There are two principal reasons most Republicans claim to be patriots despite the fact to the contrary:
1.- They DO NOT understand the meaning of the word. I kid you not. Most Republicans have no idea what patriotism is; that’s the masses. As far as Republican politicians, it’s a whole different matter altogether. The most simplistic definition is as follows “a patriot is a person who loves, supports and is prepared to defend his/her country against all enemies”. Simple enough, right? Naturally easy for anyone to be a patriot, right?
No American (Democrat or Republican) would even question the premise he or she is a patriot and yet during the 2016 presidential election, the country watched in dismay that most Republicans had warmly embraced Julian Assange (of Wikileaks) instead of defending the country against the assault by Julian, a proxy for Russia. No matter how much that fact is spinned (and it has), Julian Assange (Russia) has been and remains an enemy of the United States determined to destroy our government and taint our democratic system.