In a fascinating look into how the “toxic” political atmosphere is tearing families apart since Donald Trump first ran for president, Jennifer Medina presented a portrait of an Arizona family that isbarely holding it together in major part because of the mother’s unabashed love for the former president.
In her New York Times piece, Medina writes about the Broe family of Scottsdale where the political divide has reached the point where Carolyn Broe’s daughter Jasmine admitted she needs to move out because “I do consider, like the political atmosphere in the house to be the biggest contributor to my mental health problems,” and added, “I need to get out.”
Central to the tension is mother Carolyn, described as a hardcore Republican, her husband, a Libertarian and their two children described as “two Bernie-style Democrats.”
“Carolyn Broe, 65, is a Republican and a music teacher who believes a Democratic cabal stole the 2020 election and has been leading the country into collapse. She declares the president a ‘treasonous hack’ running a ‘disaster’ of an administration. Her husband is a Libertarian who considers Ronald Reagan the last admirable elected politician. He questions the integrity of the last election but thinks voters should move on. Their two adult children are to the left of the Democratic Party and are open to supporting socialism. They fear that Republicans are destroying democracy,” Medina wrote for the Times.
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The report adds that tensions within the family grew so great during the 2016 election that Carolyn Boe moved into a hotel.
“Her daughter changes the channel from Fox News before leaving the house — and Ms. Broe changes it back. She received a text meant for her son, offering him $250 a week to help turn out progressive voters, and she wrote back: ‘I am worried this money is coming from Zuckerberg! He is courting communist China!'” the report states. “Her children — Jasmine, 26, and JeanRené, 35 — wince when she speaks her views. Her husband — Steve Broe, 67, a practicing Buddhist who teaches management and leadership — calls their political differences ‘significant, but not tragic.’ The only thing they seem to agree on is that talk of politics has become what they describe as ‘triggering,’ and the only solution on many days is to avoid talking about it at all.”
“Their story would be extraordinary were it not so ordinary in America as the 2022 midterm elections approach on Tuesday,” the report continued. “The Broes happen to be the perfect embodiment of their surroundings: They are one of the most divided households in one of the most divided districts in America.”
“Yet in recent months, as the midterm elections have unfolded in Arizona and as politics have once again become central, partisanship has continued to sharpen and sour their home life. Among the handful of things every member of the family agrees on is this: Partisan media outlets have dramatically altered their perspectives and drawn them further apart. The children blame Fox News. Their mother blames nefarious actors on the left who she believes manipulate the social-media platforms her children use,” Medina wrote.
“Back in 2016, the family had debated, fought over and analyzed every imaginable political issue. Jasmine, then 20, thought that her mother was making an immoral choice by voting for Mr. Trump. Two days before the election, her mother decided to cool off by getting a room at a hotel nearby,” the report continued.
According to Jamine, “The last two elections made it so that it was just — I’ve got to get out of my parents’ house,” before adding economics make it impossible right now.
“Ms. Broe has changed as well, moving further to the right over the years. She started watching Fox in the Obama era after growing frustrated with ‘dead celebrity news’ on other cable channels, and became enamored with what she described as ‘Glenn Beck’s patriotism and Bill O’Reilly’s history.’ These days, she is mostly preoccupied with the Mexican border and China’s influence,” Medina wrote before adding, “What bothers JeanRené and Jasmine the most has been watching their mother’s views being shaped by Republican leaders. Ms. Broe believes Mexican drug cartels are being aided by China to bring fentanyl that looks like candy into the United States, she said, ‘so that little kids will get a hold of it and they will die.'”
According to the kids, they choose to ignore their mom on such topics.
“We want to have it out of sight, out of mind,” JeanRené said. “We want to love our parents.”
You can read the whole piece here.