Donald Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Sunday, October 27, was called a “carnival of grievance, misogyny, and racism” by the New York Times. The event, which took place just a week before the election, was a hostile and partisan affair. President Trump has doubled down on his assertion that one of America’s most serious threats comes from the “enemy within.”
President Trump’s rhetoric is symptomatic of the increasingly polarized nature of American politics, which amplifies the hostility of perceived enemies of one group across social media platforms. But President Trump’s comments about an insidious “threat” suggest a dark undercurrent of division with threats of violence.
A June 2024 poll by the University of Chicago suggested there was more support for violence against Trump than support for President Trump. 10% of respondents agreed that the use of force to prevent Trump from becoming president was justified, while 6.9% said they agreed. The violence was justified “to restore Trump to the presidency.” Two months ago, a Marist poll revealed that 47% of Americans believe another civil war is likely in their lifetime.
As a recent Chatham House report put it, the United States is divided “more along ideological and political lines than at any time since the 1850s.” Another report from the Foreign Policy Center, a U.K.-based think tank, found that Americans “increasingly loathe supporters of the other party, and their seizure of political power is simply unfortunate.” “Not only that, but I think it’s unfair.”
Americans have regularly expressed that they prefer living among people who share their political views. And they express a stronger aversion to dating, living, working, or interacting with supporters of another political party. These views point out that the nation is suffering from the evils of sectarianism.
Those who have observed sectarianism around the world are familiar with the confusion such divisions cause. In the Middle East, for example, political religious differences have a devastating impact on political, economic, and social life. Sectarian violence has killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced millions across Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Lebanon, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Libya.
Sara Ienesel / EPA
While the United States may be far from these scenarios, there are some early warning signs. What the American social theorist Irving Howe calls “epistemological authoritarianism,” a competing form of belief that rejects the belief of the other in a zero-sum manner, is easily seen throughout the American political landscape.
Protests and counter-protests have taken place in the streets and online over abortion, gun control, and LGBTQ+ rights, and on university campuses over the war in Gaza. Elite entrepreneurs with political capital also take opposing sides on sensitive issues to garner support.
Consider, for example, Donald Trump’s false claims that Democratic states execute infants at birth or that immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, are eating pets. Comments like this, regardless of their authenticity, quickly spread across social media. For Trump supporters, truth is more important than the ability to justify their positions on specific issues. The positions taken by the political world are becoming increasingly contentious and predictable.
Of course, these dynamics are also shaped by local context. However, in recent years, the politicization of social identity and the increasing political importance of social issues have created a situation where differences are widely contrasted.
In this situation, grievances become a means of strengthening in-group cohesion and disparaging others. In such situations, society is divided into mutually distrustful camps by a kind of emotional polarization that has political implications.
What is important here is the emotional dimension, since this is the basis on which political and social antagonisms are built. For example, Supreme Court decisions on emotionally charged issues such as abortion have strong potential to mobilize both the right and the left.
deep-seated differences
As the 2020 U.S. presidential election and its aftermath demonstrate, elections often exacerbate uncertainty and division. According to Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (Acled), a research group that analyzes the occurrence of political violence, demonstrations, and far-right activities around the world, the number of incidents peaked around the time of the 2020 election. This culminated in the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol by Trump supporters.
Far-right activity has declined under the Biden administration. However, many far-right groups have recently become more active in the lead-up to the election. Meanwhile, divisions over abortion, LGBTQ+ mobilization, and the war in Gaza are contributing to the volatile environment.
In fact, a majority do not believe that next week’s election will solve the problems facing America. A recent poll found that 70% of respondents believe that things in the United States are going in the “wrong direction,” and this view is more common among Republican respondents (94%) than Democratic respondents (41%). ) are shared more. Additionally, 19% of Republicans believe that if Trump loses the election, he should declare the result invalid and do whatever it takes to become president.
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The divisions across America are real, and putting the pieces back together will not be easy. As election fever heats up, narratives of division will continue to unfold, deepening the rifts in American society. And sectarianism will become a major framework for viewing political and social life.
This doesn’t necessarily have to be violent. But it can easily become entrenched. With the ever-increasingly hostile exclusion of all forms of “otherness” and the growing willingness to violate established norms and rules, we need to step back from the brink before it is too late.
