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Divided States: Sometimes It's Better Not To Talk About Politics

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

We listened to so many voices from around the country during the presidential campaign. Many of them we heard during our Divided States series in the fall. We spoke to many voters. And this week, we're calling some of them back. Jon Jackson is a veteran we met in Georgia. He owns Comfort Farms. It's a nonprofit that helps veterans transition to civilian life. And when we reached Jackson via Skype, he kept getting interrupted.

JON JACKSON: We definitely should, you know...

(SOUNDBITE OF SHEEP BLEATING)

JACKSON: ...Work together in any way. And...

(SOUNDBITE OF SHEEP BLEATING)

JACKSON: Sorry. We got a sheep in the background. We had to foster one. Her name is Mary. She's in our house with a diaper on. She's running around.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Oh, wow. When Jackson's story aired in October, an NPR listener heard it and decided that she wanted to help him raise money for his farm. Jackson is a Trump supporter. That listener was not.

JACKSON: The division that we have in our country right now really sucks. But when she reached out to me, it really hit me at the heartstrings.

GREENE: And for Jackson, that is what makes this country great.

JACKSON: Most people that work for me have different beliefs than I do politically. And it's funny because they rag me all the time. They poke me in the chest about my support for Donald Trump. And we laugh about it. We joke about it, but we get on to the business of our day and doing what we need to do. And that's just how life should be.

MARTIN: Diana Font is a businesswoman and lifelong Republican who we met in Florida, and she feels the same way. Last fall, she said she could not bring herself to vote for Trump, but she knows a lot of people who did.

DIANA FONT: My cousin, who is like my sister, she and her husband are Trump supporters, and I love them with all my heart. I mean, I'll give an arm, if I have to, for them. We just don't touch the subject.

GREENE: Now, Font ended up voting for Hillary Clinton, but she says she is still a Republican despite not liking their candidate this time around.

FONT: Like any mother, you know, your kid makes a boo-boo, you know, does something that really pisses you off or whatever. But you still love them, and you still have to stay there and see what else they're going to do.

GREENE: Voice there of Diana Font, a Republican from Florida who voted for Hillary Clinton, and also Jon Jackson, a veteran from Georgia who supports Donald Trump. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.