Democrat voters are more likely than Republicans to cut down on time spent with family members due to political differences, a post-election survey showed as the holidays ramp up.
The Public Religion Research Institute’s (PRRI) survey posted on December 13 found that “As the holidays approach … Democratic voters (23%) are nearly five times as likely as Republican voters (5%) to say they will be spending less time with certain family members because of their political views.”
PRRI President and Founder Robert P. Jones told Axios, “It may be tense around the Hanukkah and Christmas table. It’s not just that we’re disagreeing about abortion or we’re disagreeing about taxes or even immigration… but we’re disagreeing about a fundamental worldview and about identity.”
He also told the outlet he has heard that some people who will gather with their families for the holidays are agreeing beforehand not to talk about politics during their time together.
The PRRI survey noted:
The survey was conducted among a representative sample of 5,772 adults (age 18 and up) living in all 50 states in the United States, who are part of Ipsos’s KnowledgePanel. Interviews were conducted online between November 8 and December 2, 2024. The margin of error for the full sample is +/- 1.72 percentage points at the 95% level of confidence.
In November, a CBS News/YouGov survey found that while Trump voters are more open to talking about politics at the Thanksgiving dinner table following his election win, Americans overall would rather avoid the subject, per Breitbart News.
The report continued:
By political affiliation, 72 percent of voters who supported Vice President Kamala Harris and 62 percent of voters who supported President-elect Donald Trump want to avoid talking politics on Thanksgiving. Slightly more Trump voters than Harris voters want to discuss politics (38 percent to 28 percent).
Many people who participated in the survey say they will be gathering with people who voted similarly to them. People are more likely to engage in political conversation on Thanksgiving if they are surrounded by like-minded company, although a majority still prefer to skip the topic altogether, according to the poll.
It is important to note that in 2022, a Rasmussen Reports poll found that Americans ranked Christmas as their favorite holiday, according to Breitbart News.
“Sixty percent of 1,100 American adults polled between Dec. 19-21 say Christmas is one of our nation’s most important holidays, up from 59 percent in 2021. The margin of sampling error is ±3 percentage points with a 95 percent level of confidence,” the outlet said.
