This Fourth of July, America turns 250 years old. How you feel about this fact could indicate your politics.
The 250th anniversary celebrates the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. But a new Reuters/Ipsos poll of 1,500 U.S. adults found that opinions about honoring the nation’s milestone birthday were sharply split across party lines.
For Republican respondents, the reason to celebrate the semiquincentennial goes back to the nation’s founding. They were most likely to state that “It is important for Americans to observe the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence” and agree that “viewing an America 250 event is patriotic.” Meanwhile, Democrats were most likely to express ambivalence and believe that “The America 250 events have become too political.”
Under President Donald Trump, programming for the nation’s 250th anniversary has become aligned with his administration. After Trump’s reelection, he formed Freedom 250, a rival organization to America 250, a bipartisan group founded by Congress.
Both groups are meant to celebrate 250 years of American independence, but Freedom 250 has been mired in partisan controversies. They include a Great American State Fair that performers have dropped out of, citing its “misleading” partisan nature, and history exhibits accused of sanitizing or removing stories related to America’s founding. After the blowback to his Great American State Fair, Trump said he would throw a “spectacular” rally on the anniversary.
