WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden tried to explain this week that he doesn’t really think Donald Trump’s supporters are “garbage,” but that doesn't mean that other people don't believe the label occasionally fits. “I would say that some of them are garbage,” said Samantha Leister, 32, who went to see Kamala Harris at a rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. As for the rest of them? Leister, whose parents and father-in-law are backing Trump, says they are “misguided.
” That same day, at Trump's rally in Green Bay, Wisconsin, the idea of voting for Harris was impossible to fathom. “I just think they are uneducated, and they believe all the lies,” said Shawn Vanderheyden, 44, who went to see Trump with his wife and two young daughters. “It’s unfortunate.
” Vanderheyden still has faith in some people who are supporting the Democratic vice president, saying “hopefully they open their eyes." The enduring truth of American politics — one that will undoubtedly outlast the controversy over Biden’s comments and this year's presidential campaign — is that many Trump and Harris voters view one another with disdain and suspicion. At best, they feel confused by people supporting the other party and anxious about the country's future after the election.
The wariness between Americans is not new, but interviews with voters in battleground states reveal that it's only growing deeper and more insurmountable. It’s divided families and friends, and it’s driv.