How Trump Tore Us Apart: The Kamala Club - Issue Nine

A decade with Trump at the top of everyone’s minds has shown us what it takes to fracture a happy family. When conspiracies are accepted over fact, it is hard to maintain mutual respect.

Friends, 

It’s hard to understate the chasm that Donald Trump has created in America. His omnipresence has divided us into two distinct camps: those who can’t stand him, and others who would put it all on the line for him. The 45th president has effectively ignited immense hatred in all of us, which has sparked palpable tension across the entire political spectrum. Of all of the horrible things he’s said and done, I consider the division he’s created in relationships and families to be the most devastating. It’s nearly impossible to find an American who hasn’t lost friends or family members to Trump’s Political Party.

Since Trump took center stage in American political discourse almost a decade ago, he has radicalized people who may never have even been politically-involved in the past. In 2016, Trump capitalized on the fear that emerged during Barack Obama’s administration. He convinced his supporters that liberals were making our country “woke” and that immigrants were making it more dangerous. Trump validated and empowered these people, showing them that their hate can hold immense power.

Donald Trump showed the world how one person’s immorality can make a profoundly negative impact not just on a national level, but on a surprisingly deep and personal level, too.

As someone who is not under Trump’s spell, it is sickening to see people we used to respect making excuses for a man who is so deceitful and manipulative. The sad fact is, when you lose respect for someone, it’s hard to have the same relationship with them that you once held close.

Trump supporters are constantly moving their moral goal posts, and the more outrageous Trump’s actions are, the more forgiving they become. They had many chances to say goodbye to Trumpism, but for them, nothing was a dealbreaker. 

• January 6th wasn’t a dealbreaker — they watched rioters storm the U.S. Capitol in a deadly coup attempt encouraged by Trump.

• Overturning Roe V Wade wasn’t a dealbreaker — they were okay with Trump packing the Supreme Court with the intention to strip away their daughters’ rights and bodily autonomy.

• Inciting Proud Boys and white supremecists wasn’t a dealbreaker — even Jews turned a blind eye to Trump validating 21st Century Nazis.

• Countless sexist, racist and xenophobic comments weren’t a dealbreaker — people have even adopted his views as their own.

• Blabbering about Haitian immigrants eating pets wasn’t a dealbreaker — they didn’t mind that his words directly caused spikes of domestic terrorism in Springfield, Ohio.

• Being impeached twice wasn’t a dealbreaker — which would never fly if it happened to a Democratic president.

• Becoming a convicted felon on 34 counts wasn’t a dealbreaker — they are voting for someone who wants to end “crime” when the call is coming from inside the house.

None of the marks on Trump’s obscene rap sheet matter to them. In fact, they just embolden them more.

We all know someone who drinks the Trump Kool-Aid. For many Independents and Democrats, just attending a family event or interacting with a Trumper requires a lot of courage. We know that if we sit down at the dinner table, we might be faced with conspiracy theories or a parroted piece of Fox News detritus. How do we respond? With facts? It’s a pipe dream to think you’ll get through to someone who is deep in the Trump rabbit hole. Since facts don’t do the trick with Trump supporters (since they’re enrolled in what I call the Great Disinformation Campaign), it leaves us alienated from one another, sometimes even loathing each other. 

I’ve lost track of every time I’ve heard a story about someone who credits Trump for their divorce, someone who doesn’t attend the wedding of a relative who is a Trump supporter, or someone who lost a relationship with their parents to Fox News. It pains me to see politics ripping through real people’s everyday lives like this. Trump’s impact has forced us to learn what it takes to break a happy family.

The pain of a family severing its close ties is something that won’t be mended in just one election cycle. As someone who has witnessed the division Trump has caused in American families, I want a president and administration that governs for all Americans, not just for the citizens who voted them in. If elected, Kamala Harris has a big responsibility to lead millions of Americans who will deny her victory from the start. But even so — this election is our chance to ultimately rid our society of Donald Trump. It’s the opportunity to welcome a new era that allows us to unite again. My hope is that someday, history will correct itself. In my dreams, people that voted for Trump will soon realize all of the pain his words and actions caused. One day, we will share a table again, and make up for lost time.

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*¹Art credit: Translucent Fragments of a Broken Family by Kenneth Agnello

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