Poll: Most Americans think the U.S. has strayed from its founding principles
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Give now to help PBS News start our new fiscal year strong. Close Popup PBS News By — Joshua Barajas Joshua Barajas Most Americans believe the country has moved away from its founding principles as the nation prepares for its big 250th anniversary, a new PBS News/NPR/Marist poll finds. Eighty-three percent of U.S.
adults feel America has strayed from the ideals the country was founded on two-and-a-half centuries ago. Among them, close to half of Americans — 47% — say the U.S. has "moved far away" from these principles, joined by 36% who said America has "moved somewhat away" from them.
Another 16% said the country "pretty much still represents" those principles. About two-thirds of Americans — 65% — say they are "very proud" or "proud" to be an American. Another 35% say they're "not too proud" or "not proud at all." Michael D.
Holcomb, a Trump supporter who lives in rural northeast Indiana, said it's not hard for him to be very proud of the country. "I've been patriotic ever since I can remember," the 72-year-old said. "I started out with nothing.
Nobody gave us a hand up or anything, and both my wife and I are retired now. We're living comfortably and we did it all with the help of ourselves and God." But Morgan Fisher, an independent in Huntsville, Texas, said she's not so proud of the country today. To Fisher, 24, it's "embarrassing" that the U.S.
has poor infrastructure and, unlike many other developed nations, does not offer universal healthcare.
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