According to a report at Roll Call, Republican congressional staffers say that relations with their Democratic counterparts have deteriorated since Donald Trump was elected president.
In the past, Congressional staffers have been able to put their differences aside when the workday was done, but Trump has created such a toxic and polarizing atmosphere in the capital that it has filtered down to staffers who are just trying to do their jobs.
According to the report, "As the pre-2016 crowd moves into more senior positions — or says 'See ya' to the Hill for gigs on K Street — many veteran staffers fret that the 20-somethings taking their places are not making as many strong friendships across the aisle. Republican and Democratic staffers who spoke to Roll Call for this story agreed that the heightened partisan social rigidity since the election of President Donald Trump is more to blame than any other factor."
"There are plenty of Democrats who will judge you, even if you don’t work for the president or anything, [because] you’re working for the Republican Party in this era,” One staffer complained then added, "They view all Republicans as shills for Donald Trump. And given how they view him, it can be tough for some of them to be accepting."
According to a staffer on the Democratic side, GOP staffers since Trump came into power seem to "feel freer" to make comments they may not have made before Trump lowered the discourse.
“I think we can all agree right now that the Democratic Party is kind of operating from a standpoint of very high moral standards and a low threshold for outrage,” the aide explained.
Part of the problem stems from, what Democrats believe, are the more ideological GOP staffers who signed up after Trump was elected.
“I don’t really hang out with Republicans, and I don’t really have any interest. Why would I?” remarked a Democratic aide. “I mean, we have nothing — values, ideology — we have none of that in common.”
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