"Mutually exclusive" in this context doesn't even make sense. It's a false framing.
I can like Lord of the Rings more than the Chronicles of Narnia, but that doesn't mean that I don't care about Chronicles of Narnia. I can care more about my friends and family than my neighbors but that doesn't mean I don't like my neighbors.
To me it speaks of a deep projection on their part that they would somehow view holding one higher than the other that way.
"Mutually exclusive" in this context doesn't even make sense. It's a false framing.
I can like Lord of the Rings more than the Chronicles of Narnia, but that doesn't mean that I don't care about Chronicles of Narnia. I can care more about my friends and family than my neighbors but that doesn't mean I don't like my neighbors.
To me it speaks of a deep projection on their part that they would somehow view holding one higher than the other that way.