America is heading into its 250th birthday, and a new NBC News poll just exposed a brutal split over who still feels proud to be American.
The overall number is not great. The deeper party breakdown is the real story.
Steve Kornacki posted the poll results Sunday, showing 56 percent of Americans saying they are extremely or very proud to be American.
But by party, Republicans came in at 90 percent extremely or very proud. Democrats came in at just 29 percent.
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
That is a massive gap. It is hard to look at those numbers and pretend the country is simply divided over tax rates or campaign slogans.
The age split is also ugly. Americans 65 and older hit 75 percent extremely or very proud, while adults ages 18 to 34 came in at only 36 percent.
Daily Caller captured Kornacki’s warning about the broader trend:
The significance of this, this number is in decline. A steady 21st century decline.
A steady decline is one way to put it. A collapse on one side of the aisle is the sharper way.
The overall number did not fall because conservatives suddenly stopped loving America. It fell because the left has spent years teaching people to see America as a problem instead of a gift.
The same survey also hit another gloomy note about the country’s future.
Daily Wire highlighted the separate best-days number from the poll:
A majority (58%) also says the nation’s best days are in the past, not the future, according to the poll.
That is the cultural damage in one sentence. When institutions spend years preaching decline, resentment, and shame, young people eventually absorb the message.
The timing makes the poll even more revealing. The country is preparing for America 250, a once-in-a-lifetime national milestone.
The White House Freedom 250 page frames the anniversary this way:
America will celebrate the most important milestone in our country’s history
That should be an easy thing to celebrate. Two hundred fifty years of self-government, free speech, religious liberty, private property, and opportunity remain a miracle in human history.
Republicans still seem to understand that. The poll shows a lot of Democrats and young Americans need to hear it again, loudly, clearly, and without apology.
America is still worth loving. The real question is why so many powerful voices worked so hard to convince people otherwise.
This is a Guest Post from our friends over at WLTReport. View the original article here.