America asunder: Nation is divided
USA TODAY Network interviews show rift over Trump continues to worsen
After 100 days of the Trump administration, one of the few things on which Americans are united is that they are still divided.
Jonathan Pommerville of Detroit, a self- employed irrigation system installer, identifies with no party and didn’t even vote in the past election. The 39- year- old knows this much: “Seems like we keep drifting apart.”
“It’s women against these women, these races against other races, this religion against another. … . We’re going to tear u ourselves apart.” Jennifer DiLuzio, 34, Lakewood, Colo.
The USA TODAY Network spent time with people around the nation and across the political spectrum to gauge their feelings on Donald Trump’s first months in office. Although they agreed on little, there’s virtual unanimity that political division has worsened since the president took office.
Logan Keeling, 19, of Hanover, Pa., works two jobs to make ends meet, but the economy is not his primary concern.
“My greatest hope would be just for people, as Americans, to just come as one,’’ said Keeling, whose first vote in a presidential election was for Trump. “There’s so much division right now.’’
As an Army veteran who served three tours in Iraq, Jennifer DiLuzio, 34, of Lakewood, Colo., knows a divided society when she sees one. Here’s how America looks to her: “It’s women against these women, these races against other races, this religion against another. … We’re going to tear ourselves apart at this rate.’’
Americans are even divided on the reasons for their divisions. Among the competing theories:
uLack of information: “It’s become a soundbite population.’’ — Bill Wickham, 53, owner of a roadside pumpkin farm stand outside Rochester, N. Y
Social media: “I’ve seen so much hatred come out among friends that I never knew existed. Social media has been a huge factor in that. It saddens me to see what that’s done to relationships, to friendships, to families.’’ — Laura Hodges, 53, a registered nurse and small- business owner in Greenville, S. C.
uTrump: The president “is trying to unify one segment of the population against the other. He is trying to unify the privileged and people who are not immigrants, people who are not people of color.’’ — Tony Choi, 28, of northern New Jersey, a social media manager for 18 Million Rising, a non- profit organization that aims to promote civil engagement in the Asian- American and Pacific Islander community.
Trump promised to be the president of all Americans. Many of his supporters and opponents said he’s either widened the divisions or failed to narrow them. Even Trump voters expect him to do something to bridge the gulf.
“I’ve never seen people so upset about a president getting elected,” said Ed O’Connell, 48, a construction company owner in Allendale, N. J. “Trump really needs to reach out. Clinton had all those supporters, and ( he should) have her next to him and have a unified speech to perhaps sway some people to give him a chance.”
Jerry Nieland, 41, is an Iowa Democrat who voted for Barack Obama in 2012 and Trump last year. “He needs to step out of the Republican side,” Nieland said. “He needs to bring in some Democrats that have some common- sense ideas — even Bernie Sanders — and just entertain some of the statistics from countries that have universal health care.”
“‘ Make America Great Again,’ to me, means everyone being unified as one,” Keeling said, “one whole nation, one country, one America, and not being divided by different thoughts, views, religions.’’
Of course, what’s divisive rests in the mind of the beholder.
Keeling cited “the Black Lives Matter group, the anti- police protesters’’ as a reason the nation’s “slipping in the wrong direction, just with people dividing.”
Others praised the Black Lives Matter movement for demanding social justice and protesting police brutality. Choi, a Korean American, said making America great “also means respecting the dignity of black lives.’’
Nieland, who comes from a rural area of northwestern Iowa, said, “People who live in smaller towns see things from a different perspective, and a lot of people don’t have the amount of money to live in the big condominiums in the large cities.’’
Some concerns bridge the urbansuburban- rural divide.
Scott Hagenson, 47, is a line supervisor for the municipal electric department in Lake Mills, Iowa, a place he calls “a great small, Midwestern community to raise my two sons in.” He worries about crime, which he said “used to be a big- city thing. Any crime out there, from murder to child abuse to anything like that, now, it’s every town in America.”
One of Trump’s proudest achievements was preserving jobs at the Carrier Air Conditioner plant in Indianapolis. Last year, Carrier announced it was moving manufacturing operations to Mexico, a plan Trump denounced during the presidential campaign. After he was elected, Trump announced a deal with Carrier to keep some of the manufacturing jobs in Indiana in exchange for tax credits.
Robert James, 57, a forklift driver at the plant, said he appreciates Trump’s efforts but didn’t vote for him. He said, “I still wonder what Carrier will do at the end of Donald Trump’s term.”
An issue on which voters generally agreed: Trump’s use of Twitter. “He needs to put that thing down!’’ Pommerville said. “Not everybody needs to know what’s on his mind every second.’’
That was seconded by David Wood, pastor of the United Church of Lincoln, Vt.: “He’s saying things on Twitter that oftentimes have no basis. And all that’s doing is creating chaos.’’
“Seems like every time something’s being said, he’s got to get on Twitter, or he’s got to rebut,” said Jeremie Clifford, 45, an African- American auto parts store manager in Malta, Ohio. “I’m not allowed on Facebook while I’m at work. He’s working. He needs to stay off Twitter.”