Vice President JD Vance wasted little time making an impression during his appearance on Fox News’ *The Five*, delivering a calm but forceful defense of American patriotism while dismantling a familiar Democratic talking point pushed by co-host Jessica Tarlov.
The exchange centered on a newly released NBC News poll showing a sharp partisan divide over national pride—a survey that found Republicans overwhelmingly proud to be Americans while Democratic enthusiasm for the country has fallen to historic lows.
Rather than accepting the findings as a warning sign for her party, Tarlov attempted to explain them away as nothing more than routine political tribalism.
“Some of it is obviously partisan,” she argued, suggesting that Americans naturally become less proud of their country whenever their preferred political party is out of power.
Vance immediately challenged the premise.
“I don’t think that’s right,” the vice president responded. “Why does that need to be true? That if your party’s out of power, you should have less pride in your country?”
With that simple question, Vance exposed what many conservatives see as one of the Democratic Party’s biggest cultural problems—confusing dissatisfaction with political leadership for dissatisfaction with America itself.
The vice president pointed out that Republicans never abandoned their love of country simply because they disagreed with former Presidents Barack Obama or Joe Biden.
“I guarantee that when Barack Obama was president or Joe Biden was pretending to be president, you had Republicans who still said they’re proud of America,” Vance said.
“They’re proud of our military. They’re proud of the great people of our country. They’re proud of our natural beauty.”
His remarks highlighted a distinction many conservatives have made for years: loving America does not require agreeing with whoever occupies the Oval Office.
Vance then turned to the poll numbers themselves, which paint a troubling picture for Democrats.
According to the NBC survey, only 29 percent of Democrats now say they are proud of the United States—a staggering contrast to the 90 percent of Republicans who expressed pride in the country.
Rather than dismissing those numbers, Vance argued they reveal a deeper cultural shift.
“What seems to me so bizarre about this is that we’ve allowed a culture to develop where people feel like the country is the country’s politics,” he said.
In other words, too many Americans—particularly on the political left—have come to define the nation solely through the lens of partisan conflict, forgetting the broader ideals and institutions that unite Americans regardless of election results.
Vance warned that this mindset has consequences far beyond polling data.
“I think that’s actually connected to the violent rhetoric where if you disagree with somebody, you can justify killing them,” he said. “It’s really, really a bad thing.”
While critics may debate that conclusion, many conservatives have argued that years of overheated political rhetoric have fueled an increasingly toxic national climate in which ideological opponents are viewed as enemies rather than fellow citizens.
The vice president concluded on a hopeful note rather than a partisan one.
“I wish Democrats, all of them, were proud of our country,” he said. “We should be proud of our country.”
The NBC poll appears to reinforce his concern.
Overall, just 56 percent of Americans now describe themselves as either “extremely” or “very” proud to be American, while nearly one-third report having little or no national pride.
The divide becomes even more striking when broken down by age. Roughly three-quarters of Americans age 65 and older express strong pride in the country, but that number falls dramatically among younger adults. Only about 36 percent of Americans between 18 and 34 say they feel similarly proud.
For Republicans, the survey may serve as confirmation that patriotism remains one of the party’s strongest cultural advantages heading into future elections.
For Democrats, however, the numbers raise uncomfortable questions.
If fewer than one-third of the party’s voters are proud of the nation they hope to govern, Republicans argue that the problem isn’t merely political messaging—it’s a broader worldview that increasingly emphasizes America’s shortcomings while overlooking its strengths.
Vance’s appearance on *The Five* ultimately became more than just another cable news debate. It underscored a growing ideological divide over a simple but profound question: Should love of country depend on who wins the latest election?
Judging by the vice president’s response, conservatives believe the answer is a resounding no.
