Americans worry that talking about Trump will ruin Thanksgiving dinner

According to a poll conducted during the week of November 8-13, 2017, a majority of Americans find it best to avoid political conversations at the Thanksgiving table. 31% of adults “will be intentionally avoiding political conversations with family and friends” over the holidays. Another 48% “do not typically engage in political conversations” during holiday gatherings. Only 21% will engage in political conversations with others “even if we disagree on issues”.

A majority of Americans, 62%, also consider politics their “least favorite” conversation topic, followed by money and finance (41%), religion (37%) and family gossip (25%).

The poll found that Trump voters were just as interested in avoiding political conversation as Clinton supporters. Women were more likely than men to avoid politics, and Baby Boomers were more likely than Millennials to avoid the topic.

Some poll respondents indicated they learned to avoid the politics at family gatherings through years of tension over Barack Obama, and now, Donald Trump. For example, one respondent who voted for Clinton in the last presidential election, called his older brother, a Trump voter, to get politics “out of the way” before Thanksgiving. “We can keep it civil when it’s just us, I’m not sure if the rest of the family can”, says the respondent.

I personally do not have to deal with this sort of problem at family gatherings as most of my family does not seem to follow politics very closely. However, I feel uncomfortable talking about politics to friends, not knowing how strongly they feel about certain issues. Is it true that the topic of politics is more “off limits” than in the past? If so, what makes current politics more polarizing than before?