Patriotism Drops Off Among Democrats Ahead of America’s 250th Birthday

Fewer than 30% of Democrats say they are extremely or very proud to be an American ahead of the country’s 250th anniversary and trust colleges and universities over the U.S. military, according to a new poll. 

An NBC News survey released Sunday morning shows that America’s deep political polarization is increasingly spilling over into national identity and expressions of national pride.

Overall, about 56% say they are “extremely” or “very” proud to be American, while 29% report having little or no national pride at all. The divide deepens among party partisanship and age. 

“This number is in decline,” polling guru Steve Kornacki said.

About 90% of Republicans say they are proud to be American, compared with just 29% of Democrats who say the same. The gap also widens by age: roughly three-quarters of adults aged 65 and older report feeling proud of their country, while that figure drops sharply among younger Americans, with only 36% of those ages 18–34 saying the same.

NBC News poll: How proud are you to be an American?

Overall
Extremely/very 56%
Not very/none 21%

Extremely/very by party:
GOP 90%
Dem 29%

By age:
65+ 75%
18-34 36%

— Steve Kornacki (@SteveKornacki) June 14, 2026

A majority (58%) also says the nation’s best days are in the past, not the future, according to the poll.

The results closely mirror another survey recently obtained by The Daily Wire, which points to a notable decline in expressions of patriotism. According to Cygnal, a political polling and analytics firm, just 58% of respondents said they are “extremely” or “very” proud to be American, including only 28% of voters under 30. Meanwhile, 30% of Democrats said they are “not at all” proud of the nation.

“This youth pride collapse is broader than the midterm and worth flagging as a standalone trend; it cuts across the usual partisan framing and will outlast this cycle,” the poll’s analysis said. 

In that survey, voters overall said Democrats are too focused on opposing Trump by a 6-point margin; however, this sentiment was significantly stronger among swing voters, where the margin widened to 23 points.

“It’s striking that when you look at age and gender breaks, women under the age of 55 are the only group who think Democrats actually offer a more compelling alternative — every single other group thinks the left is just focused on Trump,” John Rogers, Cygnal senior partner and pollster, said in a statement to The Daily Wire. 

Swing voters trust Republicans over Democrats on immigration by a 53% to 23% margin, on crime by 47% to 22%, and on government spending by 39% to 23%, while independents also lean Republican on all three issues, according to the pollster’s analysis.

The data points offer a bright spot for Republicans facing national headwinds fueled by high gas prices and rising inflation, which voters rank as their top priorities, according to the Cygnal poll.