty fifth. WBT and the One Blood, Big
(28:49):
Red Bus will be at the Doghouse in Uptown Charlotte
from ten am to three pm. We'll be broadcasting live
and are couraging you to make a life saving blood donation.
It's the same annual WBT Little Heroes Blood Drive next Thursday,
September twenty fifth, at the Doghouse in Uptown Charlotte. Visit
WBT dot com this morning for location details and to
(29:11):
make sure that you can register your appointment. It's now
five point fifty two. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal
News Hour, News Talk eleven, ten ninety nine to three WBT.
As we have discussed this morning of both in our
Carolina Journal poll and in some of the concerning information
coming out of UNCW in Wilmington, UNC Wilmington, some discussion
(29:33):
over free speech on college campuses. Well, we've got a
new report out this morning from the Foundation for Individual
Rights and Expressions, also known as FIRE. They recently released
their sixth annual report on the Status of Free Speech
on college Campuses. FIRE gauge students experience with free speech
(29:55):
by asking them questions related to expressing controversial opinions both
in and out of the classroom, their perceived institutional tolerance
four differing viewpoints, and how often students practice what is
known as self censorship. FIRE is a nonprofit civil liberty
group that aims to advocate for and educate on free
(30:17):
speech nationally, and in this new survey, more than sixty
eight thousand students on two hundred and fifty seven college
campuses were pulled. As this survey ran from January to June,
so before the Charlie Kirk assassination. However, some very concerning numbers.
In this survey, it asked students how acceptable various forms
(30:40):
of protest against campus speakers would be. It also included
questions about things such as acceptability of blocking students from
attending an event on campus and another question about using
violence to stop campus speech. Most students, seventy two percent
of them responded that it is acceptable in limited circumstances
(31:02):
to shout down a speaker on campus to stop them
from speaking about a controversial topic, seventy two percent saying
that here's the really eye popping number. Of the students surveyed,
thirty four percent said using violence to stop someone from
speaking is acceptable, at least in rare cases. According to fire,
(31:24):
this percentage has increased by ten points over the past
four years, so this has been a growing trend on
universities across the United States. Thirty four percent of students say, well,
it could be acceptable to use violence if we don't
like what somebody is saying. The percentage of students who
would shut down a speaker, block students from attending an event,
(31:47):
or use violence to end campus speech have all increased
since last year and are at record highs. These percentages
are also unfortunately higher in North Carolina, with thirty six
percent of North Carolina college students communicating that they think
it is acceptable to use violence to stop someone from
(32:07):
speaking on campus. According to Sean Stevens, who is the
chief research advisor to FIRE, he said, quote, most students
think most students, more students than ever think violence and
chaos are acceptable alternatives to peaceful protest. This finding cuts
across partisan lines. It's not just a liberal or conservative problem.
(32:31):
It's an American problem. Although the results of the survey
reflect Stevens' comments, North Carolina's schools or at least a
couple of them, topped the free speech ranking list, so
there is some silver lining in all of this. UNC
g UP in Greensboro reported sixth overall in terms of
free speech, APP State at eight, NC State at tenth,
(32:54):
ECU fourteenth, at Chapel Hill nineteenth, and UNC Charlotte twentyeth
According to researchers from FIRE, they noted, quote, A handful
of schools have consistently outperformed their peers in fostering environments
more conductive to free expression. This group includes all of
this year's top five schools, as well as institutions like
(33:18):
the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. These high ranking schools, however,
stand out not because they've created truly robust speech climates,
but because most of their peers are doing far worse.
The twenty five rankings reveal a bleak picture. The report
notes one hundred and sixty six of the two hundred
(33:40):
and fifty seven schools evaluated received an overall score below sixty,
earning a failing grade in regards to their campus's climate
on things like free speech. This year, Fire awarded the
highest grade overall grade over the six years that they
have conducted this study, with a seventy nine point eighty
(34:00):
six out of one hundred going to Claremunt McKenna College.
We've got some additional details, including some of these concerning numbers.
Thirty six percent of North Carolina college students think violence
is acceptable to shut down speech. All of that is
available over on our website This morning Carolina Journal dot
com the story A third of college students say violence
(34:23):
is an option to stop campus speech. That's going to
do it for a Friday edition of The Carolina Journal
News Hour. WBT News is next followed by good morning BT.
We're back with you Monday morning, five to six right
here on News Talk eleven, ten and ninety nine three
WBT
It's five oh five and welcome into a Friday edition
of the Carolina Journal News Hour News Talk eleven, ten
ninety nine three WBT. I'm Nick Craig. Good morning to you.
We'd like to keep a pretty close eye on what
is going on throughout the state of North Carolina. We'll
continue that trend this morning. We've got a brand new
poll out at Carolina Journal dot com to walk us
through some of those details this morning. It's my pleasure
(00:30):
to welcome the editor in chief of Carolina Journal dot com,
Donna King, to the News Hour this morning. Donna, pretty
much every political poll starts off with this top question,
are things heading in the right direction the wrong direction
for the country? What do North Carolina voters think about
the first eight or nine months or so of the
Trump administration.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Sure, we're actually seeing an increase in this poll, which
was out the fourteenth and fifteenth of September, so it's
pretty new cool. The biggest one that I'm seeing is
fifty three point seven percent of people are saying that
the country is going off on the wrong track. Yeah,
that's an increase up from our August our August poll,
(01:10):
so just in the last month. But it's important, I
think to note that because this was out in the
field the fourteenth and fifteenth, that was just after we
saw the assassination of Charlie Kirk and the crime and
the murder on the light rail in Charlotte. So folks
are really feeling a little bit rattled by what we
were seeing in the news.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
So I think that that accounts for some of that spike.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
But generally, you know, we're seeing folks who are among Republicans,
we're much more likely to say we're headed in the
right direction. Democrats were more likely to say we were
off on the wrong track. Independence, which actually is leaning
a little bit more conservative. Throughout this poll, in all
the different questions, was saying right direction was about thirty
eight percent.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
In wrong track was about fifty seven percent.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
Yeah, definitely some interesting numbers there, and we then kind
of parlayed that, follow it up with Okay, maybe things
aren't heading in the right direction for you. What are
some of those issues. It's no surprise, Donna, the it's
the economy, stupid. I mean, it's always a top issue
in political polling, and we're seeing that in this in
this most recent poll as well.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Absolutely so one of the things that we really talked
about was what issues are you really going to be
talking about going into the North Carolina.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
Is US Senate race. This is something that you.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
Know, we still have a year ago, haven't even gone
through the primaries yet, but it really does tell us
where people are, and we were seeing that the economy
and inflation cost of living is still the very top
of the pile for people as they are starting to
think about how they might vote in twenty twenty six.
You combine that with the economy and jobs certainly much
(02:44):
more than that. So you know, I think it's an
ongoing issue and it's something that we're going to be
keeping track of certainly throughout the next year, but it
really is the biggest thing. What we did add though
in this one that we haven't asked before is will
the political party of the candidates impact how you vote?
(03:05):
And we haven't asked that one before, but I thought
it was really interesting.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
It came in at number two.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
So seventeen percent of North Carolina voters said that the
political party of the candidate, not one of our policy
issues that we had listed, was the most important, including
even among independents who said that the party the political
party of the candidates is really going to play a
role in how they vote.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
Yeah, I mean, it's hard to argue that the political
lines are not being dug in further into the sand
on both sides of the political really digging in their
heels on a variety of issues, and that is seemingly
affecting some of those voters. So, Donald, we talk about
the right and wrong direction. Folks are thinking things are
not heading in necessarily in the right direction. Yet our
(03:48):
poll is showing for the first time that President Donald
Trump's approval in his second term, he is now above water.
It's a very slight percentage advantage approved versus disapproved, But
the president is not completely getting drowned out in his
unapproval numbers, right right.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
Yeah, So that is one thing.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
We found that forty nine point four percent approve of
how Donald Trump is performing as president, forty nine percent disapproved,
So you know, his numbers are up a little bit,
but they still are forty nine point four to forty
nine percent in approval disapproval rating for Donald Trump as president.
And some of that you know later in the later
(04:26):
in the poll, we asked who owns this economy? Who
do you credit for this economy, and most people, particularly Republicans,
said that they credit Donald Trump that you know, with
just you know, not even a year in that that
they're crediting Donald Trump with this economy.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
And yeah, that's probably going to be the case.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
And I would expect those numbers to increase the longer
that he's in office.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
Well, and I think that could potentially pose an issue
for the president. Donna. As we've discussed tariffs a variety
of times here on this show, we've got consistent coverage
over on our website, Carolina Journal dot com. One of
the things that we continue to hear from economists is
that the full impact of tariffs have not really trickled
down through the economy yet. We could be looking at
(05:09):
that as we head into the latter parts or early
parts of next year. If folks are saying, yeah, the
economy is Trump's responsibility and it's his doing, He's going
to have to own the good and the bad.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
Sure, sure, I mean, you know, that is one of
the things that we've been watching really closely because as
they take effect and as things happen to prices, how
they impact prices. That's going to go on into the
fall so how will that change how people perceive Donald
Trump and how they perceived the tariffs. But we did
find that majority of people said that they were willing
to let them work to see if they can get
(05:40):
prices to come down. But most people said that they
really weren't willing to wait more than eighteen months to
two years for them to work on bringing prices down. So,
you know, patients is kind of narrow, but for the moment,
it appears that voters are willing to give them a chance.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
Let's turn our attention back to the state of North Carolina.
Governor Stein has been in office pretty much just as
long as as Donald Trump. Yes, he was the ag before,
so a relatively well known figure had a huge election
night victory in November of last year. What if voters
currently think about the job that Democrat Governor Josh Stein
is doing.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
Sure approval is high for Governor Stein right now, it's
fifty point five percent, which is pretty high. I think
he actually exceeds Cooper as he was leaving office thirty
one percent for disapproval, But that leaves a big eighteen
percent of folks who are unsure, and that really was
what it comes down to. They don't know enough about him,
and his center of support is in the Triangle area
(06:36):
around the capitol, about sixty percent approval rating here in
the Triangle. Everywhere else is in the forties. So I
think a lot of that speaks not necessarily that they
don't like him, it's more that they just don't know him.
And I think he also had ad a lift there
at the beginning because he can work with lawmakers Republican
lawmakers in Helene recovery. So I think it's still early
in the process, but so far a pretty high job
(06:57):
approval rating for Governor Stein.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Donald, you and I have talked about this both publicly
and privately, as you talk about Stegn's approval being essentially
limited to at least the positive numbers limited to the
Triangle area and in and around the state capitol. This
has always been the larger problem of there's a lack
of what's going on in North Carolina politics that really
trickles outside of Raleigh. Maybe Charlotte's a little bit of
(07:21):
a different example because it is such a major, large metro,
but that stuff very infrequently trickles out to the mountains
or the coast.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
Sure, yeah, Actually that's really true, people are very invested
in their local politics, their state legislative politics and elected officials,
but the governor's role doesn't really get out there as
much unless it is in the Triangle area. But there's
so much state government here that is part of that
executive branch. I think that's why you see high ratings
here in the Triangle area. And also Cooper and Stein
(07:51):
have been really good about kind of keeping their head down,
not letting things get out unless they control it. Control
the messaging, control, access control, you know, the event that
Gribbin huttings and that kind of thing. So I think
that's why you really see high support up for the
boss here in Raleigh, but you really don't hear much
outside of Raleigh.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
Coming up in March of next year, there will be
a primary for both Republicans and Democrats as we turn
the corner and head towards what is expected to be
a very expensive and highly contentious midterm election in twenty
twenty six from Washington, DC down here to North Carolina Donna.
While the primary hasn't happened, there are two major candidates
that have announced and are running pretty hard campaigns to
(08:30):
this point. Former Democrat Governor Roy Cooper, former head of
the North Carolina Republican Party and head of the RNC,
Michael Wattley. What is our polling looking like for these
two very not necessarily well known, but very documented candidates.
These are not newcomers just popping onto the scene.
Speaker 3 (08:50):
No, certainly not. They definitely aren't.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
And one of the things that we noted you'll remember
from the August poll is that there was a name
recognition deficit with Michael Wattley that presumed we're Publican candidates.
Speaker 3 (09:00):
Certainly, though we're not through the primary just yet.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
There are other candidates, other Republicans running for that nomination
for US Senate. Michael Wattley is the focus at the
moment because he does have an endorsement from Donald Trump,
which here in North Carolina is pretty powerful. We saw
that in the twenty twenty four elections. So Michael Wattley
closing that gap with Roy Cooper, who has nearly universal
name recognition.
Speaker 3 (09:23):
It's the Democrat candidate.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
And Democrats are good at kind of clearing the field
for the chosen candidate. Certainly Cooper would would be would
count for that. So Michael Wattley now is at forty
two percent likely to vote for him, which is a
gain of three points and really has gained ground and
he really only trails Cooper by like four percent. Cooper
(09:46):
has about a forty six percent in this latest poll.
So those are some tight numbers. And you know, if
we were any closer to the election, we would say
it was almost neck and neck. But then again, we
you know, have more than a year to go before
the Senate race.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
It is pretty.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
Remarkable, though, who a relatively unknown candidate For most people,
unless you're a real, you know, politico, you may not
know who Michael Watley is. He used to be the
director of the North Carolina GOP and was director chairman
of the r NC at the national level, but this,
I believe is his first run for actual office, so
(10:22):
a lot of folks just didn't know who he was.
But now he's within four points of Governor Cooper and
everybody knows who he is.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
Well, and Donna, you know, we haven't headed to the
best part of the year. When you can't turn on
the television without seeing political ad after political ad after
political ad. Your mailbox every day is full of them.
Text messages, emails were not anywhere near close to that
fourteen months out from that election. Yet it does appear
that at least for the Republican candidate presumed Republican candidate
(10:50):
in this race, that he is doing at least something
to grow that name.
Speaker 3 (10:54):
I'd be yeah, I think he really is.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
I mean he's if you know him, you know that
he is somebody who will who is out on the
stump a lot for him, and it sounds like they
are working hard to boost that name ID. They may
have gone in knowing what the issues would be, and
that would be the biggest one, is name I D.
Especially when you're going up against somebody who is so
well known like Roy Cooper. Roy Cooper had fairly positive
(11:17):
approval ratings when when he was governor, and he spent
i mean close to forty years in statewide elected office
between the Attorney General and governor. He really was in
a state employee, a government elected official for his almost
his entire career. And this is Michael Watley's first run
(11:38):
of this. So even though he's been in politics for
a very long time, solid on policy, people just didn't
know who he is. And but there will be some
things he'll have to overcome, name I D being being
that big one. And then, as we said before, whatever's
happening with the tariff policy and will that be affecting
prices Because he's so closely tied to President Trump, that
(11:59):
might be an issue as he comes up. But then again,
Cooper's going to have to have some things he has
to overcome, things like shutting down the state government and
public schools during COVID and the messover at the DMV,
and you know, all of these things are really going
to be quite an issue. Certainly problems bureaucratic nightmare, stafoos
in storm recovery. You know, all of those things happened
(12:19):
under his watch. So both have some things that they're
tackling to try and get down into November of twenty
twenty six.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
And that's obviously this race and this poll question is
one that we are going to keep very close tabs
on as we go through the next year or so.
We'll keep you up to date with that over on
our website, Carolina Journal dot com, and right here on
the Carolina Journal News Hour, we'll continue with details out
of our September Carolina Journal poll with Donna King coming
up after this. You're listening to the Carolina Journal News Hour.
(12:53):
It's five twenty three. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal
News Hour, Newstock eleven, ten ninety nine three WBT. We'll
get back with King on some of our September poll
numbers coming up here a little bit later on in
the show of this morning. Before that, we are finally
getting some more details this morning from Governor Josh Stein
and his Wednesday visit to a Washington, d C. To
(13:15):
talk with Congressional delegates as well as those in the
United States Senate about additional aid for North Carolina from
Hurricane Helene. The governor, as well as local officials from Buncombe, Ash, Haywood,
Matt Madison, and Rutherford Counties all traveled to DC on
Wednesday to meet with the administration and members of Congress.
(13:38):
The governor, as we have been talking about all week,
requesting thirteen and a half billion dollars from the federal government.
In a press release, the governor noted, quote, it's been
nearly a year since Hurricane Helene, and while we are
grateful for every dollar of federal support we have received,
we need more. I was pleased to meet with the
(13:59):
Trumpet administration and members of our congressional delegation to advocate
for that additional thirteen point five billion dollars to strengthen
western North Carolina recovery, getting folks back into their homes,
boosting small business, supporting local governments, and repairing at critical infrastructure.
It's important to note that the storm is estimated to
(14:22):
have cost somewhere in the ballpark of sixty billion dollars,
which is almost more than double the state's yearly budget,
which sits a little over thirty billion a year. That
thirteen and a half billion dollar request breaks down into
a couple of different large areas. Eight billion dollars from
HUD to rebuild homes and provide funding for small businesses
(14:43):
and complete repairs to critical infrastructure. Four hundred million dollars
from the Small Business Administration in forgivable small business loans
to those as of folks affected in the western half.
One point six billion dollars from the United States Department
of Transportation that's the USA DOT to restore roads as
well as critical infrastructure, including permanent repairs on Interstate forty,
(15:08):
which is currently operating in a temporary status. Sometimes as
some portions of I forty out west, it is just
one lane in each direction, speed limits thirty five to
forty five miles an hour, so one point six billion
dollars to solidify some of those repairs, as well as
nearly two billion dollars from the Federal Emergency Management Agency,
(15:30):
or FEMA, primarily for Special Community Disaster Loans, which is
a loan setup to help local governments finance, police and
fire protections, help with revenue collection, pay things like hazard insurance,
trash collection, and public a facility maintenance. While there are
four areas restoring homes, supporting small businesses, of bolstering government,
(15:52):
and building roads that make up most of the thirteen
and a half billion dollars worth of requests from Congress,
the governors said that the state is still waiting for
six billion dollars that Congress appropriated last December with the
American Relief Act, the governor saying, quote, so far, North
Carolina has received or been awarded federal funding equivalent to
(16:15):
about nine percent of the total damage of Hurricane Helene.
States that were similarly devastated following Hurricanes Katrina, Maria, and
Sandy saw seventy percent of their damages covered by federal funding.
The average is typically between forty and fifty percent of
total damage in a federal relief dollars. Stein's twenty three
(16:37):
billion dollar Stein's twenty three billion dollar request includes six
billion dollars worth of previously appropriated monies, which would bring
that total of federal support from North Carolina up to
around forty seven percent. Coming up next week and we
will be talking about it. September the twenty fourth will
mark that one year date when her Kane Helene brought
(17:01):
so much destruction and devastation to western North Carolina. We
will be diving into a variety of details on that
next week. We'll also be trying to catch up with
some small business owners and other folks that have been
dealing with the recovery and dealing with some of these
relief efforts over the past calendar year to see how
(17:21):
things are going as the state continues to push forward
after the devastation and destruction of Helene. That's coming up
next week. You can read some more, including us some
pictures of Governor Stein, those representatives and delegates from North
Carolina and members of Congress. We've got pictures of those
(17:41):
and some additional details This morning over on our website
Carolina Journal dot com. That stories headline Stein and County
officials go to DC to advocate for more Helene recovery funding.
You can read those details at Carolina Journal dot com.
(18:02):
It's five thirty five. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal
News Our News Talk eleven ten ninety nine three WBT.
A scary situation unfolding at the UNCW that's the University
of North Carolina at Wilmington yesterday evening as there were
reports late evening around seven pm about an active shooter
on campus that caused the campus to be in lockdown
(18:23):
for the better part of three hours before officials from
the college reported to students, faculty, staff, and community members
that that was a false alarm and noted quote. Please
be aware that much misinformation is circulating on social media.
Here are some facts about today's events. This afternoon and evening,
(18:45):
multiple reports came in claiming that an armed attacker was
on campus. The reports have been investigated and found to
be untrue. We intend to thoroughly review each of these
sources and provide more details in the coming days. U
and CW made some national news this week as well,
after students on campus argued and debated over the what
(19:07):
is known as the UNCW Spirit Rock it was painted
with a Charlie Kirk memorial on Monday, to only have
an early Tuesday morning left wing agitators on campus to
cover that memorial with buckets of paint. That did receive
a national news from major outlets including Fox News and others.
(19:28):
And this report last night of an armed shooter on
campus again being reported from multiple reports on social media
a lot of misinformation. I'll note as well at eleven
forty last night that you the college down on another
update saying quote in an abundance of caution, UNCW will
cancel classes on Friday and all assignments and exams are postponed.
(19:51):
Students in fully online programs should consult with their instructors
on how this could impact their courses. Also noting that
the library will be closed as well and many other
facilities on campus, as there have been anonymous threats made
on social media about some limited acts of violence on
the campus on Friday. This is an active and dynamic
(20:12):
situation as political tensions do continue to rise after the
assassination of Charlie Kirk last Wednesday. We'll keep an eye
on the details right here on the Carolina Journal News Hour,
where it's now five point thirty seven News Talk eleven
ten ninety nine to three WBT. We are keeping you
up to date this morning on the latest ongoings in
(20:33):
North Carolina with our new September Carolina Journal pull. As
we continue our discussion this morning, Donna King, the editor
in chief of Carolina Journal dot com, joins us on
the news hour. Donna, Unfortunately, Charlotte, North Carolina has been
getting some increased media national media coverage over the last
couple of weeks. It's not because a new big business
(20:53):
is opening or anything of that nature. It's after the
horrific murder of twenty three year old Irena Zaruska on
a show Arlotte light rail in late August that has
really gripped the nation. There's been a lot of discussion
on it, including even from President Donald Trump. Now we're
learning details about a congressional hearing that's going to be
taking place here in Charlotte in the next couple of weeks.
(21:15):
So what are folks thoughts on public transit in our
new poll sure In.
Speaker 2 (21:19):
This poll, we asked voters in North Carolina likely voters,
how confident are you that public transit in your area
is safe from crime? So only about twenty seven percent
of folks that it was somewhat confident, and twelve percent
said very confident. But when you look at overall not
confidence levels, you know, the totals are pretty pretty grim.
(21:42):
I mean, we're looking at close to forty percent of
people say they are not confident.
Speaker 3 (21:48):
Two percent weren't even sure.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
And some of that might be because they may not
have a lot of public transportation or they just simply
don't use it. In Charlotte, which is what we're watching
so closely, about about fifty percent of folks say that
they believe that public transit is not safe in their area.
And I was actually there the earlier this week. My
daughter lives in the South End neighborhood where the murder happened,
(22:10):
right there at the stop actually, and you know, there's
definitely a tension of tension in the neighborhood around where
this crime happened.
Speaker 3 (22:18):
And it's a nice area.
Speaker 2 (22:19):
I mean, there's an abacromy and fits right across the
street from from the stop where she was murdered, but
there is it's tough, and I think that's what city
leaders are worried about, and that they're worried people won't
use it, and now they have to deal with, of course,
you know, federal and state level officials saying, hey, what's
going on down there and are you really keeping people safe?
Speaker 1 (22:39):
Well, and it's also relevant coming up a little bit
later this year, Donna, ahead of the midterm elections, there's
going to be a sales tax increase on the ballot
for voters in Charlotte in Mecklenburg County to fund additional
public transportation projects. To me to be, that's going to
be a tough issue to deal with when half of
people in the area say I don't feel safe writing
public transit seems like they probably would not be in
(23:02):
favor of having more of their money taken away to
fund something that either a they don't want to use
or be they don't feel safe to do it anyway.
Speaker 2 (23:10):
Sure sure, Well, in talking to people in Charlotte this week,
the number one thing that I heard from most people
who use it on a regular basis is that it's
really not secure because no one checks tickets. There's no
turnstyle to get on it. You can literally, you know,
just walk straight up and get on one of the cars.
And there are monitors occasionally, you don't see them very
often there are monitors on these to make sure people
(23:33):
are you know, have a ticket and aren't misbehaving. But
if they are stopped by a monitor, that monitor is
not a police officer, they just jump off and get
onto another car. So it really isn't a super secure line,
and I think that's what we're seeing. Just simple railings
and turnstiles may deter some but you know, there's also
nonprofits in the city who can hand out passes for free,
(23:56):
so that's not really a it's not really a barrier,
but those kind of things that I think most commuters
would like to see have some sort of the measures
in place to keep it secure.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
Obviously, that is a major national story, and here a
local story that we'll be keeping an eye on as well, Donna.
One of the other huge national stories that really kind
of suck a lot of the air out of the
room from the Charlotte story, which was getting huge national
attention throughout the early and middle parts of last week,
the assassination of Charlie Kirk that happened last Wednesday on
(24:29):
the campus of UVU in the Utah. That event taking
place a thirty hour man hunt. A suspect is now
in custody charges levied against the Utah prosecutors and really Donna.
One of the concerning things in all of this has
been some of the response with people cheering on his assassination, saying,
(24:49):
now we need to go after his wife next, we
need to go after more and more Republicans. This has
been a very interesting thing to watch predominantly unfold on
social media. What a North Carolina voters think about political violence?
Speaker 3 (25:02):
Sure?
Speaker 2 (25:02):
Sure, well, I mean, first we kind of wanted to
set a base level, how concerned are you with the
rise of political violence in the United States? Ninety four
point nine percent of people said they are concerned about
the rise of political violence. Of those eighty two percent,
so they're very concerned about the rise of political violence.
I keep in mind this was in the field there
(25:24):
just a few days after the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
So certainly this is a point when we can agree
on and maybe that's the first step, right, is that
among Democrats and Republicans and independence in our poll, they're
all concerned about the rise of political violence. But the
question is what do you do about it? And who
really is to blame. One of the other questions that
(25:45):
we said is who do you think is to blame
for political violence, and about thirty four percent, which is
the largest single amount, said politicians on elected officials were
to blame. The second most selected was twenty six percent
said the media is activists as an option, and then
social media company. So activists only got about sixteen percent
of the blame here among the respondents of this poll.
(26:09):
And some of that I think is interesting because to me,
it shows there might be a disconnect in what people
think who people think are spreading, you know, negative things
on social media. They may think it's coming from a politician,
they may think it's coming from the media.
Speaker 3 (26:23):
Often it is.
Speaker 2 (26:23):
An active activist group that's passing these things around on
social media. So that was an interesting point. But overall,
you when it comes down to it, sixty percent of
people say it's elected officials in the media who are
to blame for political violence. But you can tell it's
a split on parties. Democrats were much more often saying politicians,
(26:44):
which to me says that they're Donald Trump, and Republicans
were more likely to say that it was the media
to blame for the rise in political violence. The big
one though, something that we were really curious to say,
is what's the tolerance right for violence? Do you believe
it's ever acceptable to use violence or as fascination attempts
against political leaders or public figures with him?
Speaker 3 (27:06):
You disagree?
Speaker 2 (27:08):
Ninety three point four percent of people, regardless of parties,
say it is never acceptable to resort to political violence,
and that was encouraging. And remember these are North Carolina voters.
That says who we are as a state, regardless of party. Now,
Democrats were a little more likely to say that it
is sometimes acceptable, but it was still, you know, in
the single digits to do so, So that is encouraging.
(27:30):
It says what North Carolina really is that maybe perhaps
we're not following that long march toward violence, but North
Carolinians were a little more willing to accept harassing public
figures when they're out grocery shopping, at restaurants or whatever.
Seventy four percent said no, it is never acceptable. Twenty
(27:50):
percent said yes, it is acceptable to harass public figures
when they're running going about their normal every day life.
So those things are really interesting. In moderates kind of
lean toward what Republicans said. In all of those questions,
we've got to watch those closely because unaffiliated, that's our
largest voting block in North Carolina.
Speaker 1 (28:10):
Yes, that is a very interesting voting block, Donna. We
have a lot more that we didn't have a chance
to get into this morning. Folks maybe want to dive
into some more of the data, more of the details.
Where can they go and do that?
Speaker 2 (28:20):
Absolutely, head over to Carolina Journal dot com. All those
crosstats are there and you can really dig in and
let us know what you think.
Speaker 1 (28:27):
We appreciate the information and the insight. This morning, the
editor in chief of Carolina Journal dot com, Donna King,
joins us on the Carolina Journal News Hour. The sixth
annual WBT Little Heroes Blood Drive continues next week Thursday,
September the twenty fifth. WBT and the One Blood, Big
(28:49):
Red Bus will be at the Doghouse in Uptown Charlotte
from ten am to three pm. We'll be broadcasting live
and are couraging you to make a life saving blood donation.
It's the same annual WBT Little Heroes Blood Drive next Thursday,
September twenty fifth, at the Doghouse in Uptown Charlotte. Visit
WBT dot com this morning for location details and to
(29:11):
make sure that you can register your appointment. It's now
five point fifty two. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal
News Hour, News Talk eleven, ten ninety nine to three WBT.
As we have discussed this morning of both in our
Carolina Journal poll and in some of the concerning information
coming out of UNCW in Wilmington, UNC Wilmington, some discussion
(29:33):
over free speech on college campuses. Well, we've got a
new report out this morning from the Foundation for Individual
Rights and Expressions, also known as FIRE. They recently released
their sixth annual report on the Status of Free Speech
on college Campuses. FIRE gauge students experience with free speech
(29:55):
by asking them questions related to expressing controversial opinions both
in and out of the classroom, their perceived institutional tolerance
four differing viewpoints, and how often students practice what is
known as self censorship. FIRE is a nonprofit civil liberty
group that aims to advocate for and educate on free
(30:17):
speech nationally, and in this new survey, more than sixty
eight thousand students on two hundred and fifty seven college
campuses were pulled. As this survey ran from January to June,
so before the Charlie Kirk assassination. However, some very concerning numbers.
In this survey, it asked students how acceptable various forms
(30:40):
of protest against campus speakers would be. It also included
questions about things such as acceptability of blocking students from
attending an event on campus and another question about using
violence to stop campus speech. Most students, seventy two percent
of them responded that it is acceptable in limited circumstances
(31:02):
to shout down a speaker on campus to stop them
from speaking about a controversial topic, seventy two percent saying
that here's the really eye popping number. Of the students surveyed,
thirty four percent said using violence to stop someone from
speaking is acceptable, at least in rare cases. According to fire,
(31:24):
this percentage has increased by ten points over the past
four years, so this has been a growing trend on
universities across the United States. Thirty four percent of students say, well,
it could be acceptable to use violence if we don't
like what somebody is saying. The percentage of students who
would shut down a speaker, block students from attending an event,
(31:47):
or use violence to end campus speech have all increased
since last year and are at record highs. These percentages
are also unfortunately higher in North Carolina, with thirty six
percent of North Carolina college students communicating that they think
it is acceptable to use violence to stop someone from
(32:07):
speaking on campus. According to Sean Stevens, who is the
chief research advisor to FIRE, he said, quote, most students
think most students, more students than ever think violence and
chaos are acceptable alternatives to peaceful protest. This finding cuts
across partisan lines. It's not just a liberal or conservative problem.
(32:31):
It's an American problem. Although the results of the survey
reflect Stevens' comments, North Carolina's schools or at least a
couple of them, topped the free speech ranking list, so
there is some silver lining in all of this. UNC
g UP in Greensboro reported sixth overall in terms of
free speech, APP State at eight, NC State at tenth,
(32:54):
ECU fourteenth, at Chapel Hill nineteenth, and UNC Charlotte twentyeth
According to researchers from FIRE, they noted, quote, A handful
of schools have consistently outperformed their peers in fostering environments
more conductive to free expression. This group includes all of
this year's top five schools, as well as institutions like
(33:18):
the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. These high ranking schools, however,
stand out not because they've created truly robust speech climates,
but because most of their peers are doing far worse.
The twenty five rankings reveal a bleak picture. The report
notes one hundred and sixty six of the two hundred
(33:40):
and fifty seven schools evaluated received an overall score below sixty,
earning a failing grade in regards to their campus's climate
on things like free speech. This year, Fire awarded the
highest grade overall grade over the six years that they
have conducted this study, with a seventy nine point eighty
(34:00):
six out of one hundred going to Claremunt McKenna College.
We've got some additional details, including some of these concerning numbers.
Thirty six percent of North Carolina college students think violence
is acceptable to shut down speech. All of that is
available over on our website This morning Carolina Journal dot
com the story A third of college students say violence
(34:23):
is an option to stop campus speech. That's going to
do it for a Friday edition of The Carolina Journal
News Hour. WBT News is next followed by good morning BT.
We're back with you Monday morning, five to six right
here on News Talk eleven, ten and ninety nine three
WBT
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