Americans Are Less Proud to Be Americans This Year

(Bloomberg) -- As the nation celebrates Independence Day, pride in America has become a casualty of today's polarized political environment.

The share of those who say they're either extremely or very proud of being an American reached the lowest point since Gallup first conducted the survey in 2001. For a second straight year, less than half of Americans consider themselves “extremely proud,” down from a peak of 70% in 2004 and driven by low patriotism among Democrats and political independents.

The gap by political affiliation is at the widest point ever. National pride among Democrats has plunged since President Donald Trump took office, with just 22% now indicating extreme pride, the lowest on record and half what it was months before the last election. Some 76% of Republicans indicate they are extremely proud of being an American.

By comparison, “when Barack Obama was in office, Republicans' extreme pride never fell below 68%,” according to the report.

Several subgroups -- women, liberals and younger adults -- all express lower levels of extreme U.S. pride. The opposite is more readily found among men, conservatives and older Americans.

One thing that the majority of Americans do agree on, regardless of political affiliation -- both the American political and the health and welfare system fail to instill pride. Only about a third of respondents say the political system makes them proud to be an American, compared with more than two-thirds who say it doesn't.

To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Tanzi in Washington at atanzi@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Scott Lanman at slanman@bloomberg.net, Vince Golle, Wei Lu

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