Can a friendship survive differences in politics?

I think it really depends on the personalities, the shared history, and the nature of the differences in politics.

There are some differences that would amount to not just political disagreements but also differences in fundamental values significant enough that I wouldn't see the point in having a relationship.

We differ on tax policy and other economic issues? Fine. We differ on equal rights for everyone? Not fine.

ETA: I'm liberal and so are most of my family and close friends. I live in a liberal part of the country and have my whole life, so this isn't surprising. However, I worked in banking for nearly 14 years and now work with an oil & gas client. As a result, I have *many* friends and colleagues with whom I disagree politically but we still get along well. It's worth noting almost none of them, despite being Republicans, are Trump supporters. 

I think in ‘normal’ circumstances- yes. However your country, and mine to a degree, are in unusual, extreme times and I feel that at the moment the normal rules are hard to apply. Now the differences are intense, imperative and urgent...it’s no longer just a difference of opinion on daily stuff...these differences now go to the heart of what makes our countries what they are.

Of course you can if you are each respectful and non-bullying. I am a conservative, my daughter-in-law is very liberal as is one of my favorite brothers-in-law. I love them both to distraction and they love me back. And Yes, we DO discuss politics. My neighbor (until she sold her house recently) was a strong liberal in a very conservative neighborhood. But she was well-liked because she was courteous in her views and the conservatives were courteous back.

There is so much more in this world than politics to build a friendship on.

Of course - but these are difficult times, many people are more passionate about what is happening to their country than they might ever have been in their lifetime. I find politics has entered my daily conversation more than ever before and is therefore more likely to come up in conversation.

Yes, but I never talk politics with my friends, so I barely even know where any of them stand. I do know one, for sure, but we just don't talk about it.

My parents are VERY conservative, and big Trump supporters, but, again, we don't talk about it. They try sometimes, but I just ignore it, or change the subject. Now, I error on the side of conservative, but I disagree with a lot of things my parents support, so lean a little more mid-ground. It's not worth arguing with them about it. No matter what they say, they cannot be swayed. 

As a Liberal Democrat in Texas, I have plenty of Republican friends and for the most part don't have any problem getting along with them. Trump supporters...that's a whole different animal. I find myself rethinking some of my friendships and if I want those people in my life anymore. At the end of the day, it's just a difference in morals and values and I have lost respect for several of them based on things they have said and posted on Facebook.

And it makes me sad.

My parents and my closest friend are all Trump supporters. Although, by policies mostly. I love them all. I just try to stay off the topic.

I can be friends with a republican. I cannot be friends with a trump supporter.

Personally, I think it's preferable to be mature enough to look beyond one's own circumstances and life experiences where necessary. The internet makes it waaaaay less understandable than it used to be to have a narrow and insular worldview. My experience is that people who have chosen, for example, to continue on with a sort of casual racism and misogyny in their beliefs, are making that choice out of personal preference and using their background to excuse it. They say, oh, that's what my religion teaches, or oh, that's just how I was brought up and I don't see any reason to change. And what's really true is that they either don't care enough to examine their own beliefs, or that they actually have contempt for people of color and think women should know their place.

What I'm saying is that there's no legitimate background reason for someone to be racist and misogynist in 2019. That's entirely a choice. People should own their choices IMO - that's the mature thing to do.

I also think that it's inaccurate to say that relationships are ruined "over politics." Our current cultural climate here goes way past politics and into the fundamental things that people believe about themselves and others. It would be a shame indeed to ruin a relationship over a difference in tax code or most foreign policy, but I don't see any reason to continue having relationships with people who think that women, gay people and people of color should not have full and equal rights with straight, white men. Or who think that they are better than someone who struggles, or better than a brown person from south of our border because they had the good fortune to be born in the US. Those are not political differences. They are character differences. 

My mom's lifetime best friend was her political opposite. My mom was a bleeding heart liberal - her best friend is a Trump supporting conservative. I honestly don't know how they did it. But they did. I know they didn't talk politics. At all. Ever. It just made the two of them too crazy.

My best friend is a Long Island, liberal Jewish girl and she married a conservative Republican Christian from Iowa. For the first years of their marriage, they stayed off politics and he kept his elephant figurine collection in his office. He absolutely despises Trump, feels he has coopted and ruined his party and is now an Independent. They do talk politics now, lol.

Most of my friends have opposite political and religious views from me. We rarely talk about it and when we do we're all mature adults who can have those discussions without it getting heated.

This is a topic that breaks my heart. I have a best friend. We have been so, so close for almost 50 years. Our friendship has never been about discussing politics, more about talking, doing things together, and supporting each other through the happiness and sadness of life.

In 2016, she made it very clear she supported Trump. This was something new, because, as I said, we had never talked about politics. There were too many other interesting things to talk about and do. I made the conscious decision that I would not let 40+ years of friendship be endangered by a political office that would last 8 years at most.

She made an older friend who is wealthy and conservative. I got along great with her, too, when I met her. The more, the merrier! We all went to the beach with a group of women. I walked into the room where friend and her friend were talking and she pointed to me and said, “She’s a Hillary lover. She doesn’t like our Trump.”

Anyhow, after that trip, things started fading away. Four of us from the old days used to go out to dinner once a month. The other two women are more politically liberal and BFF has cold-shouldered them, too. I tried to keep in touch for almost a year, but she stopped communicating. She owns a business, and for years I’ve worked for free for her from time to time, just to have fun and spend time together. It really makes me sad. I have thought and thought, trying to figure out if I did anything, but can’t think of what it could have been. It has felt sort of like a bad divorce.

Sorry to run on, but this has been very sad for me.