So many Americans talk about the political divide between Republicans and Democrats. It’s very rare to find lawmakers and representatives who actually side with each other and agree on anything coming from different political backgrounds. And there are definitely reasons for that. However, one Republican Tennessee Representative says he’s actually friends with a democrat despite their political differences. But is it really possible for two different sides of the coin to be friends?
According to a TikTok video posted by News Nation Now, two unlikely representatives became friends. In an interview, Tennessee Representative Tim Burchett says he’s buddies with New York representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. When he talks about her, he says, “She’s my buddy. I mean, she’s a Marxist. She’s a friendly neighborhood Marxist, I always call her.” He goes on to say that he tells people, “Don’t look at her too long, she’ll steal your soul,” making it a point to make it clear they can joke like that between one another.
The reason why Burchett says people aren’t always able to have that when they have opposing political parties. He says, “That’s the trouble with what’s going on in this country right now.” He goes on to explain that this is “what we’ve lost” these days when it comes to politics. And all of that is fine and dandy but what happens when somebody virtually votes against your own rights?
For example, Tim Burchett made recent claims Netflix is “demonic” for allowing pro-trans content on the platform. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, on the other hand, has repeatedly stood up for transgender people in America and shown endless support. In 2024, in fact, AOC once called a Republican proposal “disgusting” for banning trans people from using Capitol bathrooms. How do they navigate past so many fundamental disagreements over the literal rights of human beings?
According to research conducted by Pew Research Center, the majority of Trump and Biden voters agree they have very few friends that support the other candidate. In other words, you’re unlikely to have Democrat friends if you’re Republican and vice versa. It tends to break or erode a friendship into nothing.
“Ya’ll are joking and we are struggling. We are not the same,” one commenter said. Of course, they’re referring people in the U.S. living paycheck to paycheck, rising prices, and insane medical bills.
“She’s my friend but I use dangerous rhetoric when talking about her,” another said, mocking Tim Burchett.
Another agreed, “AOC isn’t a Marxist or a communist. She’s a progressive, a democratic socialist. Fascism, however, has indeed hollowed out the Republican Party. Truth matters, and not speaking a dangerous truth because it hurts feelings just won’t fly,” and I couldn’t agree more. If a “friend” votes against your interests, were they really a friend to begin with?