US pride hits record low, poll shows
For the second time in 19 years, under 50 per cent of US citizens feel 'extremely proud' to be American
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Your support makes all the difference.As the US celebrates Independence Day, a new poll suggests less Americans feel pride in their country than at any other time since 2001.
While 70 per cent of US adults claim to be proud to be Americans, only 45 per cent identified as “extremely proud” in the survey, marking the second consecutive year that this falls below the majority level.
The highest reported levels of pride in the US government and being an American came in 2002 and 2004, after the 9/11 attacks. During those years, 70 per cent of people identified as “extremely proud” to be American.
While Democrats have historically reported lower levels of extreme patriotism among their ranks, the polling, carried out by Gallup, found this year their “extreme pride” has hit an all-time low.
At this point, only 22 per cent of Democrats identify as “extremely proud”. Before Donald Trump was elected, it was nearly twice that. Democrat-voting women, liberals, and younger people all experience lower levels of pride than the rest of the US population.
Independents echo similar sentiments, with a record low of 41 per cent reporting extreme pride.
Republicans, on the other hand, have reported that 76 per cent of them remain in the “extremely proud” group, a ten per cent decrease from the highest recording in 2003.
In a new question introduced this year, Gallup found that Americans largest sources of pride were in science (91 per cent), arts (85 per cent), and the US military (89 per cent). On the contrary, US citizens were least proud of the political system (32 per cent) and the health and welfare system (37 per cent).
Gallup attributed the new record low in part to a divisive political climate, noting similar figures have been also been reported once before during the time Mr Trump has been in office.
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