This woman dumps her husband of 21 years for backing Trump

A 73-year-old woman has separated from her husband of over 20 years after he voiced support for Donald Trump in the run-up to the United States presidential polls.

Gayle McCormick, a retired California prison guard, said that she was shocked last year when her husband Bill McCormick, 77, mentioned during a lunch with friends that he planned to vote for Trump.

"I was in shock. It was the breaking point. The Trump issue was the catalyst," she told the People magazine.

It was the toughest decision Gayle, who is now living in her own apartment in Washington, said she has ever had to make.

"It took us many, many months to make this decision. We went to counselling and saw a priest. This wasn't a snap decision," she said.

Gayle, who describes herself as a Democrat leaning toward socialist, met Bill in 1980 while they were both working at the same prison. She said that she felt like she had no voice in the relationship.

"When things are 51 per cent good and 49 per cent bad, you just stay. I was tired and older and I didn't want to argue and neither of us was going to change," Gayle said.

When politics would come up, she would usually walk away, she said. It was only when Trump came up that she knew she could not stay silent.

"I just couldn't. I was surprised Bill could agree with Donald Trump on anything," she said.

Although Bill ended up not voting for Trump in the election, Gayle knew they still had to separate.

"We are just too different. It had more to do with the fact that I had not been true to myself for so long and that I had not stood up for myself for so long. I need to recapture myself," Gayle said.

"It's hard and not an easy thing. I love him and I want him to be happy," she said.

The news about their separation comes amid stark political divide in the country over President Trump's ban on refugees and visa holders entering the country from seven Muslim-majority countries.

Several hundred people have protested against President Trump's immigration order.

Photographs: Tim Exton/ReutersTV/Reuters