Nearly half of self-identifying liberals feel their relationship with a friend would be strained if they voted for Donald Trump, while conservatives remain far more tolerant of their liberal counterparts, a study from the Pew Research Center has found.
The national survey of 2,505 adults, conducted by the Pew Research Center from June 27 to July 9, found that 47 percent of self-identifying liberals claimed their relationship with a friend would be strained if they found out they supported Donald Trump, while among Democrats and Democratic-leaning voters, the figure is 35 percent.
White or well-educated Democrats find it even tougher, with 40 percent of white Democrats, and 44 percent of college graduates, saying they would also feel strain over a friend’s support for the president.
Meanwhile, right-wingers tend to be far more tolerant of their liberal or Democratic counterparts, with just 13 percent of Republican or Republican leaning voters claiming a friend’s support for Hillary Clinton would put a strain on their relationship.
Such sentiments were also endorsed by Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton last year, who described half of Trump’s voters as a “basket of deplorables,” made up of “racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic” people.
Another takeaway from the study was that 68 percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning voters found it “stressful and frustrating” to converse with someone with a different opinion on Trump, while just 52 percent of Republican and GOP-leaning voters feel the same.
A separate study conducted by Pew Research last August found that 47 percent of Clinton supporters said they had no friends supporting Trump, compared to 31 percent of Trump voters who had no friends supporting Clinton. The results suggest that vast swathes of Americans, and particularly liberals, do not associate with those of differing political views.
You can follow Ben Kew on Facebook, on Twitter at @ben_kew, or email him at bkew@breitbart.com
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