President Donald Trump and his MAGA movement have caused a major disruption in the partisan nature of “patriotism,” according to an extensive new report from Politico, mirroring a similar shift caused by the far right on a global scale.
On Sunday, Politico reported on the findings of its latest poll, claiming that “Patriotism has become partisan,” according to respondents from all over the world, at least as far as expressions of national pride are concerned.
“It doesn’t matter that people across the ideological spectrum are equally likely to say that they themselves are patriotic. New international polling shows that when you ask them about expressions of patriotism, they think those displays are right-coded,” the report detailed. “Those results from The POLITICO Poll reveal the extent of right-wing populist parties’ success after years of claiming nationalism as central to their political identities — and growing in power and popularity.”
According to the poll’s findings in the U.S., “respondents were 15 points more likely to expect someone who said they were proud to be American to be Republican (38) than Democratic (23).” Despite that notable perception, the poll also found that, overall, “pride in one’s country is essentially nonpartisan,” with 68 percent of U.S. adults, “including most Trump 2024 voters and former Vice President Kamala Harris voters,” agreeing that they were proud to be Americans. Similar majorities were found amongst respondents across the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Spain.
“The findings are the latest sign that these parties — from Donald Trump’s ‘America First’ movement in the United States to the rise of the far right across Europe — are owning the language and symbols of patriotism, including a country’s flag,” the report added. “Right-wing parties have rapidly gained ground by tapping into voters’ growing concerns over border security and cost of living, and have flexed their power over the last decade, reshaping existing debates over conservatism, sovereignty and national identity. In some cases, they have pushed major political parties, like America’s GOP, further to the right.”
It continued later: “In the United States, Trump’s ‘America First’ agenda and ‘Make America Great Again’ movement have explicitly made national identity central to Republican messaging. The president has vowed to secure the southern border, conduct widespread deportations and prioritize aggressive trade politics aimed at boosting the U.S. economy.”