Are conservatives and progressives living in two different Americas? Or do Democrats just detest Donald Trump?

Maybe “liberals hate America” is overblown. Maybe it isn’t.

That used to sound like a cheap Republican attack line, the kind of thing Democrats could wave away as talk-radio nonsense. But the numbers have become hard to ignore. CNN’s Harry Enten recently noted that only 29 percent of Democrats say they are extremely or very proud to be American. In 2001, that number was 85 percent. Republican pride, meanwhile, barely moved: 90 percent then, 90 percent now. Enten also pointed out that only 24 percent of Democrats say July Fourth is mainly a time to celebrate America, while just 27 percent say they plan to display the American flag on the holiday.

That is not a messaging problem. That is a worldview problem.

There are fair caveats. Progressives clearly do not believe America is so terrible that nobody should live here. Quite the opposite. They fight for more immigration, more asylum, more refugee admissions, more paths to permanent residency and more legal protections for people who come here from somewhere else. That argument only makes sense if America offers something unusually valuable: safety, opportunity, rights, prosperity and a better future.

So the question is not whether liberals understand that America is desirable. Their immigration politics prove they do.

The question is why they have become so uncomfortable saying America is good.

That discomfort is everywhere. The flag is treated like a partisan symbol. The Fourth of July is downgraded into a barbecue. The Founders are handled like criminal defendants. National pride is acceptable only after a long apology. Patriotism must be filtered through critique, guilt and historical correction before it can be spoken in polite progressive company.

Criticism can be patriotic. Nobody serious believes love of country requires pretending America has no sins. But criticism is not the same as contempt, and reform is not the same as permanent indictment. Too much of the modern left talks about America as if the country itself is the problem, not merely some of its laws, leaders or failures.

That is where J.D. Vance’s critique lands. When he says the new progressive left sees America as an evil country that must be dismantled and rebuilt, Democrats can call that unfair. But they should also ask why so many voters recognize the description. The old Democratic Party of union halls, veterans, church picnics and working-class patriotism did not sound this way. The new progressive style sounds academic, activist and revolutionary. It does not speak naturally in the language of gratitude.

America’s 250th birthday has exposed the split. Donald Trump is president, so he gets to preside over the celebration. That is how elections work. His opponents may hate it, but voters put him there. The Great American State Fair on the National Mall opened as a 16-day celebration with a Ferris wheel, rodeo exhibitions, fair food and state pavilions. Reuters reported criticism that the event had become too political, including seven Democratic-led states boycotting the fair.

Some of that criticism may be sincere. Trump loves spectacle, and he loves making himself the center of it. But some of it is also sour grapes. Democrats do not want Trump to look good standing in front of flags, fireworks, troops, flyovers and cheering crowds. They especially do not want him owning the visuals of America’s 250th birthday.

The UFC fight at the White House showed why. Trump and Dana White walking out from the White House onto the South Lawn, with the Octagon staged against the most recognizable building in America, was astonishing television. ABC reported that Trump and White kicked off the UFC Freedom 250 event by walking out of the White House together. Critics can call it vulgar. They can call it self-promotional. But they cannot pretend it was not powerful.

That is the problem for Democrats. Republicans are comfortable with patriotic spectacle. Trump is comfortable with spectacle, period. Progressives often act as if spectacle is embarrassing unless it is attached to protest.

Are conservatives and progressives living in two different Americas? Increasingly, yes. Conservatives see a flawed country worth defending. Progressives too often see a guilty country requiring supervision.

Maybe Democrats simply detest Donald Trump so much that they recoil from any national celebration he might benefit from. But that explanation only goes so far. George W. Bush took office after a bitter, contested election, and 85 percent of Democrats still said they were proud to be American. Something deeper has changed.

If America is good enough to be the destination for the world’s migrants, it should be good enough for liberals to praise without wincing.

And if only three in 10 Democrats can say they are very or extremely proud to be American, Republicans do not need to invent a patriotism problem on the left. Democrats already have one.

(Contributing writer, Brooke Bell)