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The number of people who say that they are "extremely proud to be an American" has dropped to a historic low, the Gallup poll shows.
A CNN report showed surveys about attitudes Americans have during the 246th anniversary of Independence Day reveal levels of pride have continued to fall since 2017. After Sept. 11, 2001, for example, American pride increased to 91 percent, whereas in 2017 it plummeted to 75 percent. It has dropped another ten percent in the past five years.
While "extremely" and "very proud" numbers remain high, the number of people "extremely proud" is what reached a historic low for the 21st century.
The other piece of the survey asked some of the questions that are on the U.S. Citizenship Questionnaire. While people applying for citizenship must know the answers, native-born Americans apparently don't.
A YouGov explained, that there are 100 citizenship questions and an applicant must get 6 out of 10 correct. Using an online study tool, people can practice with 20 randomly chosen questions on the website. What they've found is that 91 percent of citizenship applicants pass the test, while four in five (about 85 percent) Americans pass it.
That means "they answer at least 12 out of 20 questions correctly — or at least 60%, the proportion of correct answers needed to pass the real test," the site explained.
Older people are more likely to pass the test as civics classes were once more of a priority in schools.
The 2018 Brown Center Report on American Education outlined the status of civics education compared to that of math and reading scores, which has increased over the past decades.
"While 42 states and the District of Columbia require at least one course related to civics, few states prioritize the range of strategies, such as service learning which is only included in the standards for 11 states, that is required for an effective civic education experience," The Brookings Institute explained. "The study also found that high school social studies teachers are some of the least supported teachers in schools and report teaching larger numbers of students and taking on more non-teaching responsibilities like coaching school sports than other teachers. Student experience reinforces this view that civic learning is not a central concern of schools. Seventy percent of 12th graders say they have never written a letter to give an opinion or solve a problem and 30 percent say they have never taken part in a debate—all important parts of a quality civic learning."
A 2016 survey by Annenberg Public Policy Center revealed that 1in 4 Americans are unable to name the three branches of government. The Pew Research Center revealed that as of March 2019, only 17 percent of Americans trust the government in Washington to do the right thing.
See the brief segment on CNN below:
Those 'extremely proud' to be an American drops to historic low: survey shows youtu.be
'A swearing contest' has broken out between Cassidy Hutchinson and Trump's Secret Service guy: ex-ethics czar
Former impeachment lawyer and White House ethics czar Norm Eisen explained that there's a battle of facts between former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson and former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Anthony Ornato.
Ornato previously served as a Secret Service Agent, but was appointed by Trump to serve in the White House and ultimately took a leave of absence from the agency. Ornato has not testified publicly before the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on Congress and the attempt to overthrow the election. Cassidy Hutchinson has testified for over 20 hours in addition to the four hours a the public hearing last week.
As Eisen explained, "to the extent this has turned into a swearing contest between Ornato and Cassidy Hutchinson, she didn't just provide 60 seconds in a yes or no about the details of Trump's anger wanting to march with that armed mob. Ornato has to answer all the questions and had a bird's eye view of what went on and we're rounding in as the hearings proceed to the hearing of these events. In the run-up, the funding and the organization of Jan. 6th, and what happened on Jan. 6th itself. Ornato has to answer all of those questions. That could be uncomfortable for him."
There have been questions about Ornato's credibility, as Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) tweeted on Thursday.
"'There seems to be a major thread here… Tony Ornato likes to lie," he explained.
Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-FL) similarly explained to NBC News that Ornato "did not have as clear of memories from this period of time" as Hutchinson.
"We got a very important missing link from Cassidy Hutchinson and that is that President Trump knew the crowd was armed," Eisen closed. "He had reason to believe the danger that would occur and how he wanted to march with the crowd, how angry he was when he couldn't go and it puts on his tweet attacking Pence when we know not only that he didn't want to take action but Ms. Hutchinson heard the conversation between the president's chief of staff, Mr. Cipollone, his White House counsel, that Trump agreed with the crowd that was intending harm to his own vice president. That really creates the missing link of Trump wanting to see this violence occur and increases his criminal exposure."
It's still unknown if Ornato will be willing to testify publicly before the committee.
See the conversation below:
'A swearing contest' has broken out between Hutchinson and Trump's Secret Service guy: ethics czar youtu.be
Trump biographer says ex-president projecting mental instability on Cassidy Hutchinson after Jan. 6 hearing
Former President Donald Trump used a far-right channel to attack former senior White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson, but one of his biographers alleges that his comments are all just projections.
"This lady yesterday, there's something wrong with her," Trump said on Wednesday. "Is there something wrong? the woman is living in fantasy land. She's a social climber, if you call that social. She has serious problems. Mental problems. But for this girl to sit there and just, I think, make up stories and I, again, hardly know who she is."
In the past, Trump has been caught trying to discredit former top aides by claiming he doesn't even know them when photos and videos show otherwise. He infamously called his foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos nothing more than a coffee boy, when, in reality, he was told to organize foreign trips for Trump and speak to international agents as a representative of the campaign.
Similar to Papadopoulos, Hutchinson has been photographed with Trump, and she's well-known in Trump world. The House Select Committee began the hearing with her by showing photos of her on Air Force One and wherever chief of staff Mark Meadows went.
“Well, we always expected Trump world to try and discredit her, and they are not disappointing us in that regard,” Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) told NBC News on Sunday. “I thought her testimony was credible. She has nothing to gain by stepping forward and telling the truth. And Trump world has everything to lose by the truth. So they are doing their best to try and attack her, to discredit her.”
Trump biographer Michael D'Antonio has written books about Trump using these tactics and explained on CNN that it's "straight out of the playbook."
"I'm reminded of the saying that the character is destiny so we're now seeing play out Donald Trump's destiny based on his character and Ms. Hutchinson's destiny playing out based on her character and we know that in the wings with Pat Cipollone and we're going to try to see where his character leads him," D'Antonio explained. "Yes, Donald Trump has always done this and the strange thing is that it has worked for him. It has allowed him to attract only the most loyal people who are afraid of him. It has allowed him to bully people into submission."
D'Antonio noted it's interesting that Trump actually uses the exact same words to attack people.
"He always says that people are crazy," the biographer explained. "People are seeking to raise their profile. People are just making up stories. Well, who does that remind you of? Who does it remind you of when he says someone is making up stories or trying to raise their profile or even being a little bit crazy. It reminds us of one former president."
Those who know Trump have been asked about what they've witnessed from the ex-president's behavior and if what Hutchinson is describing is accurate.
"It sounds like the person that he imagined himself to be," said D'Antonio about Trump's behavior. "So this is a fellow who told me he's the hero in his own comic book, that he loves to fight all kinds of fights, even physical fights. The record doesn't show he's really done that."
Former lawyer Michael Cohen explained on CNN that he's never known Trump to actually get into physical altercations with anyone, even as a child. There are rape accusations in Ivana Trump's book as well as sexual assault and sexual harassment allegations from over 20 women. Trump even bragged on video about sexually assaulting women.
"I think it's unlikely that he would somehow make his way across the beast and grab the steering wheel, but I think it's the kind of story people would tell about him," said D'Antonio. "The part that is credible to me is the idea he insisted on going to the Capitol himself. Now we can only tremble at the thought of what would have happened if he had done that. I think the outcome would have been very different. The idea that he imagined being the president that would take over the car, and force it to go up to the Capitol, is how he would have thought about himself. But it's not what I expect he did."
See the full discussion below:
Trump biographer says ex-president projecting mental instability on Cassidy Hutchinson www.youtube.com
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