Voters view each other with growing hostility across party lines | News, Sports, Vacancies

CHRIS MEGERIAN, ADRIANA GOMEZ

LICON and MARK LEVY

Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden tried to explain this week that he doesn’t actually think Donald Trump supporters “garbage,” but that doesn’t mean other people don’t believe that label is sometimes inappropriate.

“I would say some of them are trash.” said Samantha Leister, 32, who went to visit Kamala Harris at a rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

What about the rest? Leyster, whose parents and father-in-law support Trump, says they “misguided”

That same day, at a Trump rally in Green Bay, Wisconsin, the idea of ​​voting for Harris was unimaginable.

“I just think they are uneducated and believe all the lies,” said Sean Vanderheyden, 44, who came to visit Trump with his wife and two young daughters. “It’s unfortunate.”

Vanderheyden still has faith in some people who support the Democratic vice president, saying that “I hope they open their eyes.”

An enduring truth of American politics—one that will undoubtedly outlive the controversy over Biden’s comments and this year’s presidential campaign—is that many Trump and Harris voters view each other with disdain and suspicion. At best, they are embarrassed by people who support the other party and are worried about the future of the country after the elections.

The wariness among Americans is not new, but interviews with voters in battleground states suggest it is only getting deeper and more compelling. It divided families and friends and drove people further into their own political tribes.

Some say they believe the country is heading toward an even more dramatic split.

20-year-old Braxton Wadford predicted what would happen “mass exodus” Americans after the election, no matter who wins. He said people on both sides could not imagine living under the leadership of an opposition party.

“The American Dream turns into leaving America” said Wadford, who voted early for Trump in North Carolina.

Jennifer Phelan, 60, volunteered for Harris’ campaign in the same state, encouraging undecided voters to vote for the vice president. She’s nervous about the election and doesn’t understand why it’s so close.

“It just looks a lot like a cartoon about good and evil.” she said at a Harris rally in Raleigh.

Political hostility has been building for some time, fueled by historical upheavals. There was the outbreak of a global pandemic, a violent insurrection at the US Capitol and nationwide protests against racial injustice – all in just one year.

The Pew Research Center found that Democrats and Republicans increasingly view members of the other party as unintelligent, lazy, immoral or dishonest. And nearly everyone has a very or somewhat unfavorable opinion of the opposing party, according to an AP-NORC poll conducted in September.

Travis Waters, 54, said Trump supporters “detached from reality” He doesn’t have any close Trump supporters, and he has no intention of adding any.

“I think the people I prefer to talk to are not the people who support the invasion of the Capitol, say Haitians eat pets and lie,” Waters said while waiting in line at a Harrisburg event.

Trump has been a dominant figure in American politics for nearly a decade, promoting polarization, demonizing his political opponents and instilling a sense of persecution among his followers.

“Look how they treated you” he said at one of his rallies this week. “They treated you like trash.”

This was a reference to Biden’s comments after Trump’s recent event at Madison Square Garden, where the comedian called out Puerto Rico “floating island of garbage”

During a campaign call organized by the Latino advocacy group Voto Latino, Biden said “The only trash I see there are his supporters. His demonization of Latinos is unconscionable and un-American.”

Biden later stressed that he was referring to rhetoric, not Trump supporters. And Harris said she disagreed “with any criticism of people based on who they vote for.”

Norma Jeffcoat, 72, said she was hurt by criticism of her support for Trump.

“I have people close to me who think I’m voting for a racist.” she said at a rally in North Carolina. “It breaks my heart. I love my country very much.”

Jeffcoat is fiercely loyal to the former president, who she says has suffered unfairly from criminal prosecution, political attacks and assassination attempts.

The Trump flag hanging outside her home was torn to pieces by the wind, but she rejected her husband’s attempt to replace it.

“I said no” Jeffcoat said. “It will remain there until after the election because it symbolizes everything he has been through.”

Nick Sundquist, 47, said Trump was a hypocrite for criticizing Biden for his “garbage” comment.

“The irony is that Donald Trump uses name-calling for his own purposes.” he said at a Harris rally in Wisconsin. “We’re not the ones who need to worry about storming the Capitol.”

He said he talks about the election from time to time with his brother and father, who support Trump, but “It’s not going well.”

This has been a common refrain among others who describe policy discussions as more trouble than they’re worth.

“They have a funny answer to everything we say.” said Debi Frantz, 66. “It’s terrible to talk about this because we don’t communicate anymore. It’s no use.”

Her husband, Phil, 68, agreed.

“I just avoid it” he said as they waited for Harris to take the stage in Madison.

But at least one person decided to give it a try this week.

Annette Uhlenberg, 52, attended Harris’ rally in Raleigh and said she was inspired by her conversations about rising above political differences.

So she took a photo with her campaign poster and wrote a message about posting “The country is more important than the party” and sent it to three of her friends who she thought would vote for Trump.

None of them answered immediately.

But perhaps, Ulenberg hopes, this “At least it opens the door for conversation.”