If you felt like the only person who unfriended that one guy or gal pal that hopped on the Trump train or said to you “I’m with Her,” you’re not alone.
According to a recent Monmouth poll, seven percent of Americans have lost a friend due to this election (that’s 1 in 14 people), with slightly more Hillary Clinton supporters reporting losing a friend over Donald Trump supporters.
While a majority of respondents have said they’ve been able to maintain their friendships during a particularly polarizing election cycle, 70 percent believe this election has brought out the worst in people, and just four percent believe it has brought out the best in people.
It’s not unheard of for supporters of rival candidates to engage in a shouting match or a bout of fisticuffs with each other at rallies and protests, especially during this election cycle. Although insults have been flung from both Clinton and Trump camps, 37 percent of respondents believe that it’s mostly coming from Trump supporters while 11 percent believe it’s coming from Clinton supporters.
While a lot of millennials wouldn’t say they’ve lost a friend because of their support for Clinton or Trump, they do admit that they’ve actively avoided that person or bringing up politics. And, they preferred to speak on conditions of anonymity.
“The ways people rationalize supporting Trump over Hillary is probably the most eye opening,” one millennial told Red Alert. “Is Trump bringing out the worst in people or exposing what’s already there? Maybe it’s the same thing I’m not sure.”
Another millennial has gotten more heat on social media than in real life, telling Red Alert, “I have lost Facebook friends over my refusal to stop criticizing Hillary Clinton in light of the threat that Trump presents, but since I don’t support either Trump or Hillary, I haven’t lost any friends because of that.”
One millennial expressed their worry about where this country is heading, saying, “This election has brought out the worst in people because it’s truly defining America’s identity. It is undeniable that Trump has signaled, as an ‘elite’, that it is now socially acceptable to say racist, sexist, Islamophobic and xenophobic things.”
For millennials currently in college, support for Trump can run you the risk of failing a class, as one millennial had a University of Kansas professor curse him out for his political beliefs.
“A professor told me ‘f**k you’ in the middle of a class for saying the Supreme Court should have let state marriage referenda stand,” the college student said. “On college campuses, including my own, support for Trump has been construed as hate speech. The message they’re trying to send is that wearing a MAGA (Make America Great Again) hat is roughly equivalent to wearing a swastika.”
And, of course, there was that one millennial who told Red Alert, “A Trump supporter can catch these hands.”
Despite the fact that millennials can’t stand Trump or Clinton, it’s a safe bet that they hate this election more than anything.
