Member-only story
The Truth About Our Political Divide That’s Too Terrifying To Admit
And why the Nazi analogy is so chilling
I have relatives and friends who still support Trump. They think the Democrats literally stole the election. They believe the Capitol riots were the work of Antifa and the Left. They’re convinced America is ‘close enough’ to some government agency secretly microchipping us all, that anyone who isn’t a Republican is a communist, and that Republicans who oppose Trump are nearly as bad or worse, especially if they don’t believe the election was stolen.
I know this is what they believe because they’ve said it. Because I’ve read what is said on FOX News, because every so often I tune in to ‘conservative’ radio, because I’ve seen the clips of prominent Republican politicians making such claims. I know this because they voted for Donald Trump again.
And they know I’m a liberal, a Democrat, a Biden supporter. We still associate, talk to each other, meet out at places. We still work together peacefully, still send each other holiday cards, wish each other happy birthday and ask about children and spouses.
These are the people I know. The ones I’m related to and work with and went to school with. There are others around me every day, driving in cars with Trump stickers still on the fender, reading OAN on their phones in restaurants. I overhear them all the time when I’m out, bits and pieces, ‘Covid is overblown.’ ‘Fake news is saying…’ ‘China is still hiding…’ and catch the agreeing nods. It’s maybe not always accurate, but I assume those without masks in public are among them.
This is as it should be. They don’t agree with me, and I don’t agree with them. That’s politics, that’s the nature of belief and people and society and America. People worship different gods from me; they like different music, admire different people, eat different foods and live different lives.
Except.
Except now it’s different.
I profoundly, deeply, disagree with my Trump supporting family and co-workers. But I still know them as family and co-workers. I still know them as Americans. I trust their hearts, if not their actions. I trust their intentions, if not their reasons. They are an opposition…
