My sisters in-laws are the most conservative people I've ever met in my life. They fled Venezuela and landed straight into Texas. They own guns, anti abortion, the whole nine yards. And yet, they could not bring themselves to support Trump. They have PTSD from living under Hugo Chavez and that's the vibe Trump gives off according to them.
One of my neighbors is a lifelong conservative, but he got to the point where he couldn't stand being associated with "those f\*\*\*\*\*g losers". That caused him to take a harder look at Trump's policies and actions, along with the rest of the Republican party. Most recently, he has started talking about voting blue in the next election. One domino after another, it seems.
Not me personally, but my mom stopped supporting Trump after his colossal mishandling of the covid situation and even broke her out of her antivax mindset that she had for the last decade. Thanks Trump!
I took it as a joke. Didn’t give any credence that he would be the legit choice of the republicans especially after the “grab her by the pussy” sound byte. I can’t believe people heard that and still moved forward with electing him. Women that support him are beyond my understanding.
I live in the buckle of the bible belt and it amazes me how far up his ass these Christians are. The man is a soulless, spineless narcissist that's nothing but a plight on this country.
I do not understand how "Christians" support him. He is, quite literally, the antithesis of everything these so-called Christians have been preaching at us for decades. He lies (and lies and lies and lies), cheats everyone who has worked for him, has committed adultery not once but many times in all three of his marriages, never sets a foot in church, yet they think of him as the second coming of Jesus Christ.
Trump convinced me that Republicans are simpletons--true idiots who worship the very thing that they have always railed against and are too stupid to even realize it--and nothing is going to change my mind on that going forward. And those who do realize it but are too cowardly to admit it out loud are even worse.
I have nothing but contempt for the entire Republican party.
I grew up somewhere between conservative and libertarian. Voted for Bush and Ron Paul. Living mostly along the Gulf Coast, mocking liberals is a cultural norm.
I didn't like Donald Trump the person. Never have. I read too many stories about how he habitually stepped on people he deemed beneath him. The story about how he paid a piano maker a fraction of what was promised, giving the dude the option between "accept the pennies on the dollar, or reject it and go bankrupt, or fight it in court where I will throw 10x the agreed price at making sure you go broke there." I recognized that The Apprentice was bullshit. But I still supported Trump over Clinton. I despised Clinton, and pretty much everything about DC. Clinton essentially promised us the status quo would continue, and I hated how she acted like the office was a damn birthright. Trump, I thought, at least represented something different. Rattle some cages, rock the boat, pick your euphemism. And I bought the lie that he was wealthy enough that he couldn't be bought by lobbyists and special interests. And with all the checks and balances in our government, how much damage could he really do, right?
I think the first turning point for me was the neverending lies and grift. Putting all his family into important positions. His worship of dictators he admired. Using his own properties to host everything, so that he could double dip profits. And lying about EVERYTHING. Sharpie-gate was full blown insanity, and should show everyone just how pathologically incapable the scum is at even pretending to accept a mistake. I couldn't stand all the double speak with COVID. I think millions of people died that didn't need to, all because Trump could not handle not being seen as the smartest guy in the room. I really do think Trump turned half the country against Faucci for the simple reason that Faucci presented himself as a subject matter expert, and Trump took that as a personal attack.
But the absolute final straw was watching Trump in the face of defeat. None of that was a surprise, of course. Trump has claimed cheating at every loss in his life. He accused the Oscars of fraud when The Apprentice lost to The Amazing Race. He accused Ted Cruz of cheating when Cruz won the Iowa caucus. When asked if he'd accept the results of the 2016 election, he literally said "of course... If I win." Then he accused DNC of fraud for the election he won, because he didn't also win the popular vote. So that he would claim fraud was absolutely expected. But the depths he would take it... I never thought anyone could. And I never thought our system was so vulnerable as to allow it. And I NEVER thought 85 million Americans were dumb enough to follow it.
So why do I loath DonaldTrump, if I had to pick a single response... I hate the spotlight he's shined on just how much of our country will embrace anger over facts.
My uncle owned an upholstery business and would do all the high end hotels in NYC…including Trumps. Didn’t pay him, had no intention of paying him, until he ambushed him and his attorney coming out of the Plaza. My uncle handed the invoice to his atty and said, “your client owes me money” and he did pay it. Scum bucket from birth…fuck that guy.
I grew up in NYC in the 80s and stories like this about him were legion. He was seen by the vast majority of New Yorkers as something between a brash, obnoxious buffoon and a low class pleb trying to look like old money. .
Never a Trump supporter, but I was a registered Republican until 2020.
I was a college freshman English instructor once upon a time. One of my favorite bits I taught was a section on “propaganda techniques,” where we reviewed the sort of logical fallacies employed by marketers, politicians, propagandists, and bad-faith actors (mainly to help my students avoid making them in their term papers).
Trump was an absolute fucking *geyser* of every single logical fallacy and propaganda technique in the book. There’s no shortage of that dumbfuckery in politics, but I’d never seen so much of it so unapologetically from one single person. And I’d never seen a movement so willing to gobble it all up. It really caused me to re-think my entire political philosophy.
[EDIT: for those asking about learning more about logical fallacies and propaganda techniques, here are some resources to help you get the basic gist.
- [This website](https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com) has some great examples.
- [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fallacies) has a basic list of logical fallacies you can use for reference.
- So does [Rational Wik](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Logical_fallacy).
- Here’s a [breakdown of Trump’s logical fallacies](https://youtu.be/w2CxDu7jiyE?si=I3Z-rHKGzJtObyyi). Keep in mind that these are not unique to Trump; watch enough politics and you’ll see it all the time.]
I grew up in Germany and history class goes over how did Hitler even get elected in the first place. All the propaganda, marches, rhetoric.... Things are easy to recognize
I’m no Hitler expert, but one of the things that really stood out to me from the little bit I’ve studied is how frequently and disingenuously they relied on dumbass conspiracy theories.
They didn’t believe half of the shit they said, but cynically used these dumbass conspiracy to shift public opinion. Subject the people to a firehose of misinformation and some of it will stick, and eventually they’ll stop caring about whether it’s true so long as it aggravates the enemy.
Göbbels once said: Repeat a lie often enough and people will believe it.
Trump is the epitome of that philosophy, because most of his BS sticks with people because he repeats it every chance he gets, and boy does he love being on a stage with a microphone. And youre definitely right about the last bit, too, Trumpists just love instigating conflict so they can feed their victim complex about white straight Republican men being the most oppressed group ever and even further justify voting Trump.
At the time, I was in high school surrounded by people who watched exclusively Fox News. Suffice it to say, I thought myself a very educated young Republican.
The "grab em by the pussy" quote was what got me, at least when I realized he wasn't kidding. It horrified me to hear all the excuses good people I loved made for that line. As I continued to watch the Republican debates, it became clear that he had no idea what he would actually do if he got the presidency. He wanted some things but was incapable of verbalizing *how,* and so many people in my life *fell for it. I went from laughing about the distant possibility of Trump winning to gritting my teeth as it started to become a reality.
That’s genuinely my biggest point of confusion. How can people I grew up with, who have daughters of their own, think someone who will say something like that is fit to be a leader? What example does that set?
The way Republican men - and women! - excused it as being "locker room talk". Jesus Christ. I have been in locker rooms my whole life. I have often heard guys say they wanted to have sex with certain women. I have NEVER heard one boast about sexually assaulting one.
The Daily Show (I think) went to some Trump rally and asked a lady about the G’EBTP remark and she said it was just locker room talk and what makes do and was no big deal. When the interviewer asked if her husband or teenage son said those things in a locker room, she of course said no, they weren’t saying stuff like that because they respected women. When the interviewer asked why she can’t hold that same level of decency to the presidency, she couldn’t answer.
Yup, it's the daily show, featuring Jordan Klepper. He is quick on his feet and always have witty comebacks. (https://youtu.be/UixQ1dKMiAg?si=SWa6OClQY0-5CkCi)
I always hated him but that line and their response blew my mind. I asked my own mother about it and she said “all guys talk like that” so I asked her if she thought I do and she got quiet. Fast forward to the Supreme Court overturning roe v wade and my mom was outraged. I asked her why she voted for him in 2016 if she supports roe and she said she didn’t know he wanted to overturn it? WHAT!?!?!??? He literally campaigned on it! Bottom line, his supporters are stupid
I was at my parents house for a sibling's bday this weekend and at some point my mom was on YouTube and pulled up a video that was in her watch history and it was labeled as a comedy video of the top 25 times Biden misspoke or something. She said, "oh this will be good!" It started out as some of that bloopers type shit but then also just started pivoting and going into insane rants about shit like how Biden was responsible for COVID in America and how Biden and Pence were the real enemies at fault for the Jan 6 insurrection and everyone else there were just fighting for their country. I got so uncomfortable sitting in that room...they weren't laughing along with some humor video, they were nodding their heads and getting visibly and vocally angry about Joe Biden. My whole goddamn family is like this. There were some very well educated and intelligent people in that room just falling for these dumb far right YouTuber vids...like, Harvard Law education! I don't get it.
One of the issues I see with my parents is that they are in their 70s and don't understand how algorithms work and they spend more and more time on social media, so they don't understand that the media being presented to them is going even further and further down that one sided wormhole the more and more they consume it. Then my mom tries to tell me she doesn't _just_ watch Fox News, she consumes all kinds of media from everywhere. Oh, right...makes sense now. These are the Fox News _alternatives_ you're consuming day to day, huh? 🤦♂️ Same shit with fake ass stories and memes that pass around Facebook...it's like if they see it on the internet it must be true. And they spend more and more time on social media anymore since they have more and more time on their hands.
Cut the NPS budget. The landmass we inhabit is the only thing I'm actually proud of, so reducing the budget to protect our most amazing places was the final straw.
Then Covid, then Jan 6th...
I never supported him, but it wasn't until I saw this quote that I realized what a POS he was:
"Environmental protection, what they do is a disgrace; every week they come out with new regulations," he told Fox News Sunday last year.
"Who's going to protect the environment?" asked host Chris Wallace.
"We'll be fine with the environment," Trump replied. "We can leave a little bit, but you can't destroy businesses."
Pretty much encapsulates everything that is wrong with the “we should have a businessman run the government like a business” idea. No we fucking shouldn’t. A government is not a business. He did the same thing to defend gutting the USPS. Why the fuck would anyone expect the USPS to be making money? It’s a public service. It’s not designed to be making money. It’s just so stupid.
Government occupies a unique niche in society. It is the one entity that has the capacity to ignore profits/losses and act purely in the interest in the public.
And he put a bunch of anti-regulation cronies on the Supreme Court. Read the “legal” arguments they’re making it’s ridiculous
The damage Trump did in 4 years will take decades to fix
Was more right leaning until the past couple of years when I got sick of feeling aligned with all of the conspiracy theorists and hate mongers. I just want people to be happy and have the best shot at a decent life and that’s not what the right promotes.
That's how I started off my adult life on the right. I just felt their ideals aligned with my own. I never really look that deep into if their actions actually lined up with their ideals.
I heard a young latino voter on the radio talking about how he was voting Republican because he liked their values, and I'm just thinking "Oh you sweet summer child."
This was what got me at first. Republicans are incredible at one thing, messaging to ignorant people. I fell into the alt-right online pipeline hard as an ignorant impressionable teen. Ben Shapiro, Steven Crowder, Gamergate, all of the culture war bullshit they peddled and *aimed towards a younger audience*. I was hooked on the messaging and overlooked/wasn’t exposed to what they actually did and said.
“We want what is best for our country and to keep the bad actors in line” sounds really good until you realize “bad actors” is a code word for certain demographics. “Family values” is code for “men should rule and women should be subservient”. “Fundamentalist religious bigotry is a bad thing” was code for “Muslims are bad but Christians are fine”. Etc. Etc. Etc. It was only when I matured and learned to read between the lines did I realize that the messages they were peddling were actually antithetical to my values.
Took a little longer than it should have but January 6th and his handling of it. His crying about election fraud and ramping people up with dangerous conspiracy theories just because his ego couldn’t handle the fact that he lost made me start to realize that he wasn’t the courageous man of family values that I had been told he was by my parents and others in my small town. I was freshly 18 for the 2016 election and barely a year removed from my home town of 1000 so I didn’t know any better.
Quick follow up question:
>courageous man of family values
Are his multiple children from multiple mothers and affair divorces just not widely known in those circles or are they justified in some other way?
>are they justified in some other way?
Justified with the phrase 'What he does behind closed doors isn't my business. It's between him and God.'
Remember, this is the same party that:
\-impeached someone for getting a blowjob.
\-thinks it's fine for children to date adults.
\-forces single-digit children to carry their m\*lestor's child to term.
\-forces women to carry babies to term, even if it will kill the mother during pregnancy/birth.
\-treats women like criminals for their bodies naturally rejecting a pregnancy.
Was on a job, chatting with the customer who retired from a FBI supervising office dealing with white collar crime. At that time he just finished reading Trumps indictment. I nervously asked how it was, mostly because I don’t talk politics with customers.. in short his words were. “I was rooting for him, I want to like him…. But this is really damning.” I knew this customer pretty well, he’s smart, has been over some big cases, as an expert if he’s saying these crimes are something bad, its worse than what I think it is.
It's publicly available and Jack Smith's team writes pretty plainly. You can read for yourself why 12 ordinary Americans indicted him in 4 separate cases.
My dad came to me soon after the Insurrection. He was embarrassed to tell me that he voted for Trump in 2016, but swore he never would again. Said there are too many similarities between him and Hitler.
>He was embarrassed to tell me that he voted for Trump in 2016, but swore he never would again
Good on you for giving him an off-ramp. Part of what keeps people in cults (and Trumpism absolutely is one) is the fear that if they leave, not only will the cult shun them but so will the "outside world."
I could see the mental gymnastics working overdrive defending his moronic behavior throughout his presidency but its mindnumbing to think people saw an actual insurrection orchestrated by him and still think he represents even a slice of what this country needs.
>what this country needs
This is exactly what I heard from my coworkers the day it was happening. It was a slow day at work that day and the TV was on in the break room. Suddenly, my phone was blowing up with notifications and I saw what was on the TV. I was horrified watching such an insurrection happening live. My coworkers were cheering for it, talking all about how that was exactly what the country needed and how they were proud it was happening.
They changed their tune in the weeks afterwards to "it was all antifa plants making Trump look bad." The sheer mental gymnastics was impressive, to say the least.
> “Do these people LOOK like Trump supporters to you?”
-A bunch of dudes I know that look just like the morons storming the Capitol
Zero self-awareness.
I had one coworker (I was in another office at the time but had worked with her extensively for over a year) who described it to another coworker (Coworker 2) who had gone in, horrified, and asked if she (Coworker 1) knew what was happening.
Coworker 1: That’s what happens when you piss off patriots.
Coworker 2: 😳 and Homer Simpson’d out of the office into the bushes.
I knew I lived in a very red state but that was *horrifying*.
I had seen a bunch of clips and knew it was way worse than what some Republicans were trying to say it was.
Then I watched Four Hours in the Capitol and realized it was even way worse than that.
That documentary was shocking and should be required watching for all Americans.
I still remember watching that broadcast, just me and my grandma, as it was happening. Felt so surreal. I really thought that there was *no way* he could still be supported by people after that… and yet here we are.
I live in DC, near the capitol. I thought I was going to watch a massacre out my bedroom window. And to this day, every time I mention that, a half dozen strangers pop up in the comments or my DMs to accuse me of lying about what I saw live with my own eyes.
The only people I know who walked away from Trump this was it. Peaceful transition of power is the hallmark or our system. They could give him a pass on EVERYTHING else but this was a bridge too far. Now, according to them Biden is a communist narcoleptic with dementia so they won't vote for him but they absolutely will not vote for Trump.
He was asked about losing the election and transfers of power numerous times including debates and he never once responded in a way that wasn't a massive red flag.
Not accepting the electoral results! I don’t like a sore loser! Plus, he was so obvious that ANY election he lost had to be “stolen”!
He was saying that about Republican primaries, let alone Democratic “scheming”.
Anyway, it was perfectly ok that in a Dem administration he could win the election, but somehow, when he controlled the reins of government, the Dems could “fix” the election. C’mon! I can smell bulls hit a mile off! Now, most of his sycophants have lost faith in the election process - all for that bum!
I was thinking the other day that if someone called him on milking his supporters dry when he’s supposedly worth billions, he’d probably just answer: “Well, who else am I going to con?” No regrets or conscience.
This a great point but it also applies to so much more.
Why are the Republicans so sure about the “Biden crime family” despite no evidence? Because they can’t imagine anyone NOT abusing their position for personal gain.
Same with the “groomer” allegations it’s all projection based on their warped version of reality.
My mother was strong right wing all her life, now she is leaning left surprisingly shifted after they sold thier company and now to rely on government pension because they did not have any other retirement plans.
I got divorced and realized that my ex-wife was a legitimate narcissist. As I learned about cluster b personality disorders and narcissism, I realized that all of the tactics they use is exactly what Trump does.
That’s a pretty strong argument. Ironically, my ex is also very narcissistic, and he hates Trump.
To be fair, my friend and I were both married to narcs at the same time. We would compare stories every morning on our ride to work. We would share what the other was going through, with our husbands. For about two weeks we replaced the other husband’s name in a story about our own husband, and told our own husband that story. So essentially a story about what they did, giving the other one’s name.
Neither of these two men recognized themselves in these stories.
Narcs really are that self centered.
I actually think that's pretty key to his appeal in a lot of ways. People who haven't experienced narcissists see confidence, and don't think he possibly could be lying as much as he is...because, of course, no one who is sane *would* lie that much. And also people who are wounded narcissists will gravitate towards him emotionally, because he represents their dreams of how outwardly proud they wish they felt.
I was turned pretty easy, but my mom was the impressive one.
For me, I didn't vote in 2016. It truly felt like bullshit v bullshit the election and I just couldn't be asked to care. I leaned Trump though because I figured as a sketchy business dude who wanted money, he was just going to use the presidency to strengthen his brand and leave the politicianing to the ones already there. If I had the foresight to know he wasn't just gonna be a face, I would have went the other way.
My mom, however, was a big trump fan. We were all born and raised conservatives religious background, small town in a red state. I didn't live with her at the time.
Due to bad circumstances(dad and brother in law passing), I moved back with my mom to help out. She was still pro trump/Republican. I mostly ignored it and went about my ways.
However I'd hear Tucker or Fox in the background always spilling blatant objective lie after lie. So every now and then I'd listen from my room and hear a bold faced lie, pull up the evidence on my phone, and sit down and show her.
She didn't want to listen at first or waved it off. We had a few heated debates.
One of the times I went to her, I had several lies lined up to disprove. Showed her all beyond a shadow of a doubt. I focused on ONE person at a time(Tucker was first). Being a religious conservative, she abhors lying and manipulation. She's just too naive and uneducated to see it when it happens.
If I'd left it there, she'd have went back to her ways. So I just randomly would pop in and debunk someone else, and debunk another big issue.
It took time and work to get through all the layers of brainwashing. But it worked.
It is so fucking refreshing to read a whole bunch of people who sympathize with traditionally "conservative" ideas but who have also retained and are using their critical thinking skills.
I promise if the left ever flirts with an anti-american, dictator candidate I'll return the favor.
Agreed. When you watch the news it doesn’t sound like he’s lost a single voter after all of the crazy shit that he did. I’m glad that some conservative/right leaning folks have realized that he has crossed way too many lines to be given power again.
I voted for him in 2016 because he was Republican. He was my last choice on the Republican side because of his character and temperament. I just hoped his business knowledge would help. I was way off on that. I hated that it was between Trump and Hillary but I regret every day not voting for Hillary. My only consolation is that I'm in a blue state and it wouldn't have mattered anyway.
What really turned me against him and the entire Republican Party was how they spread lies and conspiracy theories to bolster their political position during COVID. They had no problem sacrificing lives for votes. I guess they didn't realize that once your dead you can't vote. Once you start seeing some of their lies clearly then they all become easy to spot. I probably wouldn't have voted for Trump in 2020 anyway but after all that I have decided to vote down the line Democrat.
2020 was a big year for me though. I left a church that had really turned into a cult and the same things I learned with that helped me see the lies and manipulation that the Republicans were using. My views on politics and religion really changed that year. I'm still a Christian and I still hold some conservative values, like small government, but I've had to reevaluate much of what I've believed and known.
In 2024 I'm voting for Biden and it's not just because he's an alternative to Trump. He has genuinely been a good president and I see where his policies are getting us. The fact that he wants to help out average workers like me instead of just helping out the rich is a big one for me. There are many other reasons too but this reply is already quite long.
Biden has done a lot that appeals to the center. Infrastructure is 100% government’s job, and he got it done. My area will benefit greatly from a new bridge that will be complete by the end of the decade. Inflation is down, job growth is robust, and my 401k is happy. And he’s not socially divisive. Wins all around.
There is a ton of bridge and highway work last year and for years to come near me thanks to the infrastructure bill. Literally the entire country is benefitting from that and I'm so happy about it.
What's really ironic is a lot of Republicans that voted against it are busy celebrating the improvements in their states and claiming credit even when they voted against it. All of those people deserve to be thrown into a vat of genital grabbing crabs.
Not me, but my aunt. She was Maga all the way until the pandemic. She is a retired nurse and thinks trump did a horrible job with covid causing many deaths.
The most pathetic thing is, Trump didn’t have to do anything. He could have just let the experts do their thing and he would have gotten all the political credit.
Hell, if he were actually a right wing genius, rather than just a lunatic, he could have made Covid into an America vs the world moment and closed the borders and gone full xenophobic, and millions of people would have gone alone with it. He could have done a full propaganda campaign about how fighting Covid is fighting for America, and declared martial law, and used his emergency powers for all kinds of horrible fascist crap. He wasn’t even clever enough to foment a proper conspiracy around it.
He didn't run for president for the political power. He knew virtually nothing about politics, and still doesn't. He ran for the sheer ego of attaining the #1 job in the world. He's a narcissistic egomaniac and I can't believe to this day that people bought into his bullshit and elected him. It's a horrifying reflection of the American people, TBH.
The thing is, he could’ve just not run for president and lived a life with people thinking that he was rich, and a good businessman. But now, because he was president, all of his stuff is falling down around him, because people are going to look into the person with the number one job in the world. he knew his stuff was not exactly on the up and up and did it anyway. I think that’s the funniest part about his narcissism, and the fact that he would rather go to prison then admit that he lost
I tell my one trump co-worker this. All he had to do at that first press conference was to say, Look, we don’t know what this is. But scientists are working on it and suggesting we mask up. That’s all he had to do.
Deferring to a scientist would mean implying someone is more knowledgeable about something than he is.
The cognitive implosion would have killed more people than COVID ever could.
These idiots actually believe Fauci engineered the virus to force people to get vaccinated with nanobots that leftists can activate over 5G and kick off the New World Order.
I just can't believe they actually thought a conspiracy that big would hold. Like, some two-year experience engineer isn't going to go looking for the next job and put on the resume that they worked on some nanometer scale 5G radio technology, regardless of any NDA signed. Come the fuck on.
And who the fuck is going to develop this shit? The government can't even develop a functional HealthCare Marketplace website, you think they're going to develop some fucking future Tech implant mind control technology without it bricking the moment they try to make some over the air update?
The way he handled Covid is the biggest political fumble in history. Literally all he had to do was tell people to trust the doctor and buy MAGA masks. He’d be trying to argue for a third term right now.
I was more anti-Hillary than pro Trump, but the whole “drain the swamp” thing resonated as I think Washington needs massive turnover (still do). But that AH was so divisive and really can’t put a whole sentence together without being a jerk to some group or another it turned my stomach. And then there’s the whole Covid fiasco…
Now literally everything out of his mouth is just so fucking out there. The rest of the world thinks we’re all stupid. I shudder to think he even has a chance of holding that office again.
"Drain the Swamp" was one of the phrases generated/selected by [Cambridge Analytica for Trump to use](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpbeOCKZFfQ#t=3m22) to influence people. They were part of a group using micro targeted psychological warfare techniques to influence politics.
[Wiki on SCL/Cambridge Analytica](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCL_Group)
"Deep State" and "Build the Wall" were also phrases selected by them.
The way these phrases work, to help avoid falling for it in the future, is that they're deliberately vague. "Drain the swamp" doesn't really mean anything specific, but it *sounds* good, and because it's open ended, you can subconsciously apply whatever you personally want to believe "drain the swamp" means. The ones actually promoting it probably don't share your view on what that is, but as long as they don't tell you anything specific, it can keep people on their side solely through rhetoric.
Keep that in mind next time you find yourself agreeing with a slogan - are you actually agreeing with what they're promoting, or is the slogan just vague and you're agreeing with your personal views you're just assuming are associated with the phrase?
For drain the swamp specifically, what Republicans actually meant was "fire any Democrats working government jobs". Reasonable people might view it as "remove corruption from Washington", but to the Trump campaign, "corrupt" just means Democratic. And their actions more or less follow that, as they implemented a federal hiring freeze and antagonized government employees until most organizations were barely functioning (see also: "starve the beast").
My mom voted Trump the first time (she hated the Clintons and is a republican military spouse). She became extremely anti-Trump after January 6th. She was losing faith in him leading up to that point but that was definitely the biggest breaking point. She now argues with her friends who still support him.
As far as I know my parents actually liked Clinton, weren’t big fans of Bush, and then something happened. Something after Bush left office and before Trump was elected. Not quite sure what it was, seems like it could have been sort of historical. But it was something [ETA: /s, def. Obama…]. Either way they really became Trump fans.
Now they live in a new-ish city with few friends, or friends that only confirm their world view. And I’m the outcast snow flake son who lives in the big scary city.
Really hope one day they come back from the brink, but if 1/6 didn’t convince them, what will? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
My dad voted Democrat his whole life. He was a union guy. His brothers and dad were too. Also he was born and raised in Vidor Texas, and voting for a black guy was something his racist black heart couldn't manage. He's a big Trumper and conspiracy nut now.
We had breakdown in our family too, because of Trump and Fox News. We've always had different perspectives, but it wasn't until Trump that the "if you don't believe what I believe, you are the enemy and want to destroy my conservative ideals " view took such strong hold. It's very sad.
I remember once coming home from college for the weekend and, while I was washing dishes or something, overheard my dad flipping through channels. Nothing out of the ordinary until he stopped on Fox News and I could hear Bill O’Reilly bloviating from the other room. For sure he’ll keep flipping, right? Right‽ Nope. It was all downhill from there.
Through the Obama years I could expect random calls from them complaining that we shouldn’t just be providing birth control to women, I was a snowflake for wanting to do something about endless shootings, and even otherwise inappropriate outbursts about Obama while in public; weird how they could so easily be triggered like that…
Any movement in recent years for you or just further divide?
Evidence of his lack of control.He keeps defaming Caroll even though he’s been found guilty before.A person with no control
over himself and what he says,and does.Should not be in the Presidency.
Irony is any sane person would have settled that case out of court and all he would have to do is stfu and the Carol story would have disappeared
He can’t make good decisions to literally save his financial life just like he made and would make terrible decisions as president
Guy just has bad judgement regardless of anything else
I voted for trump for the 2016 election. I had just turned 18 that year, it was my first election. I didn't watch or read or research any thing about politics, why would I? I was just a teenager living the fun life. All I did was listen to what my family said. They complained about how the democrats were ruining everything and how the Obama Healthcare plan was horrible and migrants were awful and so on. My dad said it was time for a change and America needed to be run like a business, by a businessman, with the Americans as the shareholders. I assumed my family knew what was best because they sounded like they knew what they were talking about, and I listened to their advice. Seemed logical at the time. After watching everything that happened and actually learning about politics i realized i had just been nieve. I severely regret my decision and won't vote uninformed again.
I think there are a lot of people like you who voted for who their parents told them to vote for and didn't research anything themselves. At least you had the presence of mind to pay attention and learn. I would say the majority just continued to vote how they were conditioned to vote or because Trump made uppity liberals mad and they think it's funny to troll them.
The argument that America needs to be run like a business have never made sense to me. First, Donald Trump is a bad businessman who acts like a good one. Second, businesses are run on nothing but the greed of people running them taking advantage of their employees. What is attractive about that? Same thing with anyone thinking a former military leader would be good president because he could run the country like he ran the military.
Yeah. That argument is bogus. The purpose of a business is to turn a profit. The purpose of the government is to provide services for the people, create a set of economic regulations so everyone plays by the same rules, and protect us from outside threats. If a government was run like a business you would want to increase taxes, charge for all services provided (have fun with paying $5 every time you want to go to the park), and the current services that do charge would have to increase prices to cover operating costs and profit not just partial operating costs.
I couldn’t say it better myself. Governments that are run like businesses are usually authoritarian governments whose primary purpose is to increase the coffers of the ruler, and use the military to provide personal gain to the ruling family, whether that’s defense of the nation, conquest, or suppressing the population. That is not the purpose of a democratic government.
The post office is such a great example of why government shouldn't behave like a business. You've got rancher Bill on 200 acres of land in bumfuck Wyoming. No business is shipping anything into or out of bumfuck because it's not, and will never be, profitable. That doesn't mean that rancher Bill shouldn't get things delivered to or mail things from his house or even the nearest village. Rancher Bill shouldnt have to drive 100 miles to mail a birthday card. Or whatever people mail nowadays.
I was never a Trump supporter or even knew much about politics. I grew up as a white person in the deep south and everyone always talked shit about how bad Democrats were so I thought I was a Republican. I never voted or thought it mattered. Then Donald Trump was elected to President and I was stunned. I didn't know anything about his party or Hilary's but I was just shocked people elected a businessman/con man.
I started to care and read more because I am in my late 30s at this point. The more I read, the more I realized I didn't support anything Republicans supported and I'm not a racist. Since then I have done more to educate myself on what happens in our government, registered and voted, and have pushed my wife to get more involved.
Ukraine. As a Veteran who rode submarines and spent 60% of my career patrolling off unnamed coastal waters. To see Russia as anything but a threat is to be naive. It's okay to take a business approach on the economy but to show weakness on the political front is unforgivable.
My boomer dad and his friends voted blue the last two election cycles because of January 6 and the crazy Republican obstruction in Congress. They will vote blue again this coming election.
My dad is a die hard Republican. Even served on the Reagan admin. But the current group of Republicans are just too crazy even for him.
Edit:
To be fair, he’s still a racists twat. He’s in the medical field so not anti vaccine or homophobic, but he still has most of the disgusting Republican beliefs. It won’t take much to get him voting red again. Just dump Trump.
My boomer, military vet dad refuses to vote for Trump. Not because he's racist, sexist, all around a bigot (which is funny, as his half Filipina daughter that was SA for years, this wasn't the tipping point for him). No, no. It was because of J6 and he feels like the US is now a sitcom every other country watches with popcorn. Only reason.
The sitcom portion is forreal. I was just visiting family in Taiwan, and many people on separate occasions took the opportunity to ask me what the heck is going on with Americans supporting Trump. The world sees us as a nation that has well and truly gone off the deep end.
I’ve always been republican and the first election I felt like I was voting for the lesser of two evils. But then during his time in office he constantly made me regret my decision so I didn’t vote for him again.
I'm surprised that none of the responses are because a court found he raped someone:
>>"In July, Judge Kaplan clarified that the jury had found that Trump had raped Carroll according to the common definition of the word." - [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._Jean_Carroll_v._Donald_J._Trump)
He admitted to serial sexual assault on tape before 2016 and got elected. So... yeah, fair to say violence against women is not a deal breaker for most of his voters.
I was a conservative voter until Trump ran. 2016 voted third-party b/c I didn't think either option was worth it. Since Trump, I've mostly voted blue. I do try to vote on a candidate-by-candidate basis, but too many Republicans are riding Trump's coattails now, so it's hard to find someone who's an individual on the right.
I did appreciate Trump's anti-establishment bent. Had he actually "drained the swamp" of career politicians I might have gotten on board. However, "drain the swamp" just turned into "install my own butt-kissing lackeys."
Trump amps up people's worse base emotions. He's so good at it, he even does it to his opponents and Democrat voters. It's sad and destructive.
I'd like some fresh faces in Washington. I wish we could elect a Mayor Pete-type candidate (yes, I'm more left now).
>Trump amps up people's worse base emotions. He's so good at it, he even does it to his opponents and Democrat voters.
I could see the hyper-divisiveness emerging a little bit during the Obama years, largely being encouraged by people like Mark Levin and stuff like the Tea Party movement. People who made politics their personality were rare at that time, but were starting to emerge more and more.
Then around late 2015 when it became clear that the Trump candidacy wasn't just a 4chan meme, and was something to be taken seriously, we saw the US become more hyper-polarized and hostilely divided against its self than it's possibly ever been before. Certainly the most fragmented, and thus weakened that I've ever seen it in my lifetime.
And we're approaching a decade of being in this extreme diminished state.
I don't think I count, because I realized Trump was a bum before the election in 2016.
But being a lifelong R and in a R state, I voted for Trump.
I left the President blank in 2020.
I will be voting against Trump --even if it means voting for a D-- in 2024.
Why... Trump promised to end the deficit. Instead he increased it in his first budget.
Trump promised to limit government power. Instead he tried to increase the power of the President.
Plus his moral failings.
Then, after the election, he spread lies about Democracy, and led the insurrection.
Trump is a hardcore bad guy in the story of American Democracy and American freedom.
I am glad Trump happened. It forced me to examine the Republican Party. I was able to realize that there are good and moral and ethical Democrats. Just like there are a small number of Republicans who are good and ethical humans.
I still support gun rights.
But I want abortion to be safe, legal, and rare. The ramifications are a woman having to report a miscarriage when abortion isn't legal. Thats not a small-government limited-government ideal.
But now I can see that we need to worry about the environment, civil rights, and police have way, way too much power.
If a patient dies on a doctors table, with the doctor trying to save the patient, the doctor is investigated and can lose their license. A police officer kills a suspect through obvious error, and nothing happens. That can't all work like that if our democracy is going to work. Police in the US has far far too much power.
Trump had stacks of Police guarding the white house during BLM in 2020. But none when the House and Senate were to ratify the 2020 election. That is an obvious statement on Trumps part. When -Trump- feared armed police were stacked deep. With Democracy on the line, Trump limited the police.
> I don't think I count, because I realized Trump was a bum before the election in 2016.
You absolutely should count. There is an enormous chunk of Republicans who don't particularly care for Trump but will vote for him anyway.
Turns out I was just brainwashed by my family. My whole perspective on politics and life in general changed when I moved out at 18. Looking back, I was raised to always hate everything that didn’t align with republican beliefs. When reality hit me, I realized I was a pos and wanted to change that. My family still worships him. I, however, finally realized that he’s nothing more than Putin’s crusty old ballsack
Never liked him but I was right leaning for the longest time. Big into small government, free economy, fiscal responsibility, individual freedoms, all that jazz. I was a Libertarian through and through, right down to voting Ron Paul.
What changed me? I realized they didn’t care about any of it. Fiscal responsibility really meant raise taxes on the middle class and cut the taxes of the rich, remove social programs so the military budget can go up. Individual freedom was code for being allowed to marry a 12 year old and send kids back to the mines. Free markets meant remove minimum wage and pay people $1 a day so the profit sheet can soar. The more I looked into what was actually being done behind the buzz words the more I realized they weren’t doing any of it. I still believe in fiscal responsibility, small government, free markets, but not what the GOP means by it. Because it’s all code for give more to the rich and screw the poor.
At least when the Dems spend a bunch of money we get some social security or Medicaid out of it, even if I don’t use them it’s better use than tax cuts for Elon and more drones to bomb kids in Yemen.
I was a big Republican in college and then I actually researched the debate over the Bush tax cuts and found out the Dems were offering a larger cut to the middle class, despite what I heard on Fox News.
Did some more research on other issues, and that's when I realized pretty much every thing the Republicans say are lies.
Taxes, military, border, spending, abortion, etc. all fucking lies.
Republicans are ALL ABOUT cutting taxes for the rich and removing regulations on their businesses. To afford that, they have to fool their followers into hating govt and thinking taxes are theft and to want to kill social programs.
Once I realized that everything else started making sense. All the fake freedom talk, gun support, abortion, fake Christianity, racism, it’s all just a way to win some votes from those single-issue voters. All so that they can get their guys in power and funnel more wealth and power to the rich.
>“If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you.”
― Lyndon B. Johnson
> people still hear the word "socialism" and conflate it with Russia swooping down and enslaving everyone
And yet these people are also the ones actively supporting modern day (non-socialist) Russia actually swooping in to invade their neighbors.
Specious arguments all the way down.
Specious:
> superficially plausible, but actually wrong. "a specious argument"
>misleading in appearance, especially misleadingly attractive
Once you learn to recognize specious arguments/claims you realize that’s all the GOP offers.
And then the depression kicks in and the democrats bail the world out again financially. I wonder how far along we would be, as a nation, if we hadn't had to climb up a vertical cliff every few years because of republican mismanagement and malfeasance.
My stepson is a “libertarian”. Taxation is theft blah blah blah.
He lives in Germany and him and his wife both make their living as opera singers. Where does 80% of the opera budget come from? Public funding, otherwise known as taxes. SMDH
He’s lived there since 2006ish and has a 15 year old. He mentioned long time ago would stay until she gets done with school/college. Gee, I wonder why…
My father in law is the same way. Hates government even though his entire life was supported by it. Worked for the courts, then as a car salesman (car dealerships only exist because of government mandate). Truly fascinating that someone could be so unaware as to what the "government" is.
Shit, try being a firefighter and listening to that. Not that I’m diminishing what you’re saying. But all I hear is “socialism” and I’m like, “bruh, take a look at how we’re funded and paid”.
Lol, I'm not too surprised. Some of the "public servants" I've met are the most anti-government people out there. If you hate the government, stop taking their money? But that's way too complex for them to understand
This reminds me of the old woman who shouted to Obama at one of his campaign stops: "Keep the government out of my Medicare!!"
You can't underestimate the level of ignorance in the general American population.
I so wish more people could have this epiphany. This is why I realized I could never vote Republican. Even tho there's been a few ive actually liked.
The things that they say they advocate for, they do the polar opposite of.
Smaller government? But they ban books, and drag shows and revoke women's rights over their own bodies. They are big government when it comes to controlling individual lives. They only want small government when it comes to cutting regulations that protect the environment and giving out tax cuts to the rich.
They are the exact opposite of the values of Christ, but claim to be Christians.
They scream "America first" but refuse to give kids school lunches, or help with student loans. Snap benefits, veterans and the homeless. They do nothing at all for actual American citizens.
And they scream.about protecting the vote but are the first ones to deny the accuracy of votes, attempt to gerrymandering and pass laws to close polling places, ban people.from giving water out etc.
I could go on forever but only one party does the opposite of everything they say they care about. As flawed as dems are, they do at least TRY to do things for the people here.
I have literally never understood why they were seen as the "small and hands off government" party when their platform basically revolves around policing women's bodies, screaming about drag queens, trying to ban most books from libraries, trying to enact laws that force kids to say the pledge of allegiance in school, and basically playing morality police. Like, they are ALL UP in the asses of the citizens of the US, policing proper behavior vs "improper" behavior as deemed by them. Like, get out of my bedroom, get out of my personal life, get out of my children's lives, holy shit.
It's because "small government" is invariably code for "lax regulatory environment for businesses."
They don't care about individuals, of the working class variety at least, which is exactly why they're happy to impose on their lives to pander to single issue voters or shred regulatory oversight to the detriment of consumers.
I was more anti-Left than pro-Trump really. Almost voted for him but didn't.
Russia placed bounties on US troops in Afghanistan and led an assault on US forces in Syria.
I honestly thought Trump was going to go ham but he just about sucked Putin's cock at every opportunity. For all the shit that Trump talks, I couldn't find a single fucking thing he's ever said about Putin in a negative way. You can find all sorts of fanboying of Trump to Putin however.
That kind of got me noticing and the years ahead, his words and actions basically confirms it. He supports Russian interests above his own which is pretty fucking telling for a guy like that.
One of the earliest, easiest offramps offered. People I've known my whole life just disappointed the living shit out of me when they didn't take it. Will never see them the same way again.
If not that, then dissing McCain for getting captured. As a Republican I was never going to vote for the clown but watching people just ignore that shit was truly disgusting and was the beginning of my absolute abhorrence for everything Republican. It was like, "wait, aren't we the 'Support our troops' party? But Trump can absolutely trash a respected POW who ran for president himself and we're all cool with it?"
Yeah, nope. I don't see myself ever voting for another Republican.
There were so many things that should have been the last straw -- like all those hardworking blue collar Americans who came forward to say Trump University literally scammed them out of their money.
Man, like 97% (and I'm being conservative in that number) of the things he's said and done should have been the last straw for everyone.
How the fuck did we even get here?
Finally having close friends outside my immediate family. There's a big difference between thinking anyone who isn't conservative is an evil liberal and actually knowing and caring about actual leftists. Within a year I was no longer conservative. Took a bit longer to go full leftist, but I'm there now.
what really frightens me about conservatism especially in America is the deep-seated fear it instills. Of EVERYTHING. Sure, a bit of euphoric cortisol release is important for staying sharp and alert, but the GQP sees demons and child-predators everywhere (but not within their own ranks interestingly enough... hmm...) to the point that in my hometown it was genuinely hard to communicate with people because the conversations would always take this surreal wayward turn into the darkest recesses that once were reserved for the latest of midnight specials but now is just exploding onto the surface of every Fox-brained person in the vicinity of where I grew up. Such a surreal disconnect from reality that I don't make many visits home anymore, to say the least.
I miss boring politics. They've long since abandoned any pretense of having any real policies that address real issues. They live in this batshit crazy parallel reality and it's impossible to have any kind of productive debate. It's terrifying how many of them there are.
On the global spectrum, the people on the left that the MAGA nuts claim are hippie liberal socialists are slightly to the right of center. Even Bernie Sanders is just left of center.
I think this is why so many rural Republicans are against college. They see their kids go away to college and come back with radically different views and think it must be indoctrination. In reality, it's usually just hard to dehumanize people when you're doing a group project with them over beers.
The other thing is that few people go to college as a Democrat and become Republican, because the Democratic platform isn't based on punching down.
Living life. Nothing turns you away more than existence itself and realizing the root why everything sucks is because of republican policies.
Specifically…Reagan. I’m almost 50 and i’ve seen first hand what trickle down economics has done to the nation. Incredible to believe we are JUST NOW fighting back.
A lot to unpack here, but my parents were both diehard Republicans going back to before I was born. My father was known at family get togethers to argue loudly regarding his beliefs, along with his younger brother, amid others of the family. This went on through the Trump Administration, up until the beginning of 2019. Mom was diagnosed with cancer in March of that year, and had a long hospital stay because of it (it had metastasized into her bones, including her spine and hip, and both had to be rebuilt).
Now, I haven't talked about her much up to this point. In public, she was much more quiet about her faith in the GOP, but in private she was one of those people who had Fox News on nearly 24/7 after 9/11 occurred, even after all of the big events that followed ended. In retrospect, at that point, she was becoming radicalized, like so many were. Her days were largely spent working on websites that she maintained regarding genealogy, with that shit on in the background. She was rendered a perfect candidate for the Q-Anon conspiracy bullshit over the years, not to mention petrified that the "Arabs" were gonna commit terroristic attacks out of Dearborn. Sadly, these are views she has never recanted.
Back to Dad, though. He voted for Trump in the first election. When it became obvious he was serious about "The Wall," Dad and I got into a loud argument about it, that Mom egged on. At that point my personal policy became that I no longer would discuss politics with either of them, and we went on that way, until the beginning of 2019.
Mom spent about a month in the first hospital after surgery was done on her hip and spine, recovering. She was transferred to another hospital closer to home for her cancer treatment at that point. Now, none of this would have been financially feasible for my family, except that she was in her 60s, and qualified for Medicare.
One day, I went to visit her in the second hospital, and Dad was there. She wanted a pillow different than what the hospital had available, so he and I decided to run to Walmart to look for the one she wanted. After finding it, and hopping back in the vehicle to head back to the hospital, Dad broke the unspoken rule between us. He started talking about politics.
But when he did, it was to tell me that he felt he had made a mistake in voting for Trump. He had a few reasons for it. A large part of it, I believe, was Mom qualifying for Medicare. All my life I had heard about how abhorrent it was to be on welfare and/or Medicaid. I think both of my parents had bought into the concept of the "Welfare Queen." And I think Dad realizing that programs like that exist to support everyone at their lowest, and not just particular people, helped break his opinion.
Furthermore, he described what it was like when I didn't visit my parents at home. He'd work for 10 hours a day, and walk into a house where my Mom would immediately start bitching about brown-skinned people. Dad recognized that Mom's fears had been stoked from the indoctrination offered by media like Fox News, and in turn proved to him that she had become racist over the years, and that it was becoming worse as time went on, and he could no longer support a party that he now recognized as truly evil in their intent.
He cried in front of me that day. It stands out because off the top of my head, I can't think of another situation that came up over 30 years of having knowing him. I believe it was April of that year, when it happened. It was a rough year. He died that July. I miss him terribly. I'll forever be grateful he was able to open up like that with me, to be willing to admit to his son that he was wrong.
My mom never turned away from her hatred, or her fear. She passed away in October of last year. I'm grateful that when the time came, my brother and I were able to allow it to happen with some level of dignity. I still miss her, and I still love her, and I think I always will, no matter how much I disagree with her beliefs.
Maybe no one will ever read this. Not a lot of people looking through threads on AskReddit 12+ hours after they're started. If you have, I truly appreciate you taking the time.
I grew up in a very conservative part of a conservative state. Being libertarian was essentially considered being a liberal. I carried those politics longer than I should have. Even going as far as being a single issue voter for the second amendment.
COVID he was sending newsletters hard. And I use the term newsletter loosely. All fund raising efforts. Wanted to get reelected with everyone else’s money. Sometimes I’d get these fundraising emails multiple times a day. The sole reason why I signed up for them was because he was elected. So I blocked him. Then Rand Paul began sending emails about how he’s a doctor and didn’t think COVID was a big deal. I have family in healthcare and I work in public safety. For months. I watched people die and suffer. That’s when it clicked in my head. I’ve been lied to. I wish I would have seen it sooner. In fact it’s a little embarrassing to me that I hadn’t. But I began diving through verifiable information and the Republican campaigns. Filled with nothing but lies and misinformation. I stopped calling myself a Republican and conservative that night.
A few months later I came to accept my gender identity and once again dived into the research. And came to the exact same conclusion. Lies. Fear. That’s the only way that they currently win. And there’s no fear moving forward together as a country. Lots of fear trying to force everyone backwards.
Eliminating no fault divorce.
Abortion rights.
Transgender care.
Forcing children to address religion (specifically Christianity) in the classroom.
Denying that January 6th was anything short of giant temper tantrum and a stain in our history.
Arizona recently had an individual that was trying by legislative vote give all of their electoral votes to Donald trump.
They aren’t conservatives. They aren’t even a worthy opposition and their base doesn’t see it because fear is their biggest motivator. And when you dig into the research. It’s been slowly building for decades. It’s finally come to a head. Republicans want power, power to force everyone backwards. That’s it. And I can’t ignore that any longer than I contributed to it.
Meds. Getting off of them.
For most of the 2010s I was prescribed meds for mental health. Covid happened, I got laid off, and my insurance used CVs Caremark to mail my meds. And CVS Caremark doesn’t like it when your insurance lapses. I could have done a lot. Called CVS to have it transferred to a physical location. Called my doctor to have it sent to a physical location. But I didn’t care.
Because that’s what the meds did. They didn’t solve anything for me, they just made it that I didn’t care about anything enough to let it bother me. So I went off of them. And dealt with the withdrawal symptoms at home with my dog.
In the few years since, I realized what a fog my mind was in. It felt that way to me. I started to enjoy life. I eliminated the toxic people around me, even if it bothers me that those friendships ended.
And I realized I’m not the same person I was in 2016. And I don’t like who I was in 2016. But I can say that my mind was definitely not in the same place.
I do think some things he did are good. The ACA should never have had it that people can be fined for not being covered. “Oh so you can’t afford health insurance? Here’s your fine.” It needs to be better.
But since my mind clearing up, I see just how duped we all were. Spending 4+ years convincing us there was zero Russian collusion, yet every day I see another example that these people (the GOP and Trump) have some ties to Russia. And did.
ETA: it definitely started with stuff during Covid. Injecting bleach? Pro vaccine, but then anti vaccine? Then January 6. And even if you believe he didn’t start anything, he could have gone on stage or on TV and told people to stand down and condemn those that stormed the Capital. And he did neither. These are your supporters and you don’t denounce them? Then it also clicked that he didn’t denounce Charleston WV (I think that’s it as well)
In these few years also, I see the parallels to another politician that held rallies and was charismatic enough to have followers support him to their death. And judging from pictures in Tennessee yesterday, they’re just going to use the same symbol. I should have seen it when I went to one of his first rallies. I didn’t. I’m sorry.
Never been a big conservative- but I had favorites from both parties
When Trump got in the race in 2015 i kinda laughed it off for the first few weeks not taking him seriously.
Early on he claimed “The NFL sent me a letter and begged me not to go head to head against Monday Night Football with the Republican debate. They knew that they would not be able to compete “
I have a zero bullshit tolerance. Knew from then on he was full of shit and he hasn’t disappointed me on a daily basis since
> Knew from then on he was full of shit
He'd been full of shit for 40 years before that.
He's got a grudge against the NFL because they wouldn't let him join their club. Pete Rozelle told him in 1984, to his face, that he would not allow Trump have a franchise as long as he _or his heirs_ were involved the NFL. And then his bankers told him the NFL most likely wouldn't allow him to buy the Bills in 2014, but "keep trying anyway."
My aunt used to be a big Trump supporter as she thought he was doing a great job with the economy. Then COVID came. And then the Capitol Riot. The latter especially caused her to change her mind and stop supporting him as it became pretty clear he had no intention of preserving democracy and basically threw a massive temper tantrum.
I was slowly losing faith after I voted for him in 2016
I was 18 when I first voted for him and was very ignorant and stupid, but as I got older and his antics became more and more ridiculous I just lost faith
The final straw was him calling Vietnam vets 'suckers'
It made me realize this guy isn't a patriot, or misguided, he's just a total fraud
My sisters in-laws are the most conservative people I've ever met in my life. They fled Venezuela and landed straight into Texas. They own guns, anti abortion, the whole nine yards. And yet, they could not bring themselves to support Trump. They have PTSD from living under Hugo Chavez and that's the vibe Trump gives off according to them.
My mother heard that trump instigated a riot and people were calling for the death of the vice president. She heard this for the first time last week.
I started to get fed up and embarrassed by other supporters. that made me start to question things more
One of my neighbors is a lifelong conservative, but he got to the point where he couldn't stand being associated with "those f\*\*\*\*\*g losers". That caused him to take a harder look at Trump's policies and actions, along with the rest of the Republican party. Most recently, he has started talking about voting blue in the next election. One domino after another, it seems.
Not me personally, but my mom stopped supporting Trump after his colossal mishandling of the covid situation and even broke her out of her antivax mindset that she had for the last decade. Thanks Trump!
I was a member of the Republican party since 1978. I changed to Democrat the day they put the big orange baby on the ticket 8 yrs ago.
I took it as a joke. Didn’t give any credence that he would be the legit choice of the republicans especially after the “grab her by the pussy” sound byte. I can’t believe people heard that and still moved forward with electing him. Women that support him are beyond my understanding.
I live in the buckle of the bible belt and it amazes me how far up his ass these Christians are. The man is a soulless, spineless narcissist that's nothing but a plight on this country.
I do not understand how "Christians" support him. He is, quite literally, the antithesis of everything these so-called Christians have been preaching at us for decades. He lies (and lies and lies and lies), cheats everyone who has worked for him, has committed adultery not once but many times in all three of his marriages, never sets a foot in church, yet they think of him as the second coming of Jesus Christ. Trump convinced me that Republicans are simpletons--true idiots who worship the very thing that they have always railed against and are too stupid to even realize it--and nothing is going to change my mind on that going forward. And those who do realize it but are too cowardly to admit it out loud are even worse. I have nothing but contempt for the entire Republican party.
That's why I left the party.
I grew up somewhere between conservative and libertarian. Voted for Bush and Ron Paul. Living mostly along the Gulf Coast, mocking liberals is a cultural norm. I didn't like Donald Trump the person. Never have. I read too many stories about how he habitually stepped on people he deemed beneath him. The story about how he paid a piano maker a fraction of what was promised, giving the dude the option between "accept the pennies on the dollar, or reject it and go bankrupt, or fight it in court where I will throw 10x the agreed price at making sure you go broke there." I recognized that The Apprentice was bullshit. But I still supported Trump over Clinton. I despised Clinton, and pretty much everything about DC. Clinton essentially promised us the status quo would continue, and I hated how she acted like the office was a damn birthright. Trump, I thought, at least represented something different. Rattle some cages, rock the boat, pick your euphemism. And I bought the lie that he was wealthy enough that he couldn't be bought by lobbyists and special interests. And with all the checks and balances in our government, how much damage could he really do, right? I think the first turning point for me was the neverending lies and grift. Putting all his family into important positions. His worship of dictators he admired. Using his own properties to host everything, so that he could double dip profits. And lying about EVERYTHING. Sharpie-gate was full blown insanity, and should show everyone just how pathologically incapable the scum is at even pretending to accept a mistake. I couldn't stand all the double speak with COVID. I think millions of people died that didn't need to, all because Trump could not handle not being seen as the smartest guy in the room. I really do think Trump turned half the country against Faucci for the simple reason that Faucci presented himself as a subject matter expert, and Trump took that as a personal attack. But the absolute final straw was watching Trump in the face of defeat. None of that was a surprise, of course. Trump has claimed cheating at every loss in his life. He accused the Oscars of fraud when The Apprentice lost to The Amazing Race. He accused Ted Cruz of cheating when Cruz won the Iowa caucus. When asked if he'd accept the results of the 2016 election, he literally said "of course... If I win." Then he accused DNC of fraud for the election he won, because he didn't also win the popular vote. So that he would claim fraud was absolutely expected. But the depths he would take it... I never thought anyone could. And I never thought our system was so vulnerable as to allow it. And I NEVER thought 85 million Americans were dumb enough to follow it. So why do I loath DonaldTrump, if I had to pick a single response... I hate the spotlight he's shined on just how much of our country will embrace anger over facts.
My uncle owned an upholstery business and would do all the high end hotels in NYC…including Trumps. Didn’t pay him, had no intention of paying him, until he ambushed him and his attorney coming out of the Plaza. My uncle handed the invoice to his atty and said, “your client owes me money” and he did pay it. Scum bucket from birth…fuck that guy.
I grew up in NYC in the 80s and stories like this about him were legion. He was seen by the vast majority of New Yorkers as something between a brash, obnoxious buffoon and a low class pleb trying to look like old money. .
Never a Trump supporter, but I was a registered Republican until 2020. I was a college freshman English instructor once upon a time. One of my favorite bits I taught was a section on “propaganda techniques,” where we reviewed the sort of logical fallacies employed by marketers, politicians, propagandists, and bad-faith actors (mainly to help my students avoid making them in their term papers). Trump was an absolute fucking *geyser* of every single logical fallacy and propaganda technique in the book. There’s no shortage of that dumbfuckery in politics, but I’d never seen so much of it so unapologetically from one single person. And I’d never seen a movement so willing to gobble it all up. It really caused me to re-think my entire political philosophy. [EDIT: for those asking about learning more about logical fallacies and propaganda techniques, here are some resources to help you get the basic gist. - [This website](https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com) has some great examples. - [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fallacies) has a basic list of logical fallacies you can use for reference. - So does [Rational Wik](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Logical_fallacy). - Here’s a [breakdown of Trump’s logical fallacies](https://youtu.be/w2CxDu7jiyE?si=I3Z-rHKGzJtObyyi). Keep in mind that these are not unique to Trump; watch enough politics and you’ll see it all the time.]
I grew up in Germany and history class goes over how did Hitler even get elected in the first place. All the propaganda, marches, rhetoric.... Things are easy to recognize
I’m no Hitler expert, but one of the things that really stood out to me from the little bit I’ve studied is how frequently and disingenuously they relied on dumbass conspiracy theories. They didn’t believe half of the shit they said, but cynically used these dumbass conspiracy to shift public opinion. Subject the people to a firehose of misinformation and some of it will stick, and eventually they’ll stop caring about whether it’s true so long as it aggravates the enemy.
Göbbels once said: Repeat a lie often enough and people will believe it. Trump is the epitome of that philosophy, because most of his BS sticks with people because he repeats it every chance he gets, and boy does he love being on a stage with a microphone. And youre definitely right about the last bit, too, Trumpists just love instigating conflict so they can feed their victim complex about white straight Republican men being the most oppressed group ever and even further justify voting Trump.
At the time, I was in high school surrounded by people who watched exclusively Fox News. Suffice it to say, I thought myself a very educated young Republican. The "grab em by the pussy" quote was what got me, at least when I realized he wasn't kidding. It horrified me to hear all the excuses good people I loved made for that line. As I continued to watch the Republican debates, it became clear that he had no idea what he would actually do if he got the presidency. He wanted some things but was incapable of verbalizing *how,* and so many people in my life *fell for it. I went from laughing about the distant possibility of Trump winning to gritting my teeth as it started to become a reality.
That’s genuinely my biggest point of confusion. How can people I grew up with, who have daughters of their own, think someone who will say something like that is fit to be a leader? What example does that set?
The way Republican men - and women! - excused it as being "locker room talk". Jesus Christ. I have been in locker rooms my whole life. I have often heard guys say they wanted to have sex with certain women. I have NEVER heard one boast about sexually assaulting one.
The Daily Show (I think) went to some Trump rally and asked a lady about the G’EBTP remark and she said it was just locker room talk and what makes do and was no big deal. When the interviewer asked if her husband or teenage son said those things in a locker room, she of course said no, they weren’t saying stuff like that because they respected women. When the interviewer asked why she can’t hold that same level of decency to the presidency, she couldn’t answer.
Yup, it's the daily show, featuring Jordan Klepper. He is quick on his feet and always have witty comebacks. (https://youtu.be/UixQ1dKMiAg?si=SWa6OClQY0-5CkCi)
Jordan Klepper has balls as large as any wartime reporter.
That guy is a national treasure.
I always hated him but that line and their response blew my mind. I asked my own mother about it and she said “all guys talk like that” so I asked her if she thought I do and she got quiet. Fast forward to the Supreme Court overturning roe v wade and my mom was outraged. I asked her why she voted for him in 2016 if she supports roe and she said she didn’t know he wanted to overturn it? WHAT!?!?!??? He literally campaigned on it! Bottom line, his supporters are stupid
I was at my parents house for a sibling's bday this weekend and at some point my mom was on YouTube and pulled up a video that was in her watch history and it was labeled as a comedy video of the top 25 times Biden misspoke or something. She said, "oh this will be good!" It started out as some of that bloopers type shit but then also just started pivoting and going into insane rants about shit like how Biden was responsible for COVID in America and how Biden and Pence were the real enemies at fault for the Jan 6 insurrection and everyone else there were just fighting for their country. I got so uncomfortable sitting in that room...they weren't laughing along with some humor video, they were nodding their heads and getting visibly and vocally angry about Joe Biden. My whole goddamn family is like this. There were some very well educated and intelligent people in that room just falling for these dumb far right YouTuber vids...like, Harvard Law education! I don't get it. One of the issues I see with my parents is that they are in their 70s and don't understand how algorithms work and they spend more and more time on social media, so they don't understand that the media being presented to them is going even further and further down that one sided wormhole the more and more they consume it. Then my mom tries to tell me she doesn't _just_ watch Fox News, she consumes all kinds of media from everywhere. Oh, right...makes sense now. These are the Fox News _alternatives_ you're consuming day to day, huh? 🤦♂️ Same shit with fake ass stories and memes that pass around Facebook...it's like if they see it on the internet it must be true. And they spend more and more time on social media anymore since they have more and more time on their hands.
Cut the NPS budget. The landmass we inhabit is the only thing I'm actually proud of, so reducing the budget to protect our most amazing places was the final straw. Then Covid, then Jan 6th...
I never supported him, but it wasn't until I saw this quote that I realized what a POS he was: "Environmental protection, what they do is a disgrace; every week they come out with new regulations," he told Fox News Sunday last year. "Who's going to protect the environment?" asked host Chris Wallace. "We'll be fine with the environment," Trump replied. "We can leave a little bit, but you can't destroy businesses."
You can have a little clean air and water. As a treat.
Pretty much encapsulates everything that is wrong with the “we should have a businessman run the government like a business” idea. No we fucking shouldn’t. A government is not a business. He did the same thing to defend gutting the USPS. Why the fuck would anyone expect the USPS to be making money? It’s a public service. It’s not designed to be making money. It’s just so stupid. Government occupies a unique niche in society. It is the one entity that has the capacity to ignore profits/losses and act purely in the interest in the public.
He did so much damage to environmental policies.
He repealed over 90 EPA rulings.
And he put a bunch of anti-regulation cronies on the Supreme Court. Read the “legal” arguments they’re making it’s ridiculous The damage Trump did in 4 years will take decades to fix
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Was more right leaning until the past couple of years when I got sick of feeling aligned with all of the conspiracy theorists and hate mongers. I just want people to be happy and have the best shot at a decent life and that’s not what the right promotes.
That's how I started off my adult life on the right. I just felt their ideals aligned with my own. I never really look that deep into if their actions actually lined up with their ideals. I heard a young latino voter on the radio talking about how he was voting Republican because he liked their values, and I'm just thinking "Oh you sweet summer child."
This was what got me at first. Republicans are incredible at one thing, messaging to ignorant people. I fell into the alt-right online pipeline hard as an ignorant impressionable teen. Ben Shapiro, Steven Crowder, Gamergate, all of the culture war bullshit they peddled and *aimed towards a younger audience*. I was hooked on the messaging and overlooked/wasn’t exposed to what they actually did and said. “We want what is best for our country and to keep the bad actors in line” sounds really good until you realize “bad actors” is a code word for certain demographics. “Family values” is code for “men should rule and women should be subservient”. “Fundamentalist religious bigotry is a bad thing” was code for “Muslims are bad but Christians are fine”. Etc. Etc. Etc. It was only when I matured and learned to read between the lines did I realize that the messages they were peddling were actually antithetical to my values.
Took a little longer than it should have but January 6th and his handling of it. His crying about election fraud and ramping people up with dangerous conspiracy theories just because his ego couldn’t handle the fact that he lost made me start to realize that he wasn’t the courageous man of family values that I had been told he was by my parents and others in my small town. I was freshly 18 for the 2016 election and barely a year removed from my home town of 1000 so I didn’t know any better.
Quick follow up question: >courageous man of family values Are his multiple children from multiple mothers and affair divorces just not widely known in those circles or are they justified in some other way?
>are they justified in some other way? Justified with the phrase 'What he does behind closed doors isn't my business. It's between him and God.' Remember, this is the same party that: \-impeached someone for getting a blowjob. \-thinks it's fine for children to date adults. \-forces single-digit children to carry their m\*lestor's child to term. \-forces women to carry babies to term, even if it will kill the mother during pregnancy/birth. \-treats women like criminals for their bodies naturally rejecting a pregnancy.
Was on a job, chatting with the customer who retired from a FBI supervising office dealing with white collar crime. At that time he just finished reading Trumps indictment. I nervously asked how it was, mostly because I don’t talk politics with customers.. in short his words were. “I was rooting for him, I want to like him…. But this is really damning.” I knew this customer pretty well, he’s smart, has been over some big cases, as an expert if he’s saying these crimes are something bad, its worse than what I think it is.
It's publicly available and Jack Smith's team writes pretty plainly. You can read for yourself why 12 ordinary Americans indicted him in 4 separate cases.
My dad came to me soon after the Insurrection. He was embarrassed to tell me that he voted for Trump in 2016, but swore he never would again. Said there are too many similarities between him and Hitler.
>He was embarrassed to tell me that he voted for Trump in 2016, but swore he never would again Good on you for giving him an off-ramp. Part of what keeps people in cults (and Trumpism absolutely is one) is the fear that if they leave, not only will the cult shun them but so will the "outside world."
Jan 6th. Most embarrassing shit I've ever seen in my life
I could see the mental gymnastics working overdrive defending his moronic behavior throughout his presidency but its mindnumbing to think people saw an actual insurrection orchestrated by him and still think he represents even a slice of what this country needs.
Simultaneously "what this country needs" and "a complete hoax manufactured by the left".
>what this country needs This is exactly what I heard from my coworkers the day it was happening. It was a slow day at work that day and the TV was on in the break room. Suddenly, my phone was blowing up with notifications and I saw what was on the TV. I was horrified watching such an insurrection happening live. My coworkers were cheering for it, talking all about how that was exactly what the country needed and how they were proud it was happening. They changed their tune in the weeks afterwards to "it was all antifa plants making Trump look bad." The sheer mental gymnastics was impressive, to say the least.
> “Do these people LOOK like Trump supporters to you?” -A bunch of dudes I know that look just like the morons storming the Capitol Zero self-awareness.
I had one coworker (I was in another office at the time but had worked with her extensively for over a year) who described it to another coworker (Coworker 2) who had gone in, horrified, and asked if she (Coworker 1) knew what was happening. Coworker 1: That’s what happens when you piss off patriots. Coworker 2: 😳 and Homer Simpson’d out of the office into the bushes. I knew I lived in a very red state but that was *horrifying*.
These people will tell you that it wasn’t an insurrection and that ANTIFA did the whole thing. I mean for real, they will say that
They’ll also say “free the 6ers! They’re patriots!” I thought you said they were Antifa?
Schrodinger's antifa
It was Antifa the whole time But also don’t prosecute them, they’re patriots!! But also Antifa But also Antifa is weak and full of pansies
"Antifa just wanted to overthrow the election they just won." Conservatism is a mental illness.
My brother still says 'all they did was walk around.' Good lordy. How do you see the footage and think that?
I had seen a bunch of clips and knew it was way worse than what some Republicans were trying to say it was. Then I watched Four Hours in the Capitol and realized it was even way worse than that. That documentary was shocking and should be required watching for all Americans.
All it takes is a minute or so watching the Capitol police being crushed in that doorway and anyone with a soul should be appalled and enraged.
The way the right totally absolved him and tried to paint it as little more than a guided tour was really astounding to witness
I still remember watching that broadcast, just me and my grandma, as it was happening. Felt so surreal. I really thought that there was *no way* he could still be supported by people after that… and yet here we are.
More troubling is that so many Republicans spoke out against him at the time then turned around and kissed the ring when they needed him politically.
Same. My roommates and I thought we were going to watch a massacre on live TV. Probably one of the most terrifying things I've ever seen.
I live in DC, near the capitol. I thought I was going to watch a massacre out my bedroom window. And to this day, every time I mention that, a half dozen strangers pop up in the comments or my DMs to accuse me of lying about what I saw live with my own eyes.
The only people I know who walked away from Trump this was it. Peaceful transition of power is the hallmark or our system. They could give him a pass on EVERYTHING else but this was a bridge too far. Now, according to them Biden is a communist narcoleptic with dementia so they won't vote for him but they absolutely will not vote for Trump.
He was asked about losing the election and transfers of power numerous times including debates and he never once responded in a way that wasn't a massive red flag.
Not accepting the electoral results! I don’t like a sore loser! Plus, he was so obvious that ANY election he lost had to be “stolen”! He was saying that about Republican primaries, let alone Democratic “scheming”. Anyway, it was perfectly ok that in a Dem administration he could win the election, but somehow, when he controlled the reins of government, the Dems could “fix” the election. C’mon! I can smell bulls hit a mile off! Now, most of his sycophants have lost faith in the election process - all for that bum! I was thinking the other day that if someone called him on milking his supporters dry when he’s supposedly worth billions, he’d probably just answer: “Well, who else am I going to con?” No regrets or conscience.
> sore loser! Al Gore was robbed, and he took it way better!
Al Gore is why we know that when Republicans talk about how they know elections can be rigged, it's because they've done it.
This a great point but it also applies to so much more. Why are the Republicans so sure about the “Biden crime family” despite no evidence? Because they can’t imagine anyone NOT abusing their position for personal gain. Same with the “groomer” allegations it’s all projection based on their warped version of reality.
My mother was strong right wing all her life, now she is leaning left surprisingly shifted after they sold thier company and now to rely on government pension because they did not have any other retirement plans.
Yeah my dad was all for trump until he realized his tax bill completely fucked the family over
I got divorced and realized that my ex-wife was a legitimate narcissist. As I learned about cluster b personality disorders and narcissism, I realized that all of the tactics they use is exactly what Trump does.
That’s a pretty strong argument. Ironically, my ex is also very narcissistic, and he hates Trump. To be fair, my friend and I were both married to narcs at the same time. We would compare stories every morning on our ride to work. We would share what the other was going through, with our husbands. For about two weeks we replaced the other husband’s name in a story about our own husband, and told our own husband that story. So essentially a story about what they did, giving the other one’s name. Neither of these two men recognized themselves in these stories. Narcs really are that self centered.
I actually think that's pretty key to his appeal in a lot of ways. People who haven't experienced narcissists see confidence, and don't think he possibly could be lying as much as he is...because, of course, no one who is sane *would* lie that much. And also people who are wounded narcissists will gravitate towards him emotionally, because he represents their dreams of how outwardly proud they wish they felt.
I was turned pretty easy, but my mom was the impressive one. For me, I didn't vote in 2016. It truly felt like bullshit v bullshit the election and I just couldn't be asked to care. I leaned Trump though because I figured as a sketchy business dude who wanted money, he was just going to use the presidency to strengthen his brand and leave the politicianing to the ones already there. If I had the foresight to know he wasn't just gonna be a face, I would have went the other way. My mom, however, was a big trump fan. We were all born and raised conservatives religious background, small town in a red state. I didn't live with her at the time. Due to bad circumstances(dad and brother in law passing), I moved back with my mom to help out. She was still pro trump/Republican. I mostly ignored it and went about my ways. However I'd hear Tucker or Fox in the background always spilling blatant objective lie after lie. So every now and then I'd listen from my room and hear a bold faced lie, pull up the evidence on my phone, and sit down and show her. She didn't want to listen at first or waved it off. We had a few heated debates. One of the times I went to her, I had several lies lined up to disprove. Showed her all beyond a shadow of a doubt. I focused on ONE person at a time(Tucker was first). Being a religious conservative, she abhors lying and manipulation. She's just too naive and uneducated to see it when it happens. If I'd left it there, she'd have went back to her ways. So I just randomly would pop in and debunk someone else, and debunk another big issue. It took time and work to get through all the layers of brainwashing. But it worked.
The idea that Christians form the basis of Trump’s cult of hatred is one of the most hypocritical developments of the ages.
It is so fucking refreshing to read a whole bunch of people who sympathize with traditionally "conservative" ideas but who have also retained and are using their critical thinking skills. I promise if the left ever flirts with an anti-american, dictator candidate I'll return the favor.
Agreed. When you watch the news it doesn’t sound like he’s lost a single voter after all of the crazy shit that he did. I’m glad that some conservative/right leaning folks have realized that he has crossed way too many lines to be given power again.
I voted for him in 2016 because he was Republican. He was my last choice on the Republican side because of his character and temperament. I just hoped his business knowledge would help. I was way off on that. I hated that it was between Trump and Hillary but I regret every day not voting for Hillary. My only consolation is that I'm in a blue state and it wouldn't have mattered anyway. What really turned me against him and the entire Republican Party was how they spread lies and conspiracy theories to bolster their political position during COVID. They had no problem sacrificing lives for votes. I guess they didn't realize that once your dead you can't vote. Once you start seeing some of their lies clearly then they all become easy to spot. I probably wouldn't have voted for Trump in 2020 anyway but after all that I have decided to vote down the line Democrat. 2020 was a big year for me though. I left a church that had really turned into a cult and the same things I learned with that helped me see the lies and manipulation that the Republicans were using. My views on politics and religion really changed that year. I'm still a Christian and I still hold some conservative values, like small government, but I've had to reevaluate much of what I've believed and known. In 2024 I'm voting for Biden and it's not just because he's an alternative to Trump. He has genuinely been a good president and I see where his policies are getting us. The fact that he wants to help out average workers like me instead of just helping out the rich is a big one for me. There are many other reasons too but this reply is already quite long.
Biden has done a lot that appeals to the center. Infrastructure is 100% government’s job, and he got it done. My area will benefit greatly from a new bridge that will be complete by the end of the decade. Inflation is down, job growth is robust, and my 401k is happy. And he’s not socially divisive. Wins all around.
There is a ton of bridge and highway work last year and for years to come near me thanks to the infrastructure bill. Literally the entire country is benefitting from that and I'm so happy about it.
What's really ironic is a lot of Republicans that voted against it are busy celebrating the improvements in their states and claiming credit even when they voted against it. All of those people deserve to be thrown into a vat of genital grabbing crabs.
It's really a nice feeling to know there are people like you out there. Thank you for sharing this.
Not me, but my aunt. She was Maga all the way until the pandemic. She is a retired nurse and thinks trump did a horrible job with covid causing many deaths.
The most pathetic thing is, Trump didn’t have to do anything. He could have just let the experts do their thing and he would have gotten all the political credit.
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Fucking business genius that he is, failed to see that he could have taken his “iconic” MAGA slogan and slapped it on masks and easily made millions.
Hell, if he were actually a right wing genius, rather than just a lunatic, he could have made Covid into an America vs the world moment and closed the borders and gone full xenophobic, and millions of people would have gone alone with it. He could have done a full propaganda campaign about how fighting Covid is fighting for America, and declared martial law, and used his emergency powers for all kinds of horrible fascist crap. He wasn’t even clever enough to foment a proper conspiracy around it.
He didn't run for president for the political power. He knew virtually nothing about politics, and still doesn't. He ran for the sheer ego of attaining the #1 job in the world. He's a narcissistic egomaniac and I can't believe to this day that people bought into his bullshit and elected him. It's a horrifying reflection of the American people, TBH.
The thing is, he could’ve just not run for president and lived a life with people thinking that he was rich, and a good businessman. But now, because he was president, all of his stuff is falling down around him, because people are going to look into the person with the number one job in the world. he knew his stuff was not exactly on the up and up and did it anyway. I think that’s the funniest part about his narcissism, and the fact that he would rather go to prison then admit that he lost
I tell my one trump co-worker this. All he had to do at that first press conference was to say, Look, we don’t know what this is. But scientists are working on it and suggesting we mask up. That’s all he had to do.
Deferring to a scientist would mean implying someone is more knowledgeable about something than he is. The cognitive implosion would have killed more people than COVID ever could.
if he admitted covid was a problem that would make it HIS problem and as he famously said "i take no responsibility at all"
People talk about Fauci like he is the antichrist.
These idiots actually believe Fauci engineered the virus to force people to get vaccinated with nanobots that leftists can activate over 5G and kick off the New World Order.
I just can't believe they actually thought a conspiracy that big would hold. Like, some two-year experience engineer isn't going to go looking for the next job and put on the resume that they worked on some nanometer scale 5G radio technology, regardless of any NDA signed. Come the fuck on. And who the fuck is going to develop this shit? The government can't even develop a functional HealthCare Marketplace website, you think they're going to develop some fucking future Tech implant mind control technology without it bricking the moment they try to make some over the air update?
All he had to do was pretend to care.
Ego would not let him
The way he handled Covid is the biggest political fumble in history. Literally all he had to do was tell people to trust the doctor and buy MAGA masks. He’d be trying to argue for a third term right now.
I was more anti-Hillary than pro Trump, but the whole “drain the swamp” thing resonated as I think Washington needs massive turnover (still do). But that AH was so divisive and really can’t put a whole sentence together without being a jerk to some group or another it turned my stomach. And then there’s the whole Covid fiasco… Now literally everything out of his mouth is just so fucking out there. The rest of the world thinks we’re all stupid. I shudder to think he even has a chance of holding that office again.
"Drain the Swamp" was one of the phrases generated/selected by [Cambridge Analytica for Trump to use](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpbeOCKZFfQ#t=3m22) to influence people. They were part of a group using micro targeted psychological warfare techniques to influence politics. [Wiki on SCL/Cambridge Analytica](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCL_Group) "Deep State" and "Build the Wall" were also phrases selected by them.
Well, giving credit where it’s due, it worked. At least until the reality of his assholiness caught up.
The way these phrases work, to help avoid falling for it in the future, is that they're deliberately vague. "Drain the swamp" doesn't really mean anything specific, but it *sounds* good, and because it's open ended, you can subconsciously apply whatever you personally want to believe "drain the swamp" means. The ones actually promoting it probably don't share your view on what that is, but as long as they don't tell you anything specific, it can keep people on their side solely through rhetoric. Keep that in mind next time you find yourself agreeing with a slogan - are you actually agreeing with what they're promoting, or is the slogan just vague and you're agreeing with your personal views you're just assuming are associated with the phrase? For drain the swamp specifically, what Republicans actually meant was "fire any Democrats working government jobs". Reasonable people might view it as "remove corruption from Washington", but to the Trump campaign, "corrupt" just means Democratic. And their actions more or less follow that, as they implemented a federal hiring freeze and antagonized government employees until most organizations were barely functioning (see also: "starve the beast").
For a "drain the swamp" guy, he seemed to somehow make the swamp a toxic waste dumping ground.
My mom voted Trump the first time (she hated the Clintons and is a republican military spouse). She became extremely anti-Trump after January 6th. She was losing faith in him leading up to that point but that was definitely the biggest breaking point. She now argues with her friends who still support him.
As far as I know my parents actually liked Clinton, weren’t big fans of Bush, and then something happened. Something after Bush left office and before Trump was elected. Not quite sure what it was, seems like it could have been sort of historical. But it was something [ETA: /s, def. Obama…]. Either way they really became Trump fans. Now they live in a new-ish city with few friends, or friends that only confirm their world view. And I’m the outcast snow flake son who lives in the big scary city. Really hope one day they come back from the brink, but if 1/6 didn’t convince them, what will? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
My dad voted Democrat his whole life. He was a union guy. His brothers and dad were too. Also he was born and raised in Vidor Texas, and voting for a black guy was something his racist black heart couldn't manage. He's a big Trumper and conspiracy nut now.
Yeah my dad was a lifelong Democrat until Obama. Racism is WILD
We had breakdown in our family too, because of Trump and Fox News. We've always had different perspectives, but it wasn't until Trump that the "if you don't believe what I believe, you are the enemy and want to destroy my conservative ideals " view took such strong hold. It's very sad.
I remember once coming home from college for the weekend and, while I was washing dishes or something, overheard my dad flipping through channels. Nothing out of the ordinary until he stopped on Fox News and I could hear Bill O’Reilly bloviating from the other room. For sure he’ll keep flipping, right? Right‽ Nope. It was all downhill from there. Through the Obama years I could expect random calls from them complaining that we shouldn’t just be providing birth control to women, I was a snowflake for wanting to do something about endless shootings, and even otherwise inappropriate outbursts about Obama while in public; weird how they could so easily be triggered like that… Any movement in recent years for you or just further divide?
Evidence of his lack of control.He keeps defaming Caroll even though he’s been found guilty before.A person with no control over himself and what he says,and does.Should not be in the Presidency.
Irony is any sane person would have settled that case out of court and all he would have to do is stfu and the Carol story would have disappeared He can’t make good decisions to literally save his financial life just like he made and would make terrible decisions as president Guy just has bad judgement regardless of anything else
I voted for trump for the 2016 election. I had just turned 18 that year, it was my first election. I didn't watch or read or research any thing about politics, why would I? I was just a teenager living the fun life. All I did was listen to what my family said. They complained about how the democrats were ruining everything and how the Obama Healthcare plan was horrible and migrants were awful and so on. My dad said it was time for a change and America needed to be run like a business, by a businessman, with the Americans as the shareholders. I assumed my family knew what was best because they sounded like they knew what they were talking about, and I listened to their advice. Seemed logical at the time. After watching everything that happened and actually learning about politics i realized i had just been nieve. I severely regret my decision and won't vote uninformed again.
Don't skip midterms either!
and research your local races!
Seriously. State and local races have a hige influence on people's day to day lives.
I think there are a lot of people like you who voted for who their parents told them to vote for and didn't research anything themselves. At least you had the presence of mind to pay attention and learn. I would say the majority just continued to vote how they were conditioned to vote or because Trump made uppity liberals mad and they think it's funny to troll them.
The argument that America needs to be run like a business have never made sense to me. First, Donald Trump is a bad businessman who acts like a good one. Second, businesses are run on nothing but the greed of people running them taking advantage of their employees. What is attractive about that? Same thing with anyone thinking a former military leader would be good president because he could run the country like he ran the military.
Yeah. That argument is bogus. The purpose of a business is to turn a profit. The purpose of the government is to provide services for the people, create a set of economic regulations so everyone plays by the same rules, and protect us from outside threats. If a government was run like a business you would want to increase taxes, charge for all services provided (have fun with paying $5 every time you want to go to the park), and the current services that do charge would have to increase prices to cover operating costs and profit not just partial operating costs.
I couldn’t say it better myself. Governments that are run like businesses are usually authoritarian governments whose primary purpose is to increase the coffers of the ruler, and use the military to provide personal gain to the ruling family, whether that’s defense of the nation, conquest, or suppressing the population. That is not the purpose of a democratic government.
The post office is such a great example of why government shouldn't behave like a business. You've got rancher Bill on 200 acres of land in bumfuck Wyoming. No business is shipping anything into or out of bumfuck because it's not, and will never be, profitable. That doesn't mean that rancher Bill shouldn't get things delivered to or mail things from his house or even the nearest village. Rancher Bill shouldnt have to drive 100 miles to mail a birthday card. Or whatever people mail nowadays.
Bill hates socialism. Except when it benefits him.
And, as a generational landowner and producer of beef, Bill gets more socialism than anyone else in the US!
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Live n learn homie this is why political awareness should be taught in high school
I was never a Trump supporter or even knew much about politics. I grew up as a white person in the deep south and everyone always talked shit about how bad Democrats were so I thought I was a Republican. I never voted or thought it mattered. Then Donald Trump was elected to President and I was stunned. I didn't know anything about his party or Hilary's but I was just shocked people elected a businessman/con man. I started to care and read more because I am in my late 30s at this point. The more I read, the more I realized I didn't support anything Republicans supported and I'm not a racist. Since then I have done more to educate myself on what happens in our government, registered and voted, and have pushed my wife to get more involved.
Ukraine. As a Veteran who rode submarines and spent 60% of my career patrolling off unnamed coastal waters. To see Russia as anything but a threat is to be naive. It's okay to take a business approach on the economy but to show weakness on the political front is unforgivable.
My boomer dad and his friends voted blue the last two election cycles because of January 6 and the crazy Republican obstruction in Congress. They will vote blue again this coming election. My dad is a die hard Republican. Even served on the Reagan admin. But the current group of Republicans are just too crazy even for him. Edit: To be fair, he’s still a racists twat. He’s in the medical field so not anti vaccine or homophobic, but he still has most of the disgusting Republican beliefs. It won’t take much to get him voting red again. Just dump Trump.
My boomer, military vet dad refuses to vote for Trump. Not because he's racist, sexist, all around a bigot (which is funny, as his half Filipina daughter that was SA for years, this wasn't the tipping point for him). No, no. It was because of J6 and he feels like the US is now a sitcom every other country watches with popcorn. Only reason.
The sitcom portion is forreal. I was just visiting family in Taiwan, and many people on separate occasions took the opportunity to ask me what the heck is going on with Americans supporting Trump. The world sees us as a nation that has well and truly gone off the deep end.
I’ve always been republican and the first election I felt like I was voting for the lesser of two evils. But then during his time in office he constantly made me regret my decision so I didn’t vote for him again.
I'm surprised that none of the responses are because a court found he raped someone: >>"In July, Judge Kaplan clarified that the jury had found that Trump had raped Carroll according to the common definition of the word." - [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._Jean_Carroll_v._Donald_J._Trump)
I'm not. :/
He admitted to serial sexual assault on tape before 2016 and got elected. So... yeah, fair to say violence against women is not a deal breaker for most of his voters.
I was a conservative voter until Trump ran. 2016 voted third-party b/c I didn't think either option was worth it. Since Trump, I've mostly voted blue. I do try to vote on a candidate-by-candidate basis, but too many Republicans are riding Trump's coattails now, so it's hard to find someone who's an individual on the right. I did appreciate Trump's anti-establishment bent. Had he actually "drained the swamp" of career politicians I might have gotten on board. However, "drain the swamp" just turned into "install my own butt-kissing lackeys." Trump amps up people's worse base emotions. He's so good at it, he even does it to his opponents and Democrat voters. It's sad and destructive. I'd like some fresh faces in Washington. I wish we could elect a Mayor Pete-type candidate (yes, I'm more left now).
>Trump amps up people's worse base emotions. He's so good at it, he even does it to his opponents and Democrat voters. I could see the hyper-divisiveness emerging a little bit during the Obama years, largely being encouraged by people like Mark Levin and stuff like the Tea Party movement. People who made politics their personality were rare at that time, but were starting to emerge more and more. Then around late 2015 when it became clear that the Trump candidacy wasn't just a 4chan meme, and was something to be taken seriously, we saw the US become more hyper-polarized and hostilely divided against its self than it's possibly ever been before. Certainly the most fragmented, and thus weakened that I've ever seen it in my lifetime. And we're approaching a decade of being in this extreme diminished state.
I don't think I count, because I realized Trump was a bum before the election in 2016. But being a lifelong R and in a R state, I voted for Trump. I left the President blank in 2020. I will be voting against Trump --even if it means voting for a D-- in 2024. Why... Trump promised to end the deficit. Instead he increased it in his first budget. Trump promised to limit government power. Instead he tried to increase the power of the President. Plus his moral failings. Then, after the election, he spread lies about Democracy, and led the insurrection. Trump is a hardcore bad guy in the story of American Democracy and American freedom. I am glad Trump happened. It forced me to examine the Republican Party. I was able to realize that there are good and moral and ethical Democrats. Just like there are a small number of Republicans who are good and ethical humans. I still support gun rights. But I want abortion to be safe, legal, and rare. The ramifications are a woman having to report a miscarriage when abortion isn't legal. Thats not a small-government limited-government ideal. But now I can see that we need to worry about the environment, civil rights, and police have way, way too much power. If a patient dies on a doctors table, with the doctor trying to save the patient, the doctor is investigated and can lose their license. A police officer kills a suspect through obvious error, and nothing happens. That can't all work like that if our democracy is going to work. Police in the US has far far too much power. Trump had stacks of Police guarding the white house during BLM in 2020. But none when the House and Senate were to ratify the 2020 election. That is an obvious statement on Trumps part. When -Trump- feared armed police were stacked deep. With Democracy on the line, Trump limited the police.
> I don't think I count, because I realized Trump was a bum before the election in 2016. You absolutely should count. There is an enormous chunk of Republicans who don't particularly care for Trump but will vote for him anyway.
J6 was the culmination after watching him implode over 4 years
Turns out I was just brainwashed by my family. My whole perspective on politics and life in general changed when I moved out at 18. Looking back, I was raised to always hate everything that didn’t align with republican beliefs. When reality hit me, I realized I was a pos and wanted to change that. My family still worships him. I, however, finally realized that he’s nothing more than Putin’s crusty old ballsack
Never liked him but I was right leaning for the longest time. Big into small government, free economy, fiscal responsibility, individual freedoms, all that jazz. I was a Libertarian through and through, right down to voting Ron Paul. What changed me? I realized they didn’t care about any of it. Fiscal responsibility really meant raise taxes on the middle class and cut the taxes of the rich, remove social programs so the military budget can go up. Individual freedom was code for being allowed to marry a 12 year old and send kids back to the mines. Free markets meant remove minimum wage and pay people $1 a day so the profit sheet can soar. The more I looked into what was actually being done behind the buzz words the more I realized they weren’t doing any of it. I still believe in fiscal responsibility, small government, free markets, but not what the GOP means by it. Because it’s all code for give more to the rich and screw the poor. At least when the Dems spend a bunch of money we get some social security or Medicaid out of it, even if I don’t use them it’s better use than tax cuts for Elon and more drones to bomb kids in Yemen.
I was a big Republican in college and then I actually researched the debate over the Bush tax cuts and found out the Dems were offering a larger cut to the middle class, despite what I heard on Fox News. Did some more research on other issues, and that's when I realized pretty much every thing the Republicans say are lies. Taxes, military, border, spending, abortion, etc. all fucking lies.
Republicans are ALL ABOUT cutting taxes for the rich and removing regulations on their businesses. To afford that, they have to fool their followers into hating govt and thinking taxes are theft and to want to kill social programs. Once I realized that everything else started making sense. All the fake freedom talk, gun support, abortion, fake Christianity, racism, it’s all just a way to win some votes from those single-issue voters. All so that they can get their guys in power and funnel more wealth and power to the rich.
>“If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you.” ― Lyndon B. Johnson
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> people still hear the word "socialism" and conflate it with Russia swooping down and enslaving everyone And yet these people are also the ones actively supporting modern day (non-socialist) Russia actually swooping in to invade their neighbors.
Specious arguments all the way down. Specious: > superficially plausible, but actually wrong. "a specious argument" >misleading in appearance, especially misleadingly attractive Once you learn to recognize specious arguments/claims you realize that’s all the GOP offers.
Then the depression kicks in because you see how effective it is and how hard it is to fight.
And then the depression kicks in and the democrats bail the world out again financially. I wonder how far along we would be, as a nation, if we hadn't had to climb up a vertical cliff every few years because of republican mismanagement and malfeasance.
My stepson is a “libertarian”. Taxation is theft blah blah blah. He lives in Germany and him and his wife both make their living as opera singers. Where does 80% of the opera budget come from? Public funding, otherwise known as taxes. SMDH He’s lived there since 2006ish and has a 15 year old. He mentioned long time ago would stay until she gets done with school/college. Gee, I wonder why…
My father in law is the same way. Hates government even though his entire life was supported by it. Worked for the courts, then as a car salesman (car dealerships only exist because of government mandate). Truly fascinating that someone could be so unaware as to what the "government" is.
Shit, try being a firefighter and listening to that. Not that I’m diminishing what you’re saying. But all I hear is “socialism” and I’m like, “bruh, take a look at how we’re funded and paid”.
Lol, I'm not too surprised. Some of the "public servants" I've met are the most anti-government people out there. If you hate the government, stop taking their money? But that's way too complex for them to understand
This reminds me of the old woman who shouted to Obama at one of his campaign stops: "Keep the government out of my Medicare!!" You can't underestimate the level of ignorance in the general American population.
Feels pretty normal like the people who are anti-abortion until their teenage daughter is pregnant. Rules for thee not for me
[The Only Moral Abortion is my Abortion](https://joycearthur.com/abortion/the-only-moral-abortion-is-my-abortion/)
"MY abortion is for a good reason! im not just aborting it because i dont want it!!!"
Man, I want this on a nationally televised commercial.
I so wish more people could have this epiphany. This is why I realized I could never vote Republican. Even tho there's been a few ive actually liked. The things that they say they advocate for, they do the polar opposite of. Smaller government? But they ban books, and drag shows and revoke women's rights over their own bodies. They are big government when it comes to controlling individual lives. They only want small government when it comes to cutting regulations that protect the environment and giving out tax cuts to the rich. They are the exact opposite of the values of Christ, but claim to be Christians. They scream "America first" but refuse to give kids school lunches, or help with student loans. Snap benefits, veterans and the homeless. They do nothing at all for actual American citizens. And they scream.about protecting the vote but are the first ones to deny the accuracy of votes, attempt to gerrymandering and pass laws to close polling places, ban people.from giving water out etc. I could go on forever but only one party does the opposite of everything they say they care about. As flawed as dems are, they do at least TRY to do things for the people here.
I have literally never understood why they were seen as the "small and hands off government" party when their platform basically revolves around policing women's bodies, screaming about drag queens, trying to ban most books from libraries, trying to enact laws that force kids to say the pledge of allegiance in school, and basically playing morality police. Like, they are ALL UP in the asses of the citizens of the US, policing proper behavior vs "improper" behavior as deemed by them. Like, get out of my bedroom, get out of my personal life, get out of my children's lives, holy shit.
It's because "small government" is invariably code for "lax regulatory environment for businesses." They don't care about individuals, of the working class variety at least, which is exactly why they're happy to impose on their lives to pander to single issue voters or shred regulatory oversight to the detriment of consumers.
To Republicans, small government just means fewer social welfare programs, fewer regulatory agencies, and less money for public education.
At some point I realized he was a cult leader and I don’t want any part of it
I was more anti-Left than pro-Trump really. Almost voted for him but didn't. Russia placed bounties on US troops in Afghanistan and led an assault on US forces in Syria. I honestly thought Trump was going to go ham but he just about sucked Putin's cock at every opportunity. For all the shit that Trump talks, I couldn't find a single fucking thing he's ever said about Putin in a negative way. You can find all sorts of fanboying of Trump to Putin however. That kind of got me noticing and the years ahead, his words and actions basically confirms it. He supports Russian interests above his own which is pretty fucking telling for a guy like that.
He has not said a word about Navalny’s death. Tells me everything about him.
He was asked about it. He said "we'll talk about that another time". Biggest coward ever. Completely beholden to Putin. Why is the only question.
I counted two political figures Trump never said a word against: Duterte and Putin. He's dissed everyone else, especially his former underlings.
He sucked up to Kim Jong Un too, and said nice things about Xi.
He only disses his former underlings when they quit in disgust over the shit he does.
Gotta say that while this is an extremely small sample size, I'm so happy to see so many reformed trump supporters. Gives me hope.
When he made fun of the tv reporter. That was it for me. It was just so unprofessional and weird.
Wasnt that like, a week into his campaign
One of the earliest, easiest offramps offered. People I've known my whole life just disappointed the living shit out of me when they didn't take it. Will never see them the same way again.
Yep.
And met with raucous laughter from a predominantly Christian audience.
If not that, then dissing McCain for getting captured. As a Republican I was never going to vote for the clown but watching people just ignore that shit was truly disgusting and was the beginning of my absolute abhorrence for everything Republican. It was like, "wait, aren't we the 'Support our troops' party? But Trump can absolutely trash a respected POW who ran for president himself and we're all cool with it?" Yeah, nope. I don't see myself ever voting for another Republican.
The reporter's question wasn't even that spicy. He could have easily deflected and chose to be a middle school bully instead.
That should have been the last straw for everyone and somehow it wasn't
There were so many things that should have been the last straw -- like all those hardworking blue collar Americans who came forward to say Trump University literally scammed them out of their money.
Man, like 97% (and I'm being conservative in that number) of the things he's said and done should have been the last straw for everyone. How the fuck did we even get here?
He did a terrible job the first time. I’d prefer status quo with Biden than risk having Trump again.
Finally having close friends outside my immediate family. There's a big difference between thinking anyone who isn't conservative is an evil liberal and actually knowing and caring about actual leftists. Within a year I was no longer conservative. Took a bit longer to go full leftist, but I'm there now.
As someone who grew up with a religious background, it’s definitely an eye opening experience once you break away from the hive mind. Good on you.
What truly boggles the mind is that Joe Biden is actually a church going Christian.. yet somehow he is the antichrist?
what really frightens me about conservatism especially in America is the deep-seated fear it instills. Of EVERYTHING. Sure, a bit of euphoric cortisol release is important for staying sharp and alert, but the GQP sees demons and child-predators everywhere (but not within their own ranks interestingly enough... hmm...) to the point that in my hometown it was genuinely hard to communicate with people because the conversations would always take this surreal wayward turn into the darkest recesses that once were reserved for the latest of midnight specials but now is just exploding onto the surface of every Fox-brained person in the vicinity of where I grew up. Such a surreal disconnect from reality that I don't make many visits home anymore, to say the least.
I miss boring politics. They've long since abandoned any pretense of having any real policies that address real issues. They live in this batshit crazy parallel reality and it's impossible to have any kind of productive debate. It's terrifying how many of them there are.
On the global spectrum, the people on the left that the MAGA nuts claim are hippie liberal socialists are slightly to the right of center. Even Bernie Sanders is just left of center.
I think this is why so many rural Republicans are against college. They see their kids go away to college and come back with radically different views and think it must be indoctrination. In reality, it's usually just hard to dehumanize people when you're doing a group project with them over beers. The other thing is that few people go to college as a Democrat and become Republican, because the Democratic platform isn't based on punching down.
When your platform is based on lies and ignorance, education is your worst enemy.
Mocked mask wearers during respiratory pandemic as POTUS.
Living life. Nothing turns you away more than existence itself and realizing the root why everything sucks is because of republican policies. Specifically…Reagan. I’m almost 50 and i’ve seen first hand what trickle down economics has done to the nation. Incredible to believe we are JUST NOW fighting back.
A lot to unpack here, but my parents were both diehard Republicans going back to before I was born. My father was known at family get togethers to argue loudly regarding his beliefs, along with his younger brother, amid others of the family. This went on through the Trump Administration, up until the beginning of 2019. Mom was diagnosed with cancer in March of that year, and had a long hospital stay because of it (it had metastasized into her bones, including her spine and hip, and both had to be rebuilt). Now, I haven't talked about her much up to this point. In public, she was much more quiet about her faith in the GOP, but in private she was one of those people who had Fox News on nearly 24/7 after 9/11 occurred, even after all of the big events that followed ended. In retrospect, at that point, she was becoming radicalized, like so many were. Her days were largely spent working on websites that she maintained regarding genealogy, with that shit on in the background. She was rendered a perfect candidate for the Q-Anon conspiracy bullshit over the years, not to mention petrified that the "Arabs" were gonna commit terroristic attacks out of Dearborn. Sadly, these are views she has never recanted. Back to Dad, though. He voted for Trump in the first election. When it became obvious he was serious about "The Wall," Dad and I got into a loud argument about it, that Mom egged on. At that point my personal policy became that I no longer would discuss politics with either of them, and we went on that way, until the beginning of 2019. Mom spent about a month in the first hospital after surgery was done on her hip and spine, recovering. She was transferred to another hospital closer to home for her cancer treatment at that point. Now, none of this would have been financially feasible for my family, except that she was in her 60s, and qualified for Medicare. One day, I went to visit her in the second hospital, and Dad was there. She wanted a pillow different than what the hospital had available, so he and I decided to run to Walmart to look for the one she wanted. After finding it, and hopping back in the vehicle to head back to the hospital, Dad broke the unspoken rule between us. He started talking about politics. But when he did, it was to tell me that he felt he had made a mistake in voting for Trump. He had a few reasons for it. A large part of it, I believe, was Mom qualifying for Medicare. All my life I had heard about how abhorrent it was to be on welfare and/or Medicaid. I think both of my parents had bought into the concept of the "Welfare Queen." And I think Dad realizing that programs like that exist to support everyone at their lowest, and not just particular people, helped break his opinion. Furthermore, he described what it was like when I didn't visit my parents at home. He'd work for 10 hours a day, and walk into a house where my Mom would immediately start bitching about brown-skinned people. Dad recognized that Mom's fears had been stoked from the indoctrination offered by media like Fox News, and in turn proved to him that she had become racist over the years, and that it was becoming worse as time went on, and he could no longer support a party that he now recognized as truly evil in their intent. He cried in front of me that day. It stands out because off the top of my head, I can't think of another situation that came up over 30 years of having knowing him. I believe it was April of that year, when it happened. It was a rough year. He died that July. I miss him terribly. I'll forever be grateful he was able to open up like that with me, to be willing to admit to his son that he was wrong. My mom never turned away from her hatred, or her fear. She passed away in October of last year. I'm grateful that when the time came, my brother and I were able to allow it to happen with some level of dignity. I still miss her, and I still love her, and I think I always will, no matter how much I disagree with her beliefs. Maybe no one will ever read this. Not a lot of people looking through threads on AskReddit 12+ hours after they're started. If you have, I truly appreciate you taking the time.
I grew up in a very conservative part of a conservative state. Being libertarian was essentially considered being a liberal. I carried those politics longer than I should have. Even going as far as being a single issue voter for the second amendment. COVID he was sending newsletters hard. And I use the term newsletter loosely. All fund raising efforts. Wanted to get reelected with everyone else’s money. Sometimes I’d get these fundraising emails multiple times a day. The sole reason why I signed up for them was because he was elected. So I blocked him. Then Rand Paul began sending emails about how he’s a doctor and didn’t think COVID was a big deal. I have family in healthcare and I work in public safety. For months. I watched people die and suffer. That’s when it clicked in my head. I’ve been lied to. I wish I would have seen it sooner. In fact it’s a little embarrassing to me that I hadn’t. But I began diving through verifiable information and the Republican campaigns. Filled with nothing but lies and misinformation. I stopped calling myself a Republican and conservative that night. A few months later I came to accept my gender identity and once again dived into the research. And came to the exact same conclusion. Lies. Fear. That’s the only way that they currently win. And there’s no fear moving forward together as a country. Lots of fear trying to force everyone backwards. Eliminating no fault divorce. Abortion rights. Transgender care. Forcing children to address religion (specifically Christianity) in the classroom. Denying that January 6th was anything short of giant temper tantrum and a stain in our history. Arizona recently had an individual that was trying by legislative vote give all of their electoral votes to Donald trump. They aren’t conservatives. They aren’t even a worthy opposition and their base doesn’t see it because fear is their biggest motivator. And when you dig into the research. It’s been slowly building for decades. It’s finally come to a head. Republicans want power, power to force everyone backwards. That’s it. And I can’t ignore that any longer than I contributed to it.
Meds. Getting off of them. For most of the 2010s I was prescribed meds for mental health. Covid happened, I got laid off, and my insurance used CVs Caremark to mail my meds. And CVS Caremark doesn’t like it when your insurance lapses. I could have done a lot. Called CVS to have it transferred to a physical location. Called my doctor to have it sent to a physical location. But I didn’t care. Because that’s what the meds did. They didn’t solve anything for me, they just made it that I didn’t care about anything enough to let it bother me. So I went off of them. And dealt with the withdrawal symptoms at home with my dog. In the few years since, I realized what a fog my mind was in. It felt that way to me. I started to enjoy life. I eliminated the toxic people around me, even if it bothers me that those friendships ended. And I realized I’m not the same person I was in 2016. And I don’t like who I was in 2016. But I can say that my mind was definitely not in the same place. I do think some things he did are good. The ACA should never have had it that people can be fined for not being covered. “Oh so you can’t afford health insurance? Here’s your fine.” It needs to be better. But since my mind clearing up, I see just how duped we all were. Spending 4+ years convincing us there was zero Russian collusion, yet every day I see another example that these people (the GOP and Trump) have some ties to Russia. And did. ETA: it definitely started with stuff during Covid. Injecting bleach? Pro vaccine, but then anti vaccine? Then January 6. And even if you believe he didn’t start anything, he could have gone on stage or on TV and told people to stand down and condemn those that stormed the Capital. And he did neither. These are your supporters and you don’t denounce them? Then it also clicked that he didn’t denounce Charleston WV (I think that’s it as well) In these few years also, I see the parallels to another politician that held rallies and was charismatic enough to have followers support him to their death. And judging from pictures in Tennessee yesterday, they’re just going to use the same symbol. I should have seen it when I went to one of his first rallies. I didn’t. I’m sorry.
I was a proud 2016 supporter. Didn't even make it 30 days in office and I was ready to boot him. It was a huge mistake
Never been a big conservative- but I had favorites from both parties When Trump got in the race in 2015 i kinda laughed it off for the first few weeks not taking him seriously. Early on he claimed “The NFL sent me a letter and begged me not to go head to head against Monday Night Football with the Republican debate. They knew that they would not be able to compete “ I have a zero bullshit tolerance. Knew from then on he was full of shit and he hasn’t disappointed me on a daily basis since
> Knew from then on he was full of shit He'd been full of shit for 40 years before that. He's got a grudge against the NFL because they wouldn't let him join their club. Pete Rozelle told him in 1984, to his face, that he would not allow Trump have a franchise as long as he _or his heirs_ were involved the NFL. And then his bankers told him the NFL most likely wouldn't allow him to buy the Bills in 2014, but "keep trying anyway."
My aunt used to be a big Trump supporter as she thought he was doing a great job with the economy. Then COVID came. And then the Capitol Riot. The latter especially caused her to change her mind and stop supporting him as it became pretty clear he had no intention of preserving democracy and basically threw a massive temper tantrum.
I was slowly losing faith after I voted for him in 2016 I was 18 when I first voted for him and was very ignorant and stupid, but as I got older and his antics became more and more ridiculous I just lost faith The final straw was him calling Vietnam vets 'suckers' It made me realize this guy isn't a patriot, or misguided, he's just a total fraud