In a televised town hall meeting with NewsNation on Thursday, Sen. JD Vance, former President Donald Trump’s running mate, delivered a strong message on the importance of keeping political differences from affecting personal relationships.
Addressing the growing divisions between political parties, he spoke about how polarization has begun to impact friendships and family ties.
“If you’re discarding a lifelong friendship because somebody votes for the other team, then you’ve made a terrible, terrible mistake and you should do something different,” he said.
Vance’s comments highlighted that healing the increasing polarization in the U.S. depends on maintaining strong relationships despite political disagreements. He acknowledged that while some people he knows may not vote for him or Trump, “that doesn’t make them bad people.”
“Don’t cast aside family members and lifelong friendships,” he advised. “Politics is not worth it. And I think if we follow that principle, we’ll heal the divide in this country.”
Are politics dividing families and friends?
As Election Day approaches, political fervor continues to grow, leading people to align strongly with their preferred candidates. These divisions often result in opposing stances between friends and family members.
While opposition does not make someone an enemy, recent trends suggest that some may view it that way.
As previously reported by the Deseret News, there is a rise in people going “no contact” with family members over perceived irreconcilable differences in worldview.
While there are instances where “no contact” may be advisable due to circumstances involving abuse, this particularly trend is noteworthy for how abuse is being conflated with offense, which is often motivated by political divisions.
It makes one question whether it is possible to retain close bonds with those you might disagree with.
Retaining relationships despite political differences
Dr. Judy Ho, a clinical and forensic neuropsychologist and author of “The New Rules of Attachment,” told CBS News that political divides are especially challenging for relationships because they’re often tied to core identity and values.
“When the beliefs are challenged, then it feels like a much more personal attack, and it triggers a defensive reaction,” Ho said.
She advised individuals facing this dilemma to consider what’s more important: having the person in their life or maintaining political views that may change over time.
“If a person is of value to you in some way, is important to you, then it’s important to try to work through the conflict instead of just completely shutting it out or completely never speaking to them about anything related to their beliefs,” she continued.
Additionally, Dr. Laura Vogel, director of mental health services at Momentous Institute, noted that friendships with people holding different viewpoints can be beneficial by breaking us out of echo chambers.
“Our good friends can challenge us,” Vogel told CBS News.