Only 71% of under-30s say they 'love America' compared to 93% of over-65s - but Americans tend to think Obama loves the country
Last week former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani claimed that President Obama "doesn't love America" at a fundraiser for potential Republican Presidential candidate Scott Walker. The comments caused a major controversy, and only this week has Giuliani partially walked back from his words saying in an editorial in the Wall Street Journal that he didn't "intend to question President Obama's motives of the content of his heart".
YouGov's latest research shows that Americans do tend to think that Barack Obama does, in fact, love America. 47% say that the president loves America, while 35% agree with Rudy Giuliani that the president does not. There is a predictably large partisan divide on the issue, however, with 85% of Democrats saying that he loves America and 69% of Republicans saying that he does not. Independents are roughly divided on the issue, with 42% saying he loves the country and 38% saying he doesn't.
58% of Americans, including 54% of Democrats, say that Rudy Giuliani loves America. Only 10% say that he does not.
When Americans themselves are asked whether they love America, under-30s are noticeably less likely than their elders to say that they love America. 93% of over-65s and 90% of people aged 45 to 64 say that they love America, but only 71% of under-30s also say that they love America. 15% of under-30s say that they do not love America, while 14% aren't sure.
Broken down along ideological lines, liberals (13%) are more likely than either moderates (5%) or conservatives (4%) to say that they do not love America. 90% of conservatives say that they love America, compared to 85% of moderates and 82% of liberals.
Full poll results can be found here and topline results and margin of error here.
