George Rebane

We are assured daily by politicians and media mavens of all stripes that the “American people” support this or oppose that.  Each one of these worthies attempts to convince us that they have divined the will of the American people who supposedly make up a cohesive cohort of the population that share in common this or that belief about the way various things are or will be.  Nothing could be further from reality.  There is no such over-arching population of like thinkers living in the United States.

Almost every national issue divides Americans into two or three major groups who disagree markedly with each other.  Perhaps, if 80 or 90% agree on some proposition – e.g. secure borders – then we may accept that to be the sentiment of the American people.  But claiming the country to be of like mind on any division less than that is a blatant lie intended to mislead.

Consider the following summary of data put out by the Commerce Department, Federal Reserve, IRS, and various prominent polling organizations (e.g. Gallup, Pew, …).  Major shares of the total U.S. population (totaling roughly 341–349 million in 2025–2026) include:

• Non-Hispanic White: approximately 58–59%.
• Hispanic or Latino (of any race): approximately 19%.
• Non-Hispanic Black or African American: approximately 12–13% (with the broader Black population, including multiracial identifiers, reaching about 49 million or roughly 14% in 2024).
• Non-Hispanic Asian: approximately 6%.
• Multiracial (two or more races): approximately 10–11%, a category that has grown significantly.
• Smaller groups, such as American Indian or Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, each account for under 1–2%.

Ideological divisions are measured primarily through self-identification on a liberal–conservative spectrum and through partisan affiliation (including those who lean toward one of the two major parties). Surveys from Gallup and Pew Research Center indicate that Americans are roughly evenly split in partisan terms, with a large and growing share of independents. Ideology shows a plurality identifying as conservative, though moderates and liberals together comprise a substantial portion. These categories align strongly with the two major political parties, which have grown more ideologically apart over time.  Recent data (2025) show:

• Ideological self-identification: approximately 35% conservative (including “very conservative”), 28% liberal (including “very liberal”), and 33% moderate.
• Partisan affiliation: 27% identify as Democrats and 27% as Republicans, with a record 45% identifying as independents. When independents are included via leaning, the split is nearly even (approximately 45–47% Democratic-leaning and 42–46% Republican-leaning).
• Within parties: Republicans are overwhelmingly conservative (around 77%), while Democrats are predominantly liberal (around 55%, a historic high).

In recent decades polarization has increased markedly, with greater ideological distance between the parties and a reduced overlap in moderate views.  Though a sizable moderate/independent segment persists, no one can identify any common ground from which to start reducing our polarization.  Instead, it is clear that our conservative/progressive partisan populations live in distinctly different worlds, each embracing their own facts, histories, values, and ways of reasoning.  And each holds the other to be somewhere between hopelessly ignorant and evil.

More granular analyses, such as Pew Research Center’s political typology, further subdivide the public into nine cohesive groups based strictly on values and attitudes, underscoring that the primary fault line remains the partisan-ideological divide between conservative-Republican and liberal-Democratic alignments.

In sum, anyone who cites ‘American people’ as the overwhelming share of people with similar thoughts on any important issue or public policy is an ignorant charlatan at best, but most likely an agenda-driven liar.