When Indianapolis city councilor Nick Roberts found himself on the opposite side from his identical twin in a high-profile public debate over redistricting in Indiana, he realized that he needed to clear up some confusion.

“If you see somebody that looks like me at a Republican event, or definitely if they're wearing a MAGA hat, it is not me, it is him,” he said in a video posted to his social media after the event. “He's still my brother, and I care about him,” he added.

Roberts, a Democrat, posted the video clarifying that he had not switched sides after receiving “nonstop” messages from people following the public debate in which he and his Republican brother Nathan both appeared earlier this month.

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“A lot of people didn’t know I had a twin or Republican brother at all,” he tells TIME. “So I decided it would be easier just to address everyone, because once I’ve been able to talk to people about the very odd situation, they understand.”

Nick, who is 25 and was elected to the Indianapolis City-County Council in 2023, received a strong, largely positive reaction to his video announcement. He now hopes to use the moment to set an example of how political differences need not tear friendships and families apart.

“I am of the opinion that isolating people and cutting them out of your family due to politics isn’t how I want to be as a family, but beyond that, it is also ineffective,” he tells TIME. “As a party, we need to be more welcoming of debate and conversation, especially when it isn’t easy, to try to change hearts and minds.”

Nathan tells TIME that his brother is “different” than others on the opposite side of the aisle, and that their relationship defies these political boundaries. Part of this, it seems, comes from the respect they afford one another in conversations about their disagreements; he says he knows and trusts that his brother's arguments are based on research.

“I don’t think we have really ever had any heated discussions about stuff, despite me and him disagreeing on 90% of things. At least for me, I would say because I think he is the smartest liberal I know,” Nathan says. “When we do have a disagreement, he is one of the few people who can correct me when my argument is inconsistent.”

Nathan Roberts (left) and his brother Nick (right).

Nick acknowledges that part of their civility stems from this good faith—something he says often lacks in online political discussions between strangers.