Can people with different political views stay married?
That scene in 'We Belong Together' when Ashanti said more with her face than she did with her mouth about Nelly performing for the Trump inauguration
It never fails. Every single time I watch an interview with attorney George Conway, I wonder how he stayed married to Kelly Anne Conway (2016 campaign manager for Trump and senior counselor to the president). Granted, these two started off as a Republican power couple, and his presidential choices from 2001 and onward were George W. Bush over John Kerry, John McCain over Barack Obama, Mitt Romney over Obama, and Trump over Hillary Clinton. He did, however, vote for Joe Biden in 2020 and Kamala Harris in 2024.
This was the first (and second) time in 10 elections that he’d ever voted for a Democrat. And while his wife was working for Trump from 2016 to 2020, he was taking shots at him — and still is to this day.
ADVERTISEMENT ~ Amazon
As an Amazon Affiliate, I earn a percentage from each purchase with my referral links.
I can see why that was one of many reasons to lean toward a divorce — but not always. Some people can be on two different sides of politics and coexist. They can even have happy marriages (or relationships). It is a complete mystery to me how they do it though. I bleed blue and just cannot imagine dating anyone who didn’t do so too, especially in 2016, 2020 and 2024.
ADVERTISEMENT ~ Amazon
As an Amazon affiliate, I earn a percentage from purchases with my referral links. I know some consumers are choosing to boycott Amazon for its DEI removal. However, after thinking about this thoroughly, I choose to continue promoting intriguing products from small businesses, women-owned businesses and (specifically) Black-owned businesses who still feature their items on Amazon. All five of my Substack publications now include a MINIMUM of one product sold by a Black-owned business. (I have visited the seller’s official site, not just the Amazon Black-owned logo, to verify this.) If you still choose to boycott, I 100% respect that decision.
I heard this divorce “joke” during Nelly and Ashanti’s Peacock “We Belong Together” show, and I raised an eyebrow. I never knew Ashanti's politics and wondered if she was a quiet Republican. But if she was, the divorce “joke” would not have come up. Ashanti is not someone I’d describe as shy nor bashful from her laugh alone.
Still, Ashanti had been the equivalent of tumbleweed when it came to Nelly’s decision to perform for Trump’s 2024 inauguration. I wondered for awhile and then let it be. But the look of disbelief, discomfort and exhaustion around any inauguration questions told me everything I needed to know about her vote — and definitely her mother’s vote. In the confessional, she skipped answering altogether when asked about Nelly’s performance for Trump supporters.
I’d originally vowed to never watch this reality show or give them any ratings after Nelly’s Trump inauguration performance. Someone on YouTube saw my comment stating that and called me a “hater,” a “liar” and said, “You’re still going to watch it.” I can’t argue with the latter two responses because I gave in. Why? I was really a Nelly fan for two straight decades.
After reading a synopsis about Nelly breaking the news to Ashanti, I needed to see this episode for myself. I damn sure wasn’t going to stream it though. I found a bootleg site to watch it on so they wouldn’t get the viewership and went through all eight episodes. (Episodes 7 and 8 were when Trump came up.) I was still surprised to see how cavalier he was about this decision, stating it wasn’t “a big deal” if he performed and marching away from his wife and mother-in-law.