An American family’s holiday festivities were disrupted after a woman discovered her husband’s online post about Donald Trump while browsing social media.
Over the past ten years, many families across the United States have faced severe disagreements, with liberals and conservatives each believing the other threatens the vision of a free and democratic republic established by the Founding Fathers.
One woman’s tale of her distress and fear following Trump’s victory over Kamala Harris last year perhaps serves as a stark example of this widening societal divide.
In a HuffPost article from last year, author Andrea Tate shared how her husband and his family were no longer welcome at Christmas or Thanksgiving after Trump’s win in November.
“He won, and, from where I stand, America lost,” she expressed.
Andrea recounted how, the morning after the November 5 election, she found herself unable to get out of bed, instead scrolling through social media and occasionally unfriending people on Facebook who hadn’t supported the Democratic candidate.
While scrolling, she stumbled upon her husband celebrating Trump’s second victory with a post that read: “God Bless America. God bless #45, 47.”
Overcome with anger and sadness, she found herself unable to speak to or look at her husband. Instead, she texted him, asking him to remove the post ‘out of respect for me and all my liberal writer friends’.
With the holiday season approaching, she also texted: “Also, tell your family I love them, but I will not be coming for Thanksgiving, and I won’t be hosting Christmas. I need space.”
Later that day, her husband attempted to calm the situation by bringing her a coffee and expressing his understanding of her decision, encouraging a conversation between them.
“I am sorry about the holidays, but I cannot bite my tongue like I did with Hillary,” she told her husband. “I don’t want to disrespect your parents or your brother and his family in their home, or our home, so it’s best this way.
“No scenes. You can go see them. Seriously – I will not be in a room of 15 people who voted for Trump.”
Though this might appear to be a drastic reaction, the essayist highlighted what she saw as a moral chasm between herself and her Trump-supporting relatives.
“I will not unwrap gifts given to me by people who voted for a party that has talked about building internment camps and mass deportation,” she explained.
Further rationalizing her choice to exclude her in-laws from holiday festivities, Andrea stated that she ‘will not pass the turkey’ to individuals she believes voted to restrict women’s reproductive rights and harm vulnerable groups.
Her husband did not challenge the change in holiday plans, nor did he remove the controversial post.