American patriotism hovers near record low

Happy 4 July! Or maybe not so happy. New polling from Gallup has found that national pride among Americans is hovering close to a record low, with 41% of respondents claiming that they are “extremely proud” to be from the US. This marks a slight uptick from the nadir of 38% saying the same two years ago, but as recently as a decade ago around 60% of Americans expressed extreme pride in their country.

Why the drop over the years? Though patriotism declined slightly after Donald Trump assumed the presidency in 2017, the fall had already been steadily progressing during the Barack Obama years. According to the latest figures, 59% of Republicans feel extreme pride in being American, compared to 34% of Democrats and 36% of independent voters. With an infirm president and a challenger plagued by legal controversies, who’d want to be an American right now?