f you tuned into the Dallas Cowboys/ Green Bay Packers game on Sunday you may have seen two familiar faces sitting together in the crowd. That was former President George W Bush and daytime TV talk show host Ellen DeGeneres. While the “conservative Republican president” and the “gay Hollywood liberal”, as she described the pair, may seem like opposites, they looked to be having a great time together, chatting and laughing, when the TV cameras caught them.

For many, the sight of two famous people who have wildly different political ideologies having a laugh was a welcome sight in today’s polarized political climate. There were others though who too to social media to attack the pair. This was especially true of liberals who turned on their comrade, Ellen.

The attacks were so pervasive that Ellen felt the need to put out a video explaining the situation on Monday, a day before the clip would come out on TV. In the clip, the host said that “just because I don’t agree with someone on everything doesn’t mean I am not going to be friends with them. When I say be kind to one another I don’t mean only the people who think the same way that you do. I mean be kind to everyone. Doesn’t matter.”

Even after putting out the uplifting video where she shared her message of togetherness, liberals continued to attack the comedian for being friendly with someone whom they have so much hate for.

However, it was not all vicious liberal attacks on social media. Many took the image of the two sitting together as a hopeful sign for the country and were inspired by two people with radically different viewpoints sitting together and taking in a football game.