![]() ![]() While 89% of Republicans approved of Trump’s performance in office in 2019, only 7% of Democrats thought he was doing a good job. Many have turned to Facebook and Twitter to deliver no-holds-barred posts bashing both Trump and his many critics, while the president’s own freewheeling tweets have also inflamed tensions.Ī September report by the non-partisan Pew Research Center found that nearly 80% of Trump and Biden supporters said they had few or no friends who supported the other candidate.Ī study by the Gallup polling organization in January found that Trump’s third year in office set a new record for party polarization. Trump’s election in 2016 divided families, tore up friendships and turned neighbor against neighbor. Most often she sees clients who have political rifts with siblings, parents or in-laws, as opposed to spouses. Saal said tensions in people’s personal relationships have spiked given the political, health and social dynamics facing the United States. “It takes time and it takes effort, and it takes both parties – no pun intended – being willing to let go and move forward,” she said. “Unfortunately, I don’t think national healing is as easy as changing the president,” said Jaime Saal, a psychotherapist at the Rochester Center for Behavioral Medicine in Rochester Hills, Michigan. history could be healed if Trump loses the election. Now, with Trump trailing Biden in opinion polls, people are beginning to ask whether the fractures caused by one of the most polarizing presidencies in U.S. Trump dismisses those characterizations as “fake news.” Many of his backers admire his moves to overhaul immigration, his appointment of conservative judges, his willingness to throw convention to the wind and his harsh rhetoric, which they call straight talk.ĭemocrats and other critics see the former real estate developer and reality show personality as a threat to American democracy, a serial liar and a racist who mismanaged the novel coronavirus pandemic that has killed more than 230,000 people in the United States so far. ![]() Throughout his nearly four-year norm-smashing presidency, Trump has stirred strong emotions among both supporters and opponents. In interviews with 10 voters - five Trump supporters and five backing Democratic candidate Joe Biden - few could see the wrecked personal relationships caused by Trump’s tenure fully healing, and most believed them destroyed forever. Gomez is not alone in thinking the bitter splits within families and among friends over Trump’s tumultuous presidency will be difficult, if not impossible, to repair, even after he leaves office - whenever that is. There are people not talking to me anymore, and I’m not sure that will change,” said Gomez, who is a fan of Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigrants and handling of the economy. Their last conversation was so bitter that she is not sure they can reconcile, even if Trump loses his re-election bid. “He specifically told me, ‘You are no longer my mother, because you are voting for Trump’,” Gomez, 41, a personal care worker in Milwaukee, told Reuters. ![]() Bonnie Coughlin wears a protective mask at her home in Gilbertsville, Pennsylvania, U.S., October 26, 2020.
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