Op-Ed: The Divided States of America
Nickolas Cielo ’29
Political polarization has officially reached stage four cancer levels. It is the point of no return, irreversible. It is only a matter of time until democracy comes crashing down. At least, this is what many are saying.
In a New York Times/Ciena Poll from September 2025, 64% of voters said the political system is too divided to solve the nation's problems, a jump from 42% in 2020. This is a clear reflection of where our political system stands. Turning on the news or partisan outlets each day doesn’t ease our tensions. It only fuels our pessimistic views on where our country is heading.
To understand how our country’s political dynamics have reached to this point, we must question when it all started. Many are quick to blame Trump and his 2016 election win as the start origin of political polarization. While Trump increased partisan divide, the 1970s can be viewed as the beginning of extreme polarization. Grappling with the aftermath of a revolutionized 1960s, the Nixon administration sought to appeal to those angered by civil rights reform. Their tactics turned partisan groups against each other. A perfect example of their actions would be Nixon’s appealing to angered southerners over civil rights reforms, in the form of him supporting the states rights. But at the same time, he expanded the power of the presidency, claiming “executive privilege” over many topics. This laid the foundation for mistrust in government and polarization of our country. Following instances of polarization in America since the 1970s include the 1990s, in the form of culture wars, President Bill Clinton’s impeachment, and the Republican Revolution of 1994. In the 2000s, the Iraq War and the rise of partisan media further added to more extreme and political standings of voters. During the Obama era, although extremism seemed to decrease, movements like the Tea Party movement and Republicans itching for a return to power fueled the sudden rise of far-right conservatism, satisfied by Donald Trump’s presidency.
And this leads to the Trump Era (2017-present), which has by far been the most polarizing and violent point in American history and politics. Despite the Biden Administration squeezing in between the two Trump terms, they were often shadowed by Donald Trump’s radical beliefs. The sudden rise of Donald Trump in 2016 and his divisive language foreshadowed the following years to come, and certainly was an alarm to American democracy. Throughout all of his presidential campaigns, Trump often used shocking language and vicious attacks towards his political enemies. His unhinged tone, despite raising controversy, resonated with those who felt left out by mainstream liberal politics. At that start of his 2016 presidency, Trump showed clear signs of authoritarian desire, as he appointed his supporters to the Supreme Court and violated court orders. In 2018, following the Democratic Party’s Congress takeover and the inauguration of Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House, Trump further intensified his rhetoric which would remain through the rest of his term. With pushback from Democrats, exchange of hateful rhetoric between the parties became common.
The most notable consequences of severe political violence and division were the “Unite the Right” rally in 2017 and Black Lives Matter protests in 2020. Trump’s first term already set unprecedented levels of political violence and polarization, but nothing came close to the horrors of January 6th, 2021. A mob of Trump supporters, furious after the results of the 2020 election which Trump repeatedly (and falsely) claimed were “rigged,” stormed the US Capitol in an attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election. January 6th had a ripple effect on the rest of the country, and political polarization and violence have only grown since then. America’s political landscape has created “Two Americas” with completely opposite views. Despite the Biden administration’s attempts to unite the country, Donald Trump’s prevailing presence made it almost impossible to accept a United States.
Finally, we get to Donald Trump’s comeback and second term in 2025. After surviving an assasination attempt, Donald Trump came into office hungry for vengeance against his political enemies, with increased rhetoric that made his past statements seem like a child’s insults. It is difficult to believe that we’re only 9 months into the Trump administration with the unprecedented amount of political violence acts. Threats to Congress, in particular, have substantially risen. As of September 2025, the USCP was on track to investigate roughly 14,000 threat assessment cases by the end of the year, a drastice increase from previous reports in 2024 and 2021. A rise in assassinations of prominent political figures on both partisan sideshave sounded the alarms of many experts. In just the first couple of months of Donald Trump’s second term, the US has seen (in order): ann arson attack on Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s residence, the killing of two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington DC, a Colorado firebombing attack, the shooting and killing of a Minnesota lawmaker a shooting at the CDC headquarters, and most recently, the shooting and killing of Charlie Kirk. Honestly, just writing this list makes my stomach churn, and it should make yours too. To make it worse, in the first half of 2025, there were roughly 150 recorded politically motivated attacks, nearly double the number during the same period in 2024, according to the Toda Peace Institute. This signals a huge turning point in our nation’s almost 250 year history. Political violence and polarization is at its highest point we’ve seen since the Civil War.
It is important to note that political violence and polarization comes from both sides of the aisle, but we often blame it on the other side. There is not enough condemnation for political violence at the moment, especially with some people idolizing those who conduct attacks on political figures. This isn’t helped by the growing number of echo chambers that we live in, influenced by the media and where we live. If you feel like any opposing views make you feel offended, you only follow or listen to people that align with your views, or have stopped asking yourself “what if I’m wrong,” then you, my friend, are living in an echo chamber. We have been forced into a corner of society or the internet where only like minded people reside. There isn’t anything particularly wrong with this, but the result of this is the lack of bipartisan conversations, which has grown ever more in our country.
And this leads us to where we are now. We are at crossroads oftwo options—-either we push a “national divorce” as Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene has proposed, orwe unite as a country to fight back against the dividing forces and create a country of bipartisan condemnation of political violence.
Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene has repeatedly called for a separation of the United States, suggesting that the country should divide into Republican-leaning states and Democrat-leaning states.A national divorce would simply be too complicated to maintain.What about the Republicans living in Democratic-leaning states and vice versa?What would be done about Battleground States like Pennsylvania, Michigan, Georgia, etc?
Now, let’s analyze the option where we unite and bounce back stronger from division and polarization. This is the more feasible option, although still extremely complicated. But we all know deep down, that America’s great division is just as great as the flame that kept this country through its darkest moments. This option would unite people from both sides of the political spectrum against political violence and polarization. Unity is what has kept America through tough times, and now, we need to be united to fight our common enemy: polarization. Political violence is a plague on our country, but we possess the cure to heal it, only if we come together.
This starts with not demonizing those with different perspectives. Lawmakers and political figures have lives too, and we shouldn’t inflict our anger on them and instead focus our efforts on more civic engagement. In addition to this, it is crucial we regulate social media’s involvement in politics. Social media companies often use algorithms that push us into echo chambers, leading to radicalization and extremism on both sides of the aisles. Social media contains a lot of misinformation too, pushing false or twisted narratives to an already divided audience. Rules and regulations are needed to crack down on this content and place algorithms promoting bipartisanship among people.
Political discourse shouldn’t be a source of division. Rather, it allows people to exchange ideas and debate opposing views. But citizens can’t be the only ones peacefully expressing our views–we must also hold those in power accountable to set an example of what healthy discourse looks like. It isn’t a good look when we see fighting in Congress. It isn’t a good look when we see finger pointing over the ongoing government shutdown, partisan spending packages and bills, or “shouting matches” between members of Congress. We ought to hold them accountable to decorum rules set by Congress, and push back against any violent, false, and divisive claims that arise. Most of all, we must have faith in America’s future, despite these hard times. I saw the flame of America’s spirit of belonging take me in when I arrived in this country, and I refuse to believe that the fire will be extinguished. We must all come together: Republicans, Democrats, Independents and all else, to condemn political violence and reduce polarization. It is up to all of us to decide where America’s future lies, and one of those futures is that which accepts us all.