A nation divided: How families have been torn apart by politics including son who cut mom out of his life for voting for Trump, and a woman whose Republican brother didn't tell her that her mother had died because she is a Democrat

Families from all over America who say they've been torn apart because of their opposing political beliefs during the Donald Trump era have voiced concern relations may never be reconciled, even after he leaves office.

Among the concerned is lifelong Democrat Mayra Gomez, who said her 21-year-old son cut her completely out of his life five-months-ago when she told him she'd be voting for Trump in Tuesday's presidential election.   

'He specifically told me, "You are no longer my mother, because you are voting for Trump",' Gomez, 41, a personal care worker in Milwaukee, told Reuters. 

Gomez described their final conversation as so bitter she is not sure they can ever patch things over, even if Trump loses his re-election bid.  

'The damage is done. In people's minds, Trump is a monster. It's sad. There are people not talking to me anymore, and I'm not sure that will change,' Gomez said.

Trump's election in 2016 sowed wide division among friends, neighbors and among strangers on social media

Bonnie Coughlin, 65, who has voted mostly Republican all her life, says her relationships with her sister, father and some cousins - all ardent Trump supporters - have soured since she announced her support for Joe Biden

Families from all over America who say they've been torn apart because of their opposing political beliefs fear they never reconcile 

Gomez is not alone in thinking the bitter splits within families and among friends over Trump's presidency will be difficult to repair, even after he leaves office.

In interviews with 10 voters - five Trump supporters and five backing Democratic candidate Joe Biden - few could see the wrecked personal relationships caused by Trump's tenure fully healing, and most believed them destroyed forever.

Democratic voter Rosanna Guadagno, 49, said her brother disowned her after she refused to support Trump four years ago. 

Last year her mother suffered a stroke, but her brother - who lived in the same California city as her mother - did not let her know when their mother died six months later. 

Democratic voter Rosanna Guadagno, 49, said her brother disowned her after she refused to support Trump four years ago. He later failed to inform her their mother had died

Guadagno said she was delivered the tragic news three days later in an email from her sister-in-law.  

'I was excluded from everything that had to do with her death, and it was devastating,' Guadagno, a social psychologist who works at Stanford University, California, said.

Whoever wins the election, Guadagno is pessimistic that she can reconcile with her brother, although she says she still loves him.

Bonnie Coughlin, 65, meanwhile, who has voted mostly Republican all her life, says her relationships with her sister, father and some cousins - all ardent Trump supporters - have soured since she announced her support for Joe Biden.

Raised in a religiously conservative family in Missouri, Coughlin says she still loves her estranged family but, 'I look at them differently. It's because they have willingly embraced someone who is so heartless and just shows no empathy to anyone in any circumstances.'

She added: 'And if Biden wins, I don't think they will go quietly into the night and accept it.'

Raised in a religiously conservative family in Missouri, Bonnie Coughlin says she still loves her estranged family but, 'I look at them differently. It's because they have willingly embraced someone who is so heartless and just shows no empathy to anyone in any circumstances'

Bonnie said she feel that ;if Biden wins, I don't think they will go quietly into the night and accept it' (Pictured: Bonnie helps her grandson Caden with schoolwork)

Gayle McCormick, 77, says she separated separated from her husband William, 81, after he voted for Trump in 2016, said, 'I think the legacy of Trump is going to take a long time to recover from.'

McCormick said she's not entirely estranged from her former partner. Although she's now based in Vancouver, and he lives in Alaska, the pair do still spend occasional time together. 

However, two of her grandchildren no longer speak to her because of her support for Democrat and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton four years ago. 

McCormick says she has also become estranged from a number of other relatives and friends who are Trump supporters. 

The two still spend time together, although she is now based in Vancouver, he in Alaska. Two of her grandchildren no longer speak to her because of her support for Democrat Hillary Clinton four years ago. She has also become estranged from other relatives and friends who are Trump supporters.

She is not sure those rifts with friends and family will ever mend, because each believes the other to have a totally contrasting value system, she said.

Throughout his nearly four-year term, Trump has stirred strong emotions among both supporters and opponents.  

But now, with Trump trailing Biden in opinion polls, people are beginning to ask whether the fractures caused by one of the most polarizing presidencies in U.S. history could be healed if Trump loses the election.

'Unfortunately, I don't think national healing is as easy as changing the president,' said Jaime Saal, a psychotherapist at the Rochester Center for Behavioral Medicine in Rochester Hills, Michigan.

'It takes time and it takes effort, and it takes both parties - no pun intended - being willing to let go and move forward,' she said.

Saal said tensions in people's personal relationships have spiked given the political, health and social dynamics facing the United States. Most often she sees clients who have political rifts with siblings, parents or in-laws, as opposed to spouses.  

A September report by the non-partisan Pew Research Center found that nearly 80 percent of Trump and Biden supporters said they had few or no friends who supported the other candidate.

A study by the Gallup polling organization in January found that Trump's third year in office set a new record for party polarization. While 89 percent of Republicans approved of Trump's performance in office in 2019, only 7 percent of Democrats thought he was doing a good job.  

Throughout his nearly four-year term, Trump has stirred strong emotions among both supporters and opponents. Many of his backers admire his moves to overhaul immigration, his appointment of conservative judges, his willingness to throw convention to the wind and his harsh rhetoric, which they call straight talk

Democrats and other critics call the former real estate developer and reality show personality as a threat to American democracy. He's often characterized by critics as a serial liar and a racist, as well as being blasted for his perceived mismanagement of the coronavirus pandemic that has so far killed more than 230,000 Americans

Sarah Guth, 39, a Spanish interpreter from Denver, Colorado, said such polarization has seen her cut several Trump-supporting friends out of her life. 

Guth said she vehemently disapproved to their support for issues such as separating immigrant children from parents at the southern border, or for Trump himself after he was caught on tape bragging about groping women. 

She also stopped talking to her Trump-voting father for several months after the 2016 election. The two now do speak, but avoid politics.

Equally, Guth says some of her friends cannot accept her support for Joe Biden, who is pro-choice on the question of abortion.

'We had such fundamental disagreements about such basic stuff. It showed both sides that we really don't have anything in common. I don't believe that will change in the post-Trump era.'

Fervent Trump supporter Dave Wallace, 65, a retired oil industry sales manager in West Chester, Pennsylvania, is more optimistic about feuding families in a post-Trump world.

Wallace says his support for Trump has caused tensions with his son and daughter-in-law.

Jay J. Van Bavel, a professor of psychology and neural science at New York University, said this 'political sectarianism' has become not only tribal, but moral

'The hatred for Trump among Democrats, it's just amazing to me,' Wallace said. 'I think it's just Trump, the way he makes people feel. I do think the angst will decrease when we're back to a normal politician who doesn't p*** people off.'

Jay J. Van Bavel, a professor of psychology and neural science at New York University, said this 'political sectarianism' has become not only tribal, but moral.

'Because Trump has been one of the most polarizing figures in American history around core values and issues, people are unwilling to compromise and that is not something you can make go away,' Van Bavel said.

Jacquelyn Hammond, 47, a bartender in Asheville, North Carolina, no longer speaks to her Trump-supporting mother Carol, and is also discouraging her son from speaking to her.

She said she would like to heal the relationship, but believes that will be difficult, even if Trump loses the election.

'Trump is like the catalyst of an earthquake that just divided two continents of thought. Once the Earth divides like that, there's no going back,' Hammond said. 

'This is a marked time in our history where people had to jump from one side to the other. And depending on what side you choose, that is going to be the trajectory for the rest of your life,' she continued.

Hammond said she first realized her relationship with her mother was in trouble shortly after the 2016 election when she defended Clinton while driving with her mother.

'She stopped the car and told me not to disrespect her politics. And if I don't want to respect her politics, I can get out of the car.'