Who Is Proud To Be An American?
The headlines this week have blared about how pride in America has plunged under President Donald Trump. But the Gallup Poll driving all these stories paints a very different picture from the headlines.
What the data actually show is that, not only did pride among Democrats plunge this year, it has been falling for them over the past 23 years – even when the sainted Barack Obama was in the White House.
In Obama’s first year in office, 78% of Democrats said they were “extremely or very proud” to be an American. But by his last year in office, that share had dropped to 68%.
Not surprisingly, given their hatred of Donald Trump, Democrats’ pride then plunged during Trump’s first term. But even under Joe Biden, only 62% of Democrats could bring themselves to say they were proud to be an American.
The Democrats’ growing disdain for their country aligns perfectly with their increasing radicalization – a trend we have been noting here at I&I for years (see, for example, “Don’t Be Surprised By Democrats’ Radical Turn – Fanaticism Is In Their DNA“) and before that at Investor’s Business Daily.
And the fact that only 36% of them say they are proud to be an American today says less about Donald Trump than it does about just how pusillanimous their pride in this country has become.
Look again at the chart above. Republican pride remained steady – and well above either Democrats’ or independents’ – over the entire span of this Gallup poll, regardless of who sat in the White House. In 2001, 90% of Republicans said they were “extremely or very proud” to be an American. In 2015, in the middle of Obama’s two terms in office – a president Republicans loathed – 90% of them nevertheless said they were extremely or very proud to be an American.
Isn’t that how it should be? Shouldn’t Americans be proud of their country, even if they don’t happen to like the (duly elected) person sitting in the White House? The vast majority of Democrats have given their answer, and it’s shameful.
But what’s more puzzling, and worrisome, is the long-term slide in pride among independents since 2004. Between 2013 and 2023, it went from 80% to 64%. It fell to 60% last year, and now sits at 53%.
What can explain this? And how can it be arrested? After all, whichever party figures out how to restore independents’ pride in America is likely to be the dominant one in this country for decades to come.
Is anyone in the GOP thinking about this? They should be.
Comments are closed.
