Over the past year, American politics have become polarized to a degree rarely seen before. What is the main cause behind this polarization, and how can it be fixed?
On September 19, 1796, George Washington published his farewell address to the American people. In it, Washington gave the young nation two warnings. Those warnings were: do not involve yourself in international affairs if not necessary, and do not create political parties. 231 years later, America has ignored both of those warnings, becoming a global superpower and having a political system that revolves around two parties.
Washington’s warnings were more than just suggestions, they have become prophecies of what happens when two factions consume and divide the country that he helped create. As he wrote, “The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge… would lead to frightful despotism.” Now, in 2025, as the assassinations of Melissa Hortman and Charlie Kirk consume the party, with the Republican Party tearing itself apart over the Epstein files while Democrats lose support among the working class they claim to represent, it is hard to argue that Washington was wrong.
The Not-So-Grand Old Party
The Republican Party of today is completely unrecognizable, even to itself. What used to be the party of Mitt Romney and John McCain, the party of “Morning in America,” has become a party of nationalism, conspiracy theories, internal warfare, and christian evangelicalism. Consequently, the GOP (Republican Party) has attracted individuals who would rather be “based” than factually correct.
Take a look at the episode unfolding over the Jeffrey Epstein files. President Trump, who ran his 2024 campaign on transparency and “draining the swamp,” was initially against the efforts to release the files, pressuring Republicans to vote against it. Later, however, he said the opposite when many of his own party members threatened to vote against him. President Trump even withdrew his endorsement of Marjorie Taylor Greene after she pushed for the release of the files. This caused Trump to call Greene “Far Left,” a wildly inaccurate characterization of a congresswoman who used to promote conspiracy theories on his behalf.
Tucker Carlson, who helped Trump select JD Vance as his running mate, and addressed the 2024 Republican National Convention, has become an extremely controversial figure within the party after hosting white nationalist Nick Fuentes and Holocaust revisionist Darryl Cooper on his show. Many republicans, including Rep. Don Bacon (NE) came out against Carlson and his show, saying, “Revisionist history on the Holocaust is a lie and does harm in the fight against antisemitism.” Additionally, GOP donors like Fred Zeidman have become alarmed by Carlson’s influence over the party, claiming “Tucker Carlson is not leading the Republican party in the direction of a party that I have been a proud member of.”
However, Trump defended Carlson’s interviews, explaining that “you can’t tell him who to interview,” and saying that he did not know much about Fuentes, whose followers wish to “preserve” America’s white, Christian identity. Furthermore, Vice President J.D. Vance has defended his deputy press secretary, Buckley Carlson (Tucker’s son), on X, formerly known as Twitter, posting “Every time I see a public attack on Buckley it’s a complete lie”. This is a disturbing development as Vance chose to defend the Carlsons rather than publish a statement condemning hatred.
The Republican Party has descended into a monarchy-esque party. The MAGA movement has hijacked the party, turning it into a place where loyalty to Trump brings rewards, and speaking out leads to being labeled as a traitor.
In addition to all that, there’s also the elephant in the room: Charlie Kirk. On September 10, 2025, the neo-conservative activist and Turning Point USA founder was assassinated while leading an event at Utah Valley University. At Kirk’s memorial service, President Trump proclaimed, “He did not hate his opponents, he wanted the best for them. That’s where I disagreed with Charlie. I hate my opponent. I don’t want the best for them”. This statement conveys the spirit that Washington warned of.
While Charlie Kirk was a controversial figure among Americans, as he used religion to justify his political beliefs, he and his organization were holding back a tidal wave of extremism from the American right. With Kirk now gone, it has given space for figures like social media commentator Nick Fuentes to take center stage.
Kirk’s assassination was the pinnacle of political violence in America. In June 2025, two Democratic Minnesota legislators were killed. Before that, in May, two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington D.C. were shot in the street, and in April, Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro’s home was set on fire. Yet, rather than bringing the party, and the country, together, Trump and other Republican figures opted to blame “radical-left lunatics” before suspects were even in custody, highlighting a lack of professionalism and care towards a serious event.
As of September 2025, an Associated Press poll found optimism for the future among Republicans to be declining. Only 49% said that the country was headed in the right direction. The man that promised to “Make America Great Again” has lost his reasonable voter base.
The New Deal, For What It Is Worth
If The GOP is destroying itself, the Democratic Party is becoming irrelevant and useless to the lives of the Americans it claims to represent.
A significant barrier to the Democrats’ success is the elitism in the party that alienates many working-class Americans, which pushes many to vote Republican. A CNN/SSRS poll from March 2025 showed that 29% of Americans have a positive opinion of the Democratic Party, which is the lowest number recorded. While many Democrats would blame their opponents for their attacks on the party, the truth is that since 2016, the Democratic Party has had no real base to run off of. For the past 10 years it seems like they have become the “well, at least we’re not Donald Trump Party.”
These numbers represent more than just bad polling. These numbers should be an alarm bell for the DNC.
Senator John Fetterman, a Democrat representing the state of Pennsylvania, wrote a less than positive review of the party, calling it “elitist,” and that it had “lost touch with its base.” Senator Bernie Sanders said something similar, as he stated, “When people think about the Democratic Party, they think of these cocktail parties in New York City or LA, where wealthy people mingle with consultants, mingle with the leadership. That’s not much of a party, that’s really kind of an elitist institution.”
Fetterman and Sanders’ words have unfortunately come true. The traditional Democratic Party, based on Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal, has become unrecognizable. The party that once helped Americans out of the Great Depression has seemingly forgotten about those people, in favor of social issues that many Americans cannot afford to base a vote off of.
To many Rust Belt voters, the contrast is stark: while Democratic strongholds in Los Angeles, New York City, and Boston focus on cultural debates over holiday names, they are voting on whether they can keep their jobs and communities intact.
When researchers asked voters in the Rust Belt questions about what comes to mind when they think of the Democrats, the responses suggested that most voters have negative opinions and see the party as a group with no real plans. They see the Democratic Party as one that has forgotten about a vital part of America and allowed itself to get caught up in a war of words with the MAGA movement. Consequently, every Rust Belt state voted Republican in 2024.
The unfortunate irony is that the traditional New Deal Democrat policies are the right policies on paper for these individuals. Higher wages, stronger unions, and healthcare expansions are all in the interest of Middle America.
However, Democratic leaders and representatives have proven that they have no ability to connect to the people. They constantly fail to resonate on a personal level with voters, allowing some Republican candidates to win elections simply because they have better people skills.
The reality is that voters are looking for leaders who represent their experiences and can empathize with their daily struggles. When the DNC parades out candidates who don’t seem relatable and can’t properly articulate their policies, they reinforce the idea that the party is made up of elitists who are removed from the American experience. If the Democrats wish to win the presidency in 2028, they must learn how to connect to the people.
“Oh, but ain’t that America, for you and me?”
So here is what we’re left with: a Republican Party consuming itself, led by a president who claims he hates his opponents while withdrawing endorsements from party members who speak out against him; paired with a Democratic Party so disconnected from working Americans that its own senators compare it to an exclusive cocktail party.
The American public’s concern about political violence is at an alarming level. In a YouGov poll after Charlie Kirk’s assassination, 87% agreed that political violence is an issue. However 18% of liberals and 7% of conservatives said that political violence “can sometimes be justified.” The fact that a percentage of Americans, on both sides, think that political violence is acceptable in a modern Democracy tells a story of how polarized American society has become, thanks to the two parties.
George Washington warned us. He said that, “[political parties] may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion.”
These words have been proven true. Americans must decide whether to accept this choice between chaos and being ignored, or demand better leadership from those who seek their consent to govern.
“A Change Is Gonna Come”
Overall, Americans have the same desire: for their country to become a better place and to live up to its name, they just have different ideas of how to achieve that goal. Social media and today’s culture of “single issue voters” have made people inclined to surround themselves in echo chambers instead of interacting with individuals who hold different opinions. And when they do interact, it often descends into pointless arguments, and as we’re seeing today, violence.
The key for change is truly conversation. The chaotic and hateful individuals who have inserted themselves into politics thrive off of a divided America, they have no real goals for the future. The more that the American people can talk out their differences together, without looking for sound bites or clicks, the sooner a positive change will come.
Edited by Lindsay Hayes
Disclaimer: This is an article written by a Staff Writer. Catalyst is a student-led platform that fosters engagement with global issues from a learning perspective. The opinions expressed above do not necessarily reflect the views of the publication.
Judah Meltzner is in his first year at McGill University, hoping to pursue a B.A. in International Development Studies. Originally from Boston, Massachusetts, he is particularly interested in American politics in addition to the happenings of the United Nations.