Couples are fighting over President Trump more than ever, and many are turning to divorce court to get out of their politically ravaged marriages.
New data from Wakefield Research found that one in 10 couples, married and not, have ended their relationships in a battle over political differences. For younger millennials, it’s 22 percent.
And nearly one in three Americans said that political clashes over Trump have “had a negative impact on their relationship,” said the report provided to Secrets.
“Since Donald Trump’s election, political discourse in the U.S. has been more tense and divisive than ever,” Wakefield said.
Call it the end of the Carville-Matalin era, when relationships like Clinton adviser James Carville’s marriage to Bush family adviser Mary Matalin were celebrated.
“Passionately opposing points of views are not only driving wedges between strangers and even friends, but we are now seeing evidence that this dissent is having a detrimental impact on Americans’ marriages and relationships,” the report said.
In fact, 24 percent of Americans in a relationship or married and 42 percent of millennials told the survey that “since President Trump was elected, they and their partner have disagreed or argued about politics more than ever.”
Two unrelated online dating reports confirmed the rise of political incompatibility. They showed that Democrats are especially unlikely to date a Trump-supporting Republican, but Republicans are more inclined to give Clinton-supporting Democrats a try.
In confirming those reports, Wakefield found that even Americans not in relationships would consider divorce if their partner didn’t agree with them on politics.
“Among Americans who did not vote for Trump and who are not in a relationship with a partner who voted for Trump, a third (33 percent) would consider divorce if they had a spouse who voted for Donald Trump. This number jumps to 43 percent among Millennials who did not vote for Trump or have a partner who voted for him,” said Wakefield.
Virginia “super lawyer” Grant T. Moher, managing partner of Fairfax-based family law firm Curran Moher Weis, said political divisions have “never” become so bad that divorce was the answer. “But,” he told Secrets, “in the wake of the whole Trump phenomenon, people have gotten to the point of divorce over political divisions.”
He cited one potential client, a Muslim who immigrated to the United States a child, who was married to a white American woman for 20 years. Neither was political until Trump hit the scene, and “all of sudden she developed a real affinity for Trump.”
Part of that was her questioning her husband’s Muslim background. “She was questioning his patriotism. It was a huge rift in their marriage,” said Moher.
Moher said the Trump effect is the talk in divorce courts and that it’s also driven couples to marriage counseling. “Yes, this is an issue,” he said, giving a simple and blunt reason: “You’re either with him or against him.”
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