NBC’s Steve Kornacki Breaks Down New Poll Showing Declining Trend Of Feeling Proud To Be American

Fewer Americans say they feel “extremely proud” of their county in 2026 than in previous years, continuing a downward trend, NBC data reporter Steve Kornacki said Sunday.

Only a third of respondents to a poll conducted for NBC News by Democratic pollster Jeff Horwitt of Hart Research Associates and Republican pollster Bill McInturff of Public Opinion Strategies said they felt “extremely proud” to be Americans. That response was less than half of what was recorded in 2003, when 70% described themselves that way. Kornacki noted that much of the decline was among political “fault lines.”

“Look: ‘extremely proud,’ ‘very proud.’ Those numbers together get you 56%. At the other end of it: ‘only a little’ or ‘not proud at all,’ 21%,” Kornacki told “Meet the Press” host Kristen Welker. “The significance of this, this number is in decline. A steady 21st century decline. At the turn of the century, three quarters of Americans were ‘extremely’ or ‘very proud.’ That number’s fallen to 56%.”

“What’s behind this? It’s familiar fault lines, Kristen, political demographic,” Kornacki continued. “First, it’s partisan. Look at this: Republicans are almost universally going to tell you, ‘extremely or very proud.’ Look at that number for Democrats. And meanwhile, ‘only a little or not at all,’ 12 times as many Democrats say that compared to Republicans.”

Kornacki also highlighted that multiple institutions have seen a loss of trust, which may be fueling the apparent lack of pride. The data analyst then singled out the Supreme Court.

“Look at this. ‘Very little’ or ‘no confidence’ at all, long list here of these institutions: the news media, Congress, federal government, religious organizations, Supreme Court,” Kornacki told Welker. “Over the last 20 years these numbers are 20 or 30 points higher than they’ve been. Just deteriorating confidence. You could see a partisan divide a little bit on these, too. Republicans much more distrustful of the media; Democrats extremely negative on the Supreme Court.”

Democrats have decried Supreme Court decisions on abortion, nationwide injunctions, the Second Amendment, restrictions on child sex changes, and free expression in recent years. In the judicial term which ended July 1, 2024, in addition to deciding that presidents had immunity from prosecution for official acts, the Court overturned what was known as the “Chevron doctrine,” which required courts to defer to interpretations of law by regulatory agencies and decided that fines imposed by administrative law judges violated the Seventh Amendment.