Gayle Taylor, 46, a resident of Fredericksburg, recently banned the discussion of politics at “her dinner table.” Previous to Taylor’s foot being put down, her husband, Frank, and two college-age children, Brianna and Harry, would talk “non-stop” about the presidential race and other dismal current events.

“I had to make it stop,” Taylor said. “It was driving me crazy. I value quality family time but hearing about all those monsters in Washington was just not worth it.”

An unintended consequence of this new rule is the virtually uninterrupted silence at the Taylors’ dinner table. “We don’t know what to talk about anymore,” Frank Taylor admitted.

This problem plagues many American families in this age. “All anyone is talking about are Trump’s hands and things like that,” said Brianna Taylor, 20 years old. “Not exactly intellectual conversation, but if that’s what’s inundating the media, what else are we going to talk about with each other? How our days went?”