Lemme see:
The latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll finds 48% of Americans said a family member shared with them a false story that they believed to be true; 32% said they avoided talking politics with family because they supported a different candidate; 31% said they got into a heated argument with family or friends for supporting a different candidate; 22% reported being harassed for their political beliefs; and 17% said they blocked or unfriended someone on Facebook or another social-media platform because of the presidential election.
Maybe it’s because I come from a family of academics and the children of academics, but I am unaware of even one family member, including uncles, aunts, cousins, nephews and nieces, who supported Trump, so there were no annoying fake news stories or arguments or avoidance of political conversations. No one harassed anyone, and no one was blocked on social media. I didn’t have to do this with any friends, either, although things got tense in the primaries. They only thing I did was block a few people on Facebook who struck me as idiots and to stop following a few people on Twitter who were annoying me. None of these people were my friends, though.
I try not to be too insulated, but the truth is that politics is central enough to my being that I don’t make friends with Republicans. With where I grew up, even my old high school friends and acquaintances are about 99% liberal, especially when given a choice of Trump.
To tell you the truth, I am happier this way. I don’t need a crazy uncle to keep me grounded.
But it does make it more of a challenge to keep my finger on the pulse of Red America, especially because I absolutely refuse to watch Fox News or listen to hate radio.
How has your experience been?