The situation was so different, I don’t really see much of a parallel between the loyalists of old and modern liberals.
The Loyalists are painted in this OSU page as being unfairly vilified by the winners, pro-black, and aligned to Native Americans....that is, akin to modern day "progressives." To wit:
Between 60,000 and 80,000 Americans chose to go into exile after 1783. Among these were many of the ablest and wealthiest men in colonial life, but the group also included ordinary men and women, as well as a thousand black loyalists who eventually settled in Sierra Leone. In a tri-racial society, Native Americans were also forced to choose sides.
I've copied a resident professor of History if he'd care to opine about the approach and accuracy of the OSU items.