Proud to be an American? Record Low Number Answer Yes in Latest Gallup Poll
Depressing numbers in a new Gallup poll, with a record low number of people saying they were “extremely proud” or “very proud” to be an American.
CNN’s Harry Enten discussed the poll results with Ryan Nobles, who was guest hosting CNN Newsroom.
Enten described the poll as posing an “interesting question…essentially, how proud are you to be an American,” and 65% was not a figure you would “think of necessarily as a low number,” but the “trend line going back over the last few decades” painted a different picture.
Every five years, Enten pointed out, there was a drop. In 2002, shortly after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, 91% of Americans said they were extremely or very proud, and now it was only 65%.
Just looking at those who said they were “extremely proud,” that figure was down to 38%, the lowest that Gallup has measured in the 21st century, said Enten.
“Not a very hopeful trend, to say the least,” Nobles remarked.
According to a press release from Gallup, the poll was conducted between June 1 and June 20, 2022 of a random sample of 1,015 adults 18 years of age or older from all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. The margin of error was +/- 4 points. The poll was conducted by phone, with 75% cellphone respondents and 25% landline respondents, selected using random-digit-dial methods.
For the nationwide sample, in addition to the 38% who said they are “extremely proud” to be American and 27% who said “very proud,” 65% said “proud,” 22% “moderately proud,” 9% “only a little,” and 4% “not at all” proud.
The downward trend carried across partisan lines, Gallup noted:
Republicans’ pride in being American has consistently outpaced Democrats’ and independents’ since 2001 and does so today. However, Republicans’ extreme national pride (58%) is now at its lowest point in the trend. Independents’ extreme pride, at 34%, is likewise the lowest on record for the group.
After hitting a 22% low point in 2019, Democrats’ extreme pride rose to 31% in 2021 at the start of Joe Biden’s presidency, but it is down this year to 26%.
Watch the video above, via CNN.
