President Ronald Reagan ran his reelection campaign in 1984 with the theme, ‘Morning Again in America.’
Back then, a patriotic fervor was running through the country that helped Reagan win 49 of 50 states in the election.
But that is not the case during Donald Trump’s presidency.
Only 42% of U.S. adults today say they are “extremely proud” to be an American.
And just 21% say they are “very proud”, according to a new Gallup poll.
Both readings are the lowest recorded since Gallup’s initial measurement in 2001.
In 2001, just before September 11th, Gallup poll found that 55% of U.S. adults felt extreme pride in America.
In the years after the attacks, American pride rose dramatically, with 69% and 70% feeling “extremely proud” between 2002 and 2004.
However, beginning in 2005, those numbers started trending downward.
According to Gallup, pride has hit all-time lows in the three years since President Trump was elected, especially among Democrats.
In 2016, the final year of the Obama presidency, 45% of Dems classified themselves as extremely proud.
This year, just as last year, that number sits at 24%.
2019 saw a record 54-point gap in the percentages of Republicans and Democrats who were extremely proud to be Americans.
That gap is narrower this year (43 points) because of the decline in Republican pride, but remains much larger than before.
In a poll conducted by Pew Research Center that was released last week, six in 10 Americans said they disapprove of President Trump’s “message in response to the” George Floyd protests, a sign the president’s calls for “law and order” and combative rhetoric toward demonstrations could be backfiring.
The Pew poll found just 37% of Americans believe Trump delivered the right message in the wake of Floyd’s death and unrest that spread throughout the country.
Black Americans (85%) were much more likely than white Americans (52%) to say Trump’s message was wrong.