Sharply fewer U.S. Democrats proud to be Americans: poll

Largely due to their negative feeling about U.S. President Donald Trump, 67 percent of American Democrats now feel proud to be Americans, the lowest point since 2001, a new Gallup poll found.

This is down by 11 percentage points from 2016, when 78 percent of Democrats said they are "extremely" or "very" proud of being Americans, according to the March 9-29 Gallup poll.

The combined 14 percent of Democrats who express little or no pride is up from 6 percent last year.

But among Republicans and independents, there was almost no change. Most Republicans (92 percent) and independents (73 percent) are proud to be Americans, the poll found.

The percentage of Democrats feeling proud is the lowest Gallup has recorded so far, falling below the previous low of 74 percent in January 2007.

The decline in Democrats' pride most likely stems from their negative feelings about President Donald Trump, a Republican. This is shown in the fact that fewer than 10 percent of Democrats approve of Trump's job, Gallup said.

Overall, 75 percent of Americans feel proud to be Americans, down from the prior low of 81 percent in 2016. The highest record of Americans' pride was recorded after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attack, when more than nine in 10 Americans felt proud, according to Gallup.

The percentage of U.S. adults who are "only a little" or "not at all" proud has increased from 6 percent to 9 percent, the poll showed.

In addition to their negative feelings about Trump, Democrats' pride may also be affected by their perceptions of how other countries view the U.S., Gallup said.

In February, just four in 10 Americans said they believed the rest of the world views the U.S. favorably. Enditem