I always find it funny to read about how much it’s the public who wants America to be a “leader” and not a “follower” and keep resisting the change. Meanwhile metric is in widespread use across the country. Most science and medicine is done in metric. NASA and the US Military are metric. Most soldiers knows how long a “klick” is, which is literally just slang for kilometer. Every car mechanic can show you exactly how much a centimeter is, since the 10mm wrench/socket size is burned into their memory.
And because of the global trade market, a lot of products that are also meant for export is manufactured in metric
Not to mention that when it comes to conversion it’s so much easier that US students are in some cases taught to convert to metric, apply that formula and then convert back(like calculating work) since it’s so much faster and easier.