Ava from Chicago had been crying all morning. She’d woken up to the news Donald Trump would once again be occupying the White House and was distraught.
Not only was the Republican candidate on course to win the presidency but he was also set to do so emphatically defeating rival Kamala Harris in every single one of the battleground states.
Ava had to battle with the fact that a man she felt put American values to shame would be leading the country for the second time.
The student felt the education system was to blame for Trump’s re-election, but the truth was that she had supporters of the former president within her own family.
“The majority of my family are Democrats, but I have like a couple of family members that live down in Florida and they’re Republican,” she explained.
“We usually try to avoid conversations like that. But I’ve been texting my uncle for weeks and weeks and weeks trying to debate with them.
“I got no luck with that. I know he doesn’t want to open that conversation with me because he knows I’m very passionate about keeping our democracy.”
However, after Donald Trump’s victory, she had no plans to call her uncle.
“I’m not really interested in having that conversation today,” she said with a sigh, “and I’m not really interested in having that debate with them either.”
Hearing the two sides of American politics describe each other it can feel as if Democrats and Republicans come from two different planets.
But traveling around the USA it quickly becomes clear Ava is far from alone in having a family split divided by the country’s bitter partisan politics.
On the leafy banks of Lake Michigan, Chris Kellems felt strongly about her neighbour’s pro-Trump yard signs.
Her giant Harris Walz placards overlooked an array of smaller cardboard displays on the lawn next door which read ‘Deport Liberals’ and ‘Critical Race Theory is racism.’
“I’ll be blunt. It shows the lack of education of some of the folks here,” she said. “They do not understand what our laws are [and] they missed the civics classes that we all should have had on what you’re allowed to do as far as citizenship.
“You’re going to deport Liberals, folks. Really? Where are you going to send us? How much is that going to cost? Where are you going to get the money for that? Who is going to who’s going to foot that bill?
“You need to get a life and you need to become more proactive in what the future is. They’re looking backwards.”
But just a few days earlier she’d played host to someone who was on the opposite side.
“My brother was just up here visiting and he’s a confirmed MAGA Republican. I have a divide in my family,” she explained.
On Kellems’s property, there was little doubt about who she backed; almost every vantage point was covered in Democrat flags and banners.
The family’s efforts to get Harris elected went beyond simple visible displays. Kellems’ husband is a local party organiser who goes door-knocking to get out the vote.
All of which creates an awkward situation when her brother arrives in his SUV for a family visit.
“Even though he had to park his [Lincoln] navigator right in front of all those signs, nobody said a word,” she said.
“He asked ‘Where’s your husband?’ and I said, ‘Well, he’s out canvasing.’”
“[But] we just don’t talk about it. Otherwise, it was going to be a big family fight.”
On the Madison Campus of the University of Wisconsin, friends Dylan and Declan felt very differently about the election’s outcome.
“I’m happy. Trump won,” Declan said with a smile.
“I’m excited,” he added. “Our border is going to be under control. The housing crisis is going to be handled. We’re going to get our energy back. It’s going to be good.”
His friend Dylan was not as pleased. “I have a mom and sister and, you know, women’s rights are being taken away,” he said.
Their solution, like it was for everyone else the Express spoke to for this piece, was peaceful silence.
“We agree to disagree [and] doesn’t really get in the way of things,” Declan explained.
His friend Dylan added: “You know, I would never dislike somebody just because of their views
“I mean, you also to think like I’m from an urban city, Chicago, and he’s from Pewaukee, Wisconsin. We were raised in two very different ways.”
It remains to be seen how long these vows of silence will last.
But if the fiercely fought election has taught us anything, it’s that American families are highly skilled at keeping politics out of their personal relationships.
