Current Events > Approx 47% of liberals say they can't stand to be around Trump supporters.

(+) Yeah! (+)

Liberals don't just hate President Trump; lots of them don't even like the idea of being in the company of his supporters.

That's the big takeaway from a Pew Research Center survey, The poll shows almost half of liberal Democrats 47 percent say that if a friend supported Trump, it would actually put a strain on their friendship. Among Democrats and Democratic-leaning voters more broadly, the number is 35 percent. White and more-educated Democrats are more likely to feel that it's tough to even be friends with a Trump supporter.

And while partisanship and tribalism are pretty bipartisan things in American politics today, Democrats are actually substantially less able to countenance friends who supported the wrong candidate: Just 13 percent of Republicans say a friend's support of Hillary Clinton would strain their relationship.

Part of the reason for the imbalance is likely that liberals tend to live in more homogeneous places and don't even associate with conservatives. Another Pew study last year showed a whopping 47 percent of people who planned to vote for Clinton didn't have any close friends who were Trump supporters.

Because of the way our population is sorted, with liberals clustered in urban areas and Republicans more spread out, Democrats tend to be more insulated from dissenting political voices. So perhaps it's no surprise that they don't hear and don't want to hear those voices coming from their friends' mouths.



Would it strain your friendships?

I have seen several users on this board comment on how their girl/boyfriends having different political views have been dealbreakers.

If your close friend was a huge Trump Supporter, would that strain your friendship? What if he or she wore a red hat?
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I have conservative family who I still love despite our differences. I would not be friends with a conservative though
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GregShmedley posted...

I have friends

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHVR485txX8" data-time="
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That's just too different of a belief system for us to get along as friends. Acquaintances, sure.
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hockeybub89 posted...

That's just too different of a belief system for us to get along.

53% of liberals manage it.
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This study is a complete joke because Liberals dont actually have friends
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UnfairRepresent posted...

hockeybub89 posted...

That's just too different of a belief system for us to get along.

53% of liberals manage it.

Us meaning me and that person. Not all "liberals"
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if they were super pro-Trump and deified him then I probably would stop being friends with them
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There's a few people I had to unfollow from facebook due to how vocal Trump supporters they were. Or at least I assume that, because 99% of their posts are just about how liberals suck. Not really the kind of people I want to engage with.
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i definitely have less respect for someone when they fail to want to actually have a conversation about trump, but instead get defensive and respond on a guttural level and make some general assertion in his favor without any kind of evidence. i think that's partially why he was elected, because he played so hard on peoples primitive responses like fear with the whole wall/rapist debacle.

but apart from that, i don't generally blanket every republican or trump voter under that umbrella, some seem to be mindful enough to support and disapprove of his policies on an individual basis, and can provide at least some evidence for their stances on some issues relative to what trump has done.

as someone that generally votes democrat, i don't think democrats are exactly immune to that mindless guttural primitive/emotional response to their chosen candidates either, though.

edit: and no, this isn't a way to feel better than both parties or some other garbage. it's just about finding people that employ critical thinking when it comes to their support or opposition in regards to any candidate.
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I can't stand to be around the type of Trump supporters who go to his rallies, after that bullshit he spouted in Ohio how the fuck can anyone sane smile and cheer for this fucking fool and criminal?
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tremain07 posted...

after that bullshit he spouted in Ohio

Like a couple of days ago?
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I don't care what someone else's political views are.
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I have Trump supporting friends. They used to be cool and nonpolitical until he ran for president, now all they fucking talk about is how great daddy Trump is, fuck liberals, MAGA, etc.

It's the real reason I hate Trump so much. I just want my friends back, damn it. They used to care about facts and evidence but now they don't give a shit and believe everything they read without question, and of course the only outlets they follow now are conservative propaganda sites like Breitbart and Infowars.

It's like there's literally something in the water...

...I've only had bottled water for the past several years because of a bad tapwater experience in my first apartment.

...holy shit, I've cracked the mystery!
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littlebro07 posted...

I have Trump supporting friends. They used to be cool and nonpolitical until he ran for president, now all they fucking talk about is how great daddy Trump is, fuck liberals, MAGA, etc.

It's the real reason I hate Trump so much. I just want my friends back, damn it. They used to care about facts and evidence but now they don't give a shit and believe everything they read without question, and of course the only outlets they follow now are conservative propaganda sites like Breitbart and Infowars.

pretty much.
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Liberals are intolerant bigots, news at 11.

Liberal tolerance.
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It's very difficult to deal with Trump followers because they just don't listen.

It's impossible to criticize the guy.
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I don't have many friends who voted for him, and none of the ones who did currently support him
but my dad still likes him and I won't lie, we talk less and I have not gone out of my way to go see him (I was 20 minutes away from him a couple weeks ago and had time, I just drove home instead)
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Not really. First I think Trump supporters can fall into two categories, fairly regular people that just vote red and those that drank the kool-aid.

Secondly if someone's not constantly talking about politics wouldn't really bother me.
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If differing politics ruins you friendship you never had a real friendship.
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Makes sense. Liberals like to be angry and probably dont like being around people that arent angry and coming up with lame insults every 2 seconds.
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Genocet69 posted...

I have conservative family who I still love despite our differences. I would not be friends with a conservative though

You haven't completed you're training to a full far left radical. It's time to burn those bridges padawan
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Damn_Underscore posted...

If differing politics ruins you friendship you never had a real friendship.

That's a ridiculous statement. Political views are based off of experiences and opinions, many of which people feel strongly about. There's no reason to be friends with someone who does not share core beliefs of yours.

imagine having to live in a liberal bubble 24/7
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"bigot!"

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/how-political-opponents-became-enemies-in-the-u-s
According to Pew research, 45% of Republicans now say that Democratic policies threaten the nations well-being, while 41% of Democrats view GOP policies in equally stark terms.
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It depends how far their views go.

If they are what would be considered the "average trump" supporter, then it might.

If they actually have reasons that they agree with him on certain policies I would be ok with it.
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I can't stand it. My best friends are trump supporters. They believe that the minimum wage should not be raised. If people got 15 an hour a hamberger would be 20$.

this idea feels like an attack on me! I make 9$ an hour and work six days a week. I never have weekends off unless I request and they just think that I am the way I am because I'm lazy and don't deserve better.

I can't stand that.
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You don't say tc. It's almost like liberals have created a political cult that you have to be in or you're a heretic.
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Ubergeneral3 posted...

I can't stand it. My best friends are trump supporters. They believe that the minimum wage should not be raised. If people got 15 an hour a hamberger would be 20$.

this idea feels like an attack on me! I make 9$ an hour and work six days a week. I never have weekends off unless I request and they just think that I am the way I am because I'm lazy and don't deserve better.

I can't stand that.

you need to turn against your own self interest!
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Dustin1280 posted...

It depends how far their views go.

If they are what would be considered the "average trump" supporter, then it might.

If they actually have reasons that they agree with him on certain policies I would be ok with it.

This is actually pretty accurate

The friends I mentioned above transformed into the stereotypical Trump supporters that make all of the rational ones look bad. They were already Republicans back in the day but they didn't even shit talk Obama (they'd very occasionally mention something they disagreed with him on, very civilly) until Trump started his candidacy and they got sucked in.

It's baffling.
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