LONDON – Reactions to former US President Donald Trump’s arrest on hush money charges were “diametrically opposite depending on political persuasion”, laying bare a record level of polarisation in the country, according to The Guardian.
Trump was charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree, which for right-wingers was “evidence of an abuse of political power and proof that the system was attempting to silence their man” while for non-Trump supporters “was justice”, the British newspaper reported Saturday.
Some academics believe that the United States has not been this politically polarised since the two sides started the American Civil War in 1861, said the report, citing a recent survey by the Quinnipiac University Poll.
The survey found that 88 per cent of Democratic voters thought that, facing criminal charges, Trump should be disqualified from running for president again, but only 23 per cent of Republican voters felt the same. In terms of Trump’s influence, 73 per cent of Republicans thought he had a positive impact while 93 per cent of Democrats thought it has been negative.
It is difficult to see a path out of the deep polarisation in the United States, in part because the divide goes to issues that run to race, identity and culture and this polarisation is unlikely “to decline any time soon”, Marjorie Hershey, professor emeritus of political science at Indiana University Bloomington, was quoted as saying.
“The divide represents real dangers in the United States, beyond the already evident destruction of faith in election integrity, the political gridlock and the inherent unsavoriness of a society at odds with itself,” said the report. – Bernama
