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Showing posts from November, 2016

'Go to hell!' A divided America struggles to heal after ugly election

A woman passes burning garbage during a demonstration in Oakland following the election of Donald Trump.  “He lies,” huffed Janet Foster. “And he’s a dirty old man,” chimed in her sister Jean as they discussed Donald Trump's flaws a few days before he was elected the new president of the United States. “Well, I am with him,” their brother Paul, 60, interjected, raising his voice over snacks of cheese, muffins and crackers in the family’s living room. “Hillary Clinton is like a puppet - you know it’s all scripted.” The 2016 U.S. election was unprecedented in the way it turned Americans against each other, according to dozens of interviews in rural United States and across some of the most politically charged battleground states. It divided families like the Fosters in rural Ellsworth, Maine, broke up friendships and turned neighbor against neighbor. In a recent Reuters/Ipsos survey, 15 percent of respondents said they had stopped talking to a family member or