"We've been together for 25 years, but now we avoid talking about politics so we don't get divorced,'' says Leah Fox of Pennsylvania. ARD talks about the division in the US before the election.
Grace and Libby have recently turned 20 and will be voting for the first time in their lives this election. And they already know who - both will support Democratic candidate Kamala Harris because she stands up for the rights of women and the LGBT community to which they belong. ARD's Julia Kastein meets them at a festival in the town of West Bradford, Pennsylvania.
Many of Grace and Libby's relatives and friends see things quite differently than they do. "My parents, even my brother unfortunately, a lot of my aunts and uncles - they're all going to vote for Donald Trump. It's disappointing, but it's their right," says Libby.
Country divided, families divided
Leah Fox is registered as a Republican. But she admits that she will not support Trump: "I knew from the beginning that he was a problem," says the 50-year-old woman. She has worked in a technology company for a long time and knows men like him well: "They can have short-term success, but they destroy everything around them. I cannot support such a candidate," says Lia.
Her family is also divided - she and her three children plan to vote for Harris and her husband, Chris, for Trump. "We have been together for 25 years, but now we avoid talking about politics so as not to get divorced," she told ARD.
Republicans who support Harris
In 2016, Trump won the Pennsylvania election by just 1.2 percentage points, and in the previous election in 2020, Democratic candidate Joe Biden won by a narrow margin.
And now the race between the two main candidates is very contested. And because Leah doesn't want to leave anything to chance, she has agreed to campaign: together with Greg Page - also a Republican who does not support Trump, they go door to door to urge people to vote for Kamala Harris.
For the 67-year-old American, Trump is not a true Republican: "For me, people like Reagan, Lincoln or Theodore Roosevelt were like that,", he says. The man who worked for President Reagan travels every weekend to talk to middle class people and persuade them. For him, topics such as democracy and support for Ukraine are key. "If this is important to you, you should vote for Harris," Page assures. At the next door, however, he was sent away by a man, visibly annoyed that he had been interrupted watching a football match on television, we learn more from the ARD report.
Every vote can be decisive
A few hundred yards further on, the two "Republicans for Harris" they get lucky: the 40-year-old teacher Scott opens the door with his two small children. The man defines himself as non-partisan. He is among the 3 percent of Pennsylvania voters who pollsters say are still undecided. "Your vote counts," Fox tells him at the door, and Page fills him in on how many people, even those on Trump's team, have turned their backs on the former president, including the military. "And now Trump is threatening them with a military tribunal, can you believe it?" says Page. "I don't know what to believe," Scott replies. He still can't decide who and whether to vote for.
Harris still has a small lead over Trump in the polls, but it's been melting lately. That makes Fox and Page's mission all the more important. They know that if they can get to 2,000 people, it could sway the outcome of one of the most contested states in the next election.