Republicans are leading the charge against alcohol consumption in the US.
Across the US, drinking rates have plunged to their lowest level in 90 years.
Only 54 percent of adults said they had a drink last month, according to Gallup data.
That’s the lowest level since the polling group began collecting the figures in 1939.
Only 46 percent of Republican voters reported having any alcohol in all of last year, a one third drop from 2023.
By comparison Democrat drinkers only decline by five percent in the same period.
‘Americans’ drinking habits are shifting amid the medical world’s reappraisal of alcohol’s health effects,’ Gallup said of the findings.
‘After decades of relative steadiness in the proportion of US adults who drink, [we have] documented three consecutive years of decline in the US drinking rate as research supporting the ‘no amount of alcohol is safe’ message mounts.’
Only 54 percent of American adults said they had a drink last month
Experts are at a loss to explain the fall in alcohol consumption among Republicans in particular.
However, key figures within the party and current administration have been clear about their sobriety and thoughts on alcohol.
Most notably President Trump has sworn off alcohol after the tragic death of his brother who died from alcoholism.
Health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, the architect of the ‘Make America Healthy Again’ movement, has also been open about his sobriety.
Influential figures within the MAGA camp, such as Tucker Carlson, have also promoted abstinence.
Some researchers have suggested it could be part of a broader shift in demographic and voting patterns.
‘Republicans made a big push in toss-up states [such as] Arizona and Pennsylvania in 2024 to register more Republicans, especially with far-right Christians, Mormons and Amish,’ Mark Will-Weber, author of a book on US presidents’ drinking habits, told the Financial Times.
‘These religious groups abstain from alcohol.’
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BREAKING NEWS
One of the US's largest wine makers files for bankruptcy – and blames Americans for their downfall
The decline in alcohol consumption has contributed to several high profile closures of American whiskey distilleries.
Campari-owned Wild Turkey saw an 8 percent decline in US sales during the first half of 2025, while Jack Daniel’s dropped 6 percent year-over-year.
In January, Jack Daniel’s parent company Brown-Forman announced layoffs affecting 12 percent of its workforce and the closure of a major barrel-making facility in Louisville.
It’s not just whisky that is suffering as a result of a consumer pullback.
The departure of a wholesale giant from the largest wine market in the US is also a warning sign for an industry which is already struggling.