Yale University chief psychiatry resident Dr. Amanda Calhoun said Friday on MSNBC’s “The ReidOut” that liberals who were devastated by Donald Trump’s presidential re-election should separate from family members who voted for him.
Host Joy Reid said, “I wonder if also, are people challenged with the idea of how do you interact with people you know voted for this? If you’re an LGBTQ person and know someone in your family voted essentially against your rights or you’re a woman, knowing this man was calling people the B word. JD Vance was literally calling Kamala Harris the trash. And said we’re going to take out the trash. I know a lot of black women were incredibly triggered by that. If you meet somebody and you know they voted for the people who called your trash, or if you’re Puerto Rican and you know someone voted that way, do you recommend just from a psychological standpoint being around them? We got the holidays coming up.”
Calhoun said, “I love that you asked this question because there is a push. I think there is a societal norm that if somebody is your family that, they are entitled to your time. And I think the answer is absolutely not. So if you are going through a situation where you have family members, close friends who you know have voted in ways that are against you, like what you said, against your livelihood, it is completely fine to not be around those people and tell them why. To say I have a problem with the way that you voted because it went against my very livelihood and I’m not going to be around you this holiday. I need to take some space for me. I actually talked to adults as well as advising parents for children. I don’t think you should force children or adults to be around people just because they are your family. There is a level of need to establish boundaries. If you feel like you need to establish boundaries with people, whether they are your family or not, I think you should very much be entitled to do so. I think it may be essential for your mental health.”
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