WASHINGTON — Partisan divisions in the U.S., already at a high point during President Barack Obama’s years in office, have hardened further under President Donald Trump, with both Democrats and Republicans feeling more negatively toward members of the opposing party.
Asked by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center to rate their feelings toward the other party’s members on a thermometer, about three-quarters of people who identify themselves as Republicans gave Democrats a cold rating. Among Democrats, feelings toward Republicans were just slightly less cold — about 7 in 10 gave the other party’s members a cold rating.
In both cases, the ratings were significantly chillier than last year.
The new numbers illustrate the negative feelings that have been driving American politics. The trend toward more and harsher partisanship began more than a generation ago, but accelerated through the George W. Bush and Obama presidencies and has continued into Trump’s.
The Pew survey also found that partisanship corresponds with how Americans see certain occupations.
About three-quarters of Republicans expressed very warm feelings toward police officers, for example, while among Democrats just one-third did so. On the flip side, half of Democrats had very warm feelings toward college professors, while among Republicans only one-fifth felt that way.