Recent polling showed that the number of Americans who call themselves extremely proud to be an American has fallen to an all-time low while the youngest generation has little regard for Old Glory.
Gallup’s recent polling shows a slate of bad news. The percentage of Americans who describe themselves as extremely proud to be an American has fallen to an all-time low.
The news is even worse when looking at the internal data. Since Gallup started polling the question in 2001, the percentage of those calling themselves extremely proud of their country is just 38%.
It was 51% in 2017 during former President Donald Trump’s first year in the White House, and hadn’t reached significantly higher levels since the last GOP White House under former President George W. Bush.
In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, the number spiked, with 70% describing themselves as such in 2003.
Other polling data is not positive, either. The last several years has shown a consistent trend: young people are increasingly non-patriotic. Most Republicans still describe themselves as patriotic, with a share of 58%, as compared to 26% of Democrats and 34% of independents.
In the past decade, there has only been one point in which most Democrats described themselves as extremely proud to be an American, with 56% in 2013. Believe it or not, the 26% figure is not an all-time low for Democrats. That came in 2019 when just 22% of Democrats described themselves that way.
A recent Morning Consult poll wound up with similar negative results. Just 38% of Millenials and 16% of Generation Z describe themselves as proud to be an American.
The net shares of each generation who say they are proud to live in the United States:
Baby Boomers: 73
Gen X: 54
Millennials: 36
Gen Z: 16View more: https://t.co/zLQl2NdugM pic.twitter.com/uS2Li4NGIs
— Morning Consult (@MorningConsult) January 9, 2023
The issue appears to be generational. In the Morning Consult poll, 54% of members of Generation X and 73% of Baby Boomers described themselves as proud to live in the country.
Hopefully, more young people realize the great opportunity our country provides. Our nation’s future will be in their hands and, as Ronald Reagan said, we are only one generation away from losing our liberty.
