With President Donald Trump in the White House, Democrats aren’t feeling particularly patriotic, according to a new study.
A newly released poll from Gallup shows that the number of Democrats who are proud to be American has dropped to a new low of 67 percent — down 11 points from last year. In fact, national pride has never been so low among liberals since the start of the survey in January 2001.
The next lowest was in 2007, when 74 percent said they were proud of their country. At that point, then-President George W. Bush’s approval rating was hovering around 36 percent and he had just authorized a “surge” in troops to Iraq in hopes of improving the United States’ standing in an increasingly unpopular war.
“The decline in Democratic pride this year most likely stems from Democrats’ negative feelings about President Donald Trump,” Gallup’s report reads, noting that less than 10 percent of Democrats approve of the job Trump is doing.
But for Republicans, patriotism has been largely unmoved — regardless of who is in office: Trump or former President Barack Obama.
Today, 92 percent of Republicans describe themselves as “extremely” or “very” proud to be Americans, up three points from last year, when 89 percent expressed national pride.
“Historically, Democrats’ patriotism appears to have been susceptible to considerations such as which party occupies the White House and how the U.S. is faring internationally, while Republicans’ patriotism has been more consistent over time,” Gallup reported.
The dip in Democratic pride has caused the percentage of Americans overall who are “extremely” (51 percent) or “very” (24 percent) proud of their country to decline to 75 percent, down from the previous low of 81 percent recorded in 2016. The percentage of Americans who are “only a little” or “not at all” proud of the U.S. has increased from 6 percent to 9 percent.
The highest point of national pride ever recorded by Gallup came in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, when 9-in-10 Americans said they were proud of their country.
“For U.S. pride to bounce back to where it has been in the past,” Gallup concluded, “renewed feelings of patriotism among Democrats will be necessary.”
