Should You Stay Friends with Someone Who Holds Different Political Views? Personalities Weigh In

Debates are inevitable when it comes to politics, and one question that continues to surface is whether friendships can survive differing views. Zac Alviz, an Australia-based Filipino entrepreneur, recently posed this question on Threads: Is it really worth throwing away years of friendship over differing political opinions?

Cy Ynares, who you might know as The Bald Baker, answered with a yes. “Your political views aren't just opinions. They reveal your values, your capacity for empathy, and the way you view others,” he said. According to him, political views are also a reflection of what one acknowledges and chooses to ignore. “It’s not about sides at all, it's about who you believe deserves care and who you quietly leave behind.”

Offering a more nuanced take was Erwan Heussaff, the award-winning creative and founder of Featr and The Fat Kid Inside Studios. He noted through his response that the issue is not black and white. “Political opinions, no. But if it crosses into moral territory, yes.” He explained further with an example: “If someone was the most charitable person you knew, but was also a known sexual abuser. If you can tolerate that and support that person, it says a lot about one’s moral character.”

Erwan also pointed to what he called “another red flag”—“if a person can only say positive things about their chosen politicians.” Otherwise, he said he would choose not to be friends with that person. As he put it, “We should constantly practice discernment—not blindly defend the people we support, but regularly question whether our choices still align with our values.”

While Zac probably posed the question to prompt responses from his kababayans, public figures outside of the Philippines also gave their two cents based on their respective countries or contexts.

For instance, Nik Sharma, a multi-awarded Indian-American chef and host of Netflix’s In The Test Kitchen, responded with a nod to his profession. He wrote, “I can’t sit at a table and break bread with friends or family members who are actively engaging in conscious choices to dismantle my life.” He added that cutting off people with different political opinions is “absolutely worth it.”

These sentiments were echoed by American clinical social worker Marissa Nickel, who stated that political views are “non-negotiables” for her. “The relationship was never based on something deep if our worldviews are so drastically different.” She continued, “Dehumanizing is not welcome in my circle.”

American author and artist Austin Highsmith Garces dissected the question, drawing a line between political and non-political opinions. For her, something as simple as “Should taxes go to roads or schools?” already falls under political opinion. By contrast, she points to statements like “you don’t deserve to vote” or “you should be deported because you speak Spanish” as crossing into something else entirely.

With that distinction, she said ending such friendships does not necessarily mean she is “throwing away anything.” Instead, she sees it as “making decisions about the people in my life and what morals they have.”

What are your thoughts?