Progressives may be telling viewers of MSNBC and “The View” to boycott Thanksgiving rather than spend it with Trump voters, but that message is falling on deaf ears in the Delaware Valley.
Even among Democrats.
“From my experience, people who bring politics to Thanksgiving are a**holes,” said longtime Pennsylvania Democratic strategist T.J. Rooney.
One of the major divides revealed by the 2024 election is the gap between progressives in the media — both broadcast and social — and the average American on both sides of the aisle. Based on the commentary found there, it would appear Americans are skipping Thanksgiving dinner as if it were canned cranberry sauce.
“I think when people feel that someone voted not only against their families, but against them, and against people that they loved, I think it’s ok to take a beat (and skip Thanksgiving dinner),” said “The View’s” Sunny Hostin after Trump’s victory earlier this month.
And in a callback to 2016, left-leaning media outlets are posting stories with headlines like “My Husband And His Family Voted For Trump—So I’m Canceling Thanksgiving And Christmas,” and “Turkey With Trumpers?”
But polls show few Americans discuss politics much at Thanksgiving dinner, and even more rarely argue about it. A 2019 HuffPost/YouGov poll found just 16 percent of Americans said they talked politics over their turkey and gravy, and just three percent fought about it.
Political activists in the Philly suburbs told DVJournal there are many things more important than politics.
Rooney, who’s a veteran of many Keystone State campaigns, said most everyone in his family was shocked by Trump’s 2016 election because they expected Hillary Clinton to win. This year, he noted, “the outcome wasn’t nearly as surprising.”
GOP strategist Vince Galko, who works with Mercury, told DVJournal, “People were a little bit in shock” in 2016.
Galko said there was such a build-up to a potential ‘President Hillary Clinton’ that Americans weren’t sure how to react when Trump won. “There was anticipation of what was to come, maybe a little worry from some,” he observed.
In Galko’s opinion, the more combative Thanksgiving was in 2020 due to the pandemic, the shutting down of the world, and the presidential election.
“I would never skip a Christmas or a Thanksgiving or anything with my family over politics,” said Guy Ciarrocchi, a conservative political commentator and one-time congressional candidate.
There are still ways to avoid conflict at the dinner table.
Pennsylvania GOP strategist Christopher Nicholas advised people to know their audience. “Everybody kind of knows each other’s boundaries with Trump now than they did seven, eight years ago.”
Nicholas shared that he and his wife have two different Thanksgiving meals, one with each side of the family, to avoid political conflict between in-laws. He told DVJournal there are “a lot more important things to talk about” than whether ‘Team Red’ or ‘Team Blue’ is better for America.
“I’m sure a lot of people in Pennsylvania would prefer to talk about how the Steelers and Eagles are doing, right?”
Some Pennsylvanians remain cautious about political discussion during the holiday.
A Pennsylvania General Assembly aide told DVJournal politics was off limits at Thanksgiving due to differing opinions. It was described as a “life or death situation” where lips had to be sealed.
But Ciarrocchi told DVJournal it was ridiculous for anyone to be cut off because they supported a different candidate. “The idea that I couldn’t talk to a family member because they voted for Kamala Harris is like beyond foreign,” he said.
Galko saw political discussion as healthy for the country. He suggested that if more people discuss their differences, there can be understanding and acknowledgement.
Just not during Thanksgiving.
“Kamala Harris and Donald Trump aren’t sitting down to their Thanksgiving table thinking about (me), right? There’s no reason why we should be thinking about them,” he said.
At the same time, Nicholas found the idea that people only discuss politics at the Thanksgiving table to be divorced from reality. He said there are more important, real-life topics to discuss. “Family stuff, the new baby, someone expecting, someone passed away…”
For Ciarrocchi, there’s one only one group of people he wouldn’t accept at his Thanksgiving dinner.
“If they were Cowboys fans…maybe they couldn’t come,” he chuckled.
