Poll: Republicans are more likely than Democrats to say they have a good friend in the other party

Despite a polarized, partisan political environment, most voters who consider themselves a member of a party say they have a close friend on the other side of the aisle, according to the latest national NBC News poll.

Despite a polarized, partisan political environment, most voters who consider themselves a member of a party say they have a close friend on the other side of the aisle, according to the latest national NBC News poll.

However, Democrats in the poll were less likely to say they have a close, cross-party friendship, the results show.

Steve Kornacki: Most voters blame Republicans for shutdown in new NBC News poll04:24More than 8 in 10 Republicans (82%) said they have at least one close friend who is a Democrat, while a little over 6 in 10 Democrats (64%) are close friends with a Republican — a gap of 18 percentage points.

That difference is most pronounced among voters who are most loyal to each party and more ideological.

Voters who identified themselves as moderate, meanwhile, were also more likely to have a close friend of the opposite party.