成人X站

WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� Only 36% of Democrats say they’re 鈥渆xtremely鈥� or 鈥渧ery鈥� proud to be American, according to , reflecting a dramatic decline in national pride that’s also clear among young people.

The findings are a stark illustration of how many 鈥� but not all 鈥� Americans have felt less of a sense of pride in their country over the past decade. The split between Democrats and Republicans, at 56 percentage points, is at its widest since 2001. That includes all four years of Republican President Donald Trump鈥檚 first term.

Only about 4 in 10 U.S. adults who are part of Generation Z, which is defined as those born from 1997 to 2012, expressed a high level of pride in being American in Gallup surveys conducted in the past five years, on average. That’s compared with about 6 in 10 Millennials 鈥� those born between 1980 and 1996 鈥� and at least 7 in 10 U.S. adults in older generations.

鈥淓ach generation is less patriotic than the prior generation, and Gen Z is definitely much lower than anybody else,鈥� said Jeffrey Jones, a senior editor at Gallup. 鈥淏ut even among the older generations, we see that they’re less patriotic than the ones before them, and they’ve become less patriotic over time. That’s primarily driven by Democrats within those generations.鈥�

A slow erosion in national pride

America鈥檚 decline in national pride has been a slow erosion, with a steady downtick in Gallup’s data since January 2001, when the question was first asked.

Even during the tumultuous early years of the Iraq War, the vast majority of U.S. adults, whether Republican or Democrat, said they were 鈥渆xtremely鈥� or 鈥渧ery鈥� proud to be American. At that point, about 9 in 10 were 鈥渆xtremely鈥� or 鈥渧ery鈥� proud to be American. That remained high in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, but the consensus around American pride slipped in the years that followed, dropping to about 8 in 10 in 2006 and continuing a gradual decline.

Now, 58% of U.S. adults say that, in a downward shift that鈥檚 been driven almost entirely by Democrats and independents. The vast majority of Republicans continue to say they’re proud to be American.

Independents鈥� pride in their national identity hit a new low in the most recent survey, at 53%, largely following that pattern of gradual decline.

Democrats鈥� diminished pride in being American is more clearly linked to Trump鈥檚 time in office. When Trump first entered the White House, in 2017, about two-thirds of Democrats said they were proud to be American. That had fallen to 42% by 2020, just before Trump lost reelection to Democrat Joe Biden.

But while Democrats鈥� sense of national pride rebounded when Biden took office, it didn鈥檛 go back to its pre-Trump levels.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not just a Trump story,” Jones said. 鈥淪omething else is going on, and I think it鈥檚 just younger generations coming in and not being as patriotic as older people.鈥�

Republicans and Democrats split on patriotism

Other recent polling shows that Democrats and independents are less likely than Republicans to say that expressing patriotism is important or to feel a sense of pride in their national leaders.

Nearly 9 in 10 Republicans in said they believed patriotism has a positive impact on the United States, with Democrats more divided: 45% said patriotism had a positive impact on the country, while 37% said it was negative.

But a more general sense of discontent was clear on both sides of the aisle earlier this year, when found that fewer than 1 in 10 Democrats and Republicans said 鈥減roud鈥� described the way they felt about politics in America today.

In that survey, most Americans across the political spectrum said they were 鈥渄isappointed鈥� or 鈥渇rustrated鈥� with the country鈥檚 politics.