Donald Trump ran on the slogan that he was out to Make America Great Again. Trump bemoaned how America had fallen because of his predecessor and thus embarked to bring American prowess back. Americans have been known for their pride in America. “I am an American and I have rights” is mocked by others when an American utters these infamous phrase in foreign countries.
Pride in America by Americans is in often display at public events and in schools as the pledge of allegiance is recited daily. The American flag flies publicly in most places and debates over flag decorum happen regularly.
American pride is used in protests and the American flag is used on apparel and advertising although it contravenes the flag code.
Public expressions of American pride are well known across the globe.
That is until Donald Trump took office.
Americans went noticeably silent about their American pride. Some Americans even resorted to publicly proclaiming that Donald Trump was not their president as signage and chants of “not my president” sprang up across America.
But were these expressions of angst about America the expressions of a vocal minority or the feeling of a larger group of Americans?
Gallup has been polling Americans about their pride in America since 2001.
Americans who are “extremely proud” of America polled at a height of 69% around 2003-2005 and hovered around 58% through 2015.
A noticeable nosedive started during the 2016 presidential elections where those who were “extremely proud” to be an American were at 52%
Gallup’s latest poll of June 15, 2020 shows that Americans’ pride in their country is at its lowest since Gallup started polling pride in America. The latest figure shows that only 42% of Americans are “extremely proud” of their country.
A number that correlates closely to the number of Donald Trump supporters.
An interesting metric is the one about Republicans. According to the Gallup poll, “extremely proud” Republican Americans have dropped by “9-percentage-points,” which “marks the “largest year-over-year decline” of Republican pride in America.
So much for Making America Great Again!
