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To say that America's political climate is heated would be a notable understatement. On both the left and the right, views are very stark and loaded. Many Americans have their given reasons for certain outlooks; there also exists a certain level of hostility between individuals with strong opposing views. For instance, individuals who oppose critical race theory do not have a positive outlook on advocates of critical race theory; obviously, the reverse applies also. By the same token, there is a lot of collective animosity between Trump voters and Biden voters; both sides have their views and strongly believe the other side is wrong. Right now, there is no sign that the heated political climate will cool down anytime soon. In fact, a new poll shows that more than six out of ten Americans are leery about articulating their political opinions, due to the nature of the current climate.

Nervousness about sharing political views in America

According to the Cato Institute, more Americans than not are keeping their political views to themselves. At this time, 62% of people in the country are staying quiet about where they stand on politics for the sake of not offending other people. This marks a mild increase from four years prior; back in 2017, only 58% of Americans said they censored their political outlooks in order to avoid angering others. The gap between liberals and conservatives who choose to censor themselves is also quite notable. While 52% of liberals admitted to keeping their political opinions to themselves, 77% of conservatives stated that they self-censor. Of all the political demographics, hardcore liberals were the ones who admitted to feeling most comfortable with articulating political opinions. Only 42% of hardcore liberals told the Cato Institute that they silence themselves when it comes to politics.

Cooling down the temperature

After President Biden got into the White House, he spoke about cooling down the heated temperature when it comes to politics in America. However, this is a feat that the 46th president has yet to achieve; in fact, much of the political division in America today exists due to the policies that Biden and his administration are pushing for.