As the United States celebrates its 250th birthday, the nation is suffering a crisis of patriotism. A Gallup poll last year found that just 41 percent of Americans say they are “extremely proud” to be American — down from 70 percent in 2003.
Enter the U.S. men’s Olympic hockey team to provide a much-needed adrenaline shot of patriotism. It was cathartic to see these young players bursting with pride in their country following their thrilling overtime gold medal victory over Canada. Millions nodded along as Jack Hughes declared, a wide grin exposing the missing teeth lost before scoring the game-winner, “This is all about our country right now. I love the U.S.A. … I’m so proud to be American today.” (“I’m lucky I’m from the best country in the world, and we’ve got great dentists,” he added.) We wiped away tears as the players brought the kids of fallen teammate Johnny Gaudreau onto the ice for the team photo, then belted out “The Star-Spangled Banner” during the medal ceremony — followed by Toby Keith’s “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue” in the locker room (“We’ll put a boot in your a–, it’s the American way!” they crooned while downing Michelob Ultras). Their unapologetic love of country was infectious.
But everything changed when President Donald Trump called to invite them to Washington. Never mind that the last time the U.S. hockey team won gold — after 1980’s “Miracle on Ice” — President Jimmy Carter sent a plane to Lake Placid, New York, to bring the players and coaches to the White House. With Trump’s invitation, many on the left suddenly turned on the team.
The backlash was fast and furious. First came the outrage that the players laughed at Trump’s bad joke that he would “have to bring the women’s team,” too, or be impeached. Hughes’s mom is a coach for the women’s team, and the men cheered the women on during their own thrilling run for Olympic gold but no matter. How dare they not push back on the president? Misogyny!
The seething intensified after the team bantered with the president in the Oval Office and ate a McDonald’s lunch in the Roosevelt Room. By the time Trump introduced them during his State of the Union address — and announced he was giving goalie Connor Hellebuyck the Presidential Medal of Freedom — they were being denounced as political pawns. “The U.S. men’s Olympic hockey team won gold — and then lost the room,” the Athletic’s Jerry Brewer. (Tell that to the fans at New Jersey’s Prudential Center who greeted Hughes like a conquering heroupon his NHL return.) The U.S. team “utterly failed to meet the cultural moment,” crowed a USA Today headline. Vox published a piece judging the U.S. hockey players a “loser” of the games (while crowning Eileen Gu, the American-born skier who chose to compete for communist China, a “winner”).
Actually, the real losers were all those who allowed Trump Derangement Syndrome to prevent them from celebrating Team USA’s triumphant visit to Washington. Ask yourself: Why did so many on the left turn on the hockey team? It turns out, according to Gallup, that for many Democrats patriotism is situational. While Republicans are consistently very proud to be American regardless of who is in the White House, many Democrats’ pride in country shifts with the political winds. In 2024, under President Joe Biden, 62 percent of Democrats reported they were “extremely” or “very” proud to be American (as were 85 percent of Republicans). But last year, with Trump back in office, the figure for Democrats plunged to 36 percent, while Republican levels were virtually unchanged. Pride among independents has dropped, too, but not as far; more than half — 53 percent — are extremely or very proud to be American today.
Things were different not so long ago. In 2001, about 9 in 10 of both Democrats and Republicans were extremely or very proud to be Americans. In the quarter-century since, this high level of Republican patriotism has held steady through the presidencies of George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Trump, Biden and Trump again. But the percentage of Democrats who answered that way declined by 51 points — with the most precipitous dive starting in 2017 under Trump.
Love of country was once a source of American unity. No longer. The crisis of patriotism today is driven by a sharp erosion of American pride on the American left — as epitomized by its reaction to Team USA’s visit to Washington.
Instead of criticizing the U.S. players, perhaps Democrats ought to emulate them. At a time when partisanship seems to be infecting every last crevice of American life, these athletes offered an example of how to love your country without reservation.
It turns out they met the “cultural moment” perfectly.
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