Pennsylvania Democrats discuss nation’s political divisions and their feelings for Biden

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• Amna Nawaz:

  Over the summer, Judy Woodruff listened in as a group of Iowa Republicans discussed their support for former President Trump following his indictments, the state of the country and its divisions, and what can be done to move forward.

  For a different perspective, Judy recently visited Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, to hear from Democrats on those topics and more. It's part of her ongoing series America at a Crossroads.

  And this story was produced with help from our friends at PBS39 WLVT-TV.

• Elena, Pennsylvania Voter:

  Now, it's just like you just have to choose a side and you automatically have to hate the other side, when it shouldn't be that way. And it wasn't that way.

• Judy Woodruff:

  Strong feelings from these 15 Democrats living in and around the former steel town of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, about the growing sense of division they see in the country today.

• MAN:

  I'm waiting for someone in Congress to throw a chair at someone, like they do in other countries.

• Deborah, Pennsylvania Voter:

  I didn't grow up like that. Either you're a Republican or a Democrat, and everyone got along. It wasn't such a bitter, I mean, bickering between each other or name-calling. All that hate has just divided it.

• Sarah Longwell, Longwell Partners:

  Who do you guys blame for the division? Why do you think it's gotten worse?

• Amanda, Pennsylvania Voter:

  I think it's heavily influenced by evangelicalism or some kind of religious push and billionaires, or, like, the capitalism and inequality kind of occurring together.

• Elena:

  I agree with that on one level.

  But I also think like Donald Trump himself made it OK. Like, our president makes fun of disabled people. It's OK to do that. Our president makes racist, disparaging comments to people. came out of the woodworks with that.

  I mean, I think a lot of people were surprised by, like, the rampant racism that came to the surface and people were out and about and proud about it, that we thought we're progressing in this manner in this country. But were we? Or were people are just more quiet about it?

• Dayton, Pennsylvania Voter:

  Yes, like I feel like it's from the top down, you know, like basically, like, if the leader of the free world is out there acting a certain way, then it just emboldens people.

• Sarah Longwell:

  Whether it's Republicans, swing voters, Democrats, everybody believes we are very divided, and everybody laments the fact that we are very divided.

• Judy Woodruff:

  Sarah Longwell, host of "The Focus Group" podcast, was once again our guide.

• Sarah Longwell:

  When we talked to Republicans before, they were very clear about who they blame for the divisions, right? So they believe that the media was responsible for the divisions in the country, whereas the Democrats today, they blamed Trump.

  That was sort of the only thing that — the thread they could find that was sort of common. They felt like he created a permission structure for other people to behave uncivilly, to say sort of racist, sexist things.

• Elena:

  Right around the time Trump got elected, I found out my father is now a Republican and a Trump supporter. And just the things that he says are ridiculous.

  And when he says the reasons why he supports him, like, we're Hispanic. And, like, he done so many things against — and there's plenty — there's Latinos that support him as well, which I still don't get.

  But it's just like, as a Christian man, who that's part of your whole identity, and you have this person who's a crook and a cheater and just a degenerate, and this is who you like? That, to me, doesn't match with Republican values in general, but him as a person. And it's just very weird to me.

• Anthony, Pennsylvania Voter:

  The relative that I have an issue with who I think is Republican is my son. And the only thing that I can say or say to him is, how did you get that way?

  Because, as a single father, he grew up with me, and he saw how I voted and what our values were.

• Sarah Longwell:

  The political parties that used to be about difference in policies, I think Trump changed the conversation to about being a difference in values.

  And so it's harder for people to understand how somebody can support somebody like Donald Trump, not because he advocates for low taxes, but because he says terrible things about people of different races, or makes fun of a disabled reporter, or says things about women, who is under many indictments.

  They can understand why somebody might support somebody of a different political persuasion who has different opinions. They don't understand how somebody they love, who they believe has good values, can support this person that they think so obviously has bad values.

  We were in Iowa six, seven weeks ago. We were talking to Republicans. And we asked them whether a Democrat can truly be a person of faith if they support issues like transgender rights and abortion. And they didn't think so. Many of them didn't think so.

  What do you think about that?

• Man:

  The pope said it best. Who are we to judge?

• Amanda:

  Yes.

• Man:

  You know, I think if you take that lead, who are we to judge as humans?

• Amanda:

  And Jesus was an activist who was the — who — you know, it's spelled out in the Bible. Like, I was raised Catholic too. I know. I know what he said. And he was inclusive of everybody. The message is love your neighbor as you love yourself.

  I don't see how helping trans people could be anti-religious.

• Jordan, Pennsylvania Voter:

  Like, what is the point of that statement? So is it that the Democrats — Democrats can't have faith if they believe in trans people? Can you just repeat it? Because it just seems like such a — like, am I the only one that thinks that's like just a wild thing to say?

  Like, what does that mean?

• Lewis, Pennsylvania Voter:

  You got to think about where they're from too probably.

  (crosstalk)

• Jordan:

  Right, but, like, why are all those words in a sentence and have to do with anything?

• Judy Woodruff:

  Unsurprisingly, the panel had strong views on the indictments Trump is now facing, but also didn't expect his supporters to waver.

• Lewis:

  If you broke a law, you need to answer for what you have done. So, whether you're an ex-president, a current president, whoever you are, you need to answer for what you did, the wrongdoing.

• Jordan:

  I mean, I think, if people do the wrong thing, they should go to jail. But if he were to go to jail himself, then the people that support him would just blame everybody else, even though everything — like, everybody who has taken the steps into this indictment have mostly been people appointed by him.

  It's always like the Democrats or everybody else's fault or they're doing this wrong.

• Sarah Longwell:

  Are you surprised that Republicans continued to support him after all the indictments?

• Lisa, Pennsylvania Voter:

  No, I'm not surprised.

• Sarah Longwell:

  Tell me why.

• Lisa:

  It's a travesty that this country lets this happen. It's very frustrating.

  And when I was in my 20s, I would never have an opinion like that, ever. Now I'm in my 50s, I'm like, this is bullcrap, that we, as a people, Republican and some Democrats — and I have to say, even as a woman, we would see banners up that said, "Vote for Trump."

  What is wrong with you? Do you know what that man stands for, who he is and what he what he says?

• Ingrid, Pennsylvania Voter:

  In a way, I am surprised, because I would think that, when the cards are on the table and you see the facts, and you believe factual evidence, you would come to realize, oh, gee, I guess I had the wrong idea.

  So that part of me kind of boggles the mind. But on the other hand, I think a lot of them are — it's almost like a cult, where he's Jim Jones and they're drinking the Kool-Aid, you know? And you — nothing you can say or do will turn them around, so, you know…

• Michael, Pennsylvania Voter:

  There was hope when Liz Cheney decided to stand up and speak out against her own party. I thought about maybe there's a little glimmer of hope, if people actually start to rally around her and — but they didn't.

• Judy Woodruff:

  While feelings against Trump were fierce, feelings for President Biden, whom they all voted for, were more ambivalent.

• Man:

  If all these sideshows wasn't going on, I would think we're doing pretty good, with the — Biden's putting a lot of new plans into effect, and he's trying to help out the middle class, working class. And if the Republicans didn't veto them all the time, we'd be doing a lot better.

• Deborah:

  I think things are going pretty well.

  People in my life have jobs. Things are going as should be. My biggest qualm is the gun violence and guns. That's what — it has to stop. I mean, it's the leading cause of death in children in the United States. And that's horrible.

• Lewis:

  Yes, he's the president, and the shooting…

• Woman:

  It's a hard struggle, I know.

• Lewis:

  Right, but it's like, his hands are almost tied to a certain point. Like, he has so many — he can only do so much as a president.

• Michael:

  The George Floyd bill, that still hasn't passed. That needs to happen.

• Sarah Longwell:

  What about abortion? Is that a strong motivating issue for all of you?

• MAN:

  Yes.

• Woman:

  It sure is.

• Woman:

  Yes.

• Man:

  Definitely.

• Man:

  Definitely is.

• Man:

  And it's women's rights.

• Woman:

  Yes.

• Lisa:

  I don't know how we reverted back to then overturning that.

  (crosstalk)

• Michael:

  That just, like, blows my mind.

  (crosstalk)

• Lisa:

  I can't — I just can't stomach it.

• Woman:

  I'm actually worried about where the country is headed. And it's because of things like inflation and rising rent prices and things like that.

  And, yes, it does seem like we're going backwards a little bit, so…

• Ebony, Pennsylvania Voter:

  Cost of living is higher, but, like, our paychecks or anything or not being able to pay our rent and everything, in an inner city like Philadelphia. My rent is constantly going up. And I'm not making more money. So it's just harder to survive. Even going grocery shopping, everything is just way more expensive.

• Sarah Longwell:

  These groups of Democrats from Pennsylvania sound so much the Democrats we talk to across the country. They are kind of middling on Joe Biden. They tend to not have a great sense of what he's done or a very positive sense of things that he's passed.

  And then there's still a lot of economic anxiety from these folks. Despite the fact that the macroeconomic picture has been brightening and the Biden administration has been out there trying to tell a positive story about the economy, these voters in their daily lives still feel high gas prices, high rents. They're still feeling the inflation.

  And that's what they tend to talk about.

• Ingrid:

  I think, right now, better than we were two, three, four years ago, but I think there's a ways to go.

• Judy Woodruff:

  So, a mixed picture from this group of Democratic voters looking for more from the Biden administration, who see Trump as continuing to divide the country, while also dominating its attention, and who have few answers for how to move beyond him and his support.

  For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Judy Woodruff in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.