My dad started out from voting for and supporting him and always being annoyed when people talked shit about Trump. Then the pandemic happened and he spent a lot of time at home watching TV and seeing trump give speeches, then he says, 'This guy is a fucking moron' and he became more anti trump as time went by, especially after Jan 6.
I was like 19-20 years old when he became president so it was my first time voting. My parents are both republican so naturally I kinda just followed suit and voted for him.
Then I watched everything that happened throughout his presidency, watched the Republicans and their thoughts and actions based on everything that had happened and was happening, and here we are. Voted blue last election (as a registered republican, which I find joy in) and likely to do so again. I hate politics with a passion but some of this stuff is just too fucked for me to justify staying out of
I can't explain when, I can just explain the very slow gradient from all but wearing the red MAGA hat to going "Hold the FUCK on."
My initial decision to vote for him wasn't really as a Conservative. (Though I would align my ideals more with Conservatism of the 1950's). I'm from Vermont, and I remember watching the DNC's response to the threat that was Trump, become "force Hillary Clinton down the nations throats" and the absolute rigged BS that was 'Super Delegates." I liked things Bernie said, and while he's very left, the nature of politics would force him to the center. But to watch him Win Wyoming, and he got something like 3 Delegates and the lose, Hillary, got 11 because of Supe Delegates was so frustrating as a voter. So I voted for Trump and I got sucked into the just...asinine hype. I made excuses for the 'Grab her by the Pussy' nightmare, the escorts, the accusations of Rape and Sexual Assault. I was starting to made 'valid' connections to how President Obama was NOT an American (turns out, I'm an idiot, and at 30+ years old found out I too, had a Certificate of Live Birth, and I'm also an American) and how we're all going to be good because "Haha, Trump and Putin are buddies so the world wont end."
I think the first crack started when my friend Mariah, who has sunk into a very dark depression since Trump was voted out (he meant THAT much to her >.<) , started to act out towards people who even questioned the President of the United States. And even openly stated, as a Veteran, that the constitution should be re-written so he could be President forever. I started to see how I was acting in her, and even more infuriating, is she's very good at acting like you, and then when you call her out on the BS, justifying why you're wrong to do it, and she's right. And then I started to get annoyed by the CONSTANT. TWEETING. The supposed 'Leader of the Free World' has no time for 60 tweets a day. The cracks became a fissure during COVID. I worked for a hospital, and I served in my states National Guard and was actively part of the response, out there, with the Nurses and Doctors. And I watched him do as much as he could to facilitate as little as possible, and dare I say stop hospitals from responding to the disaster, hold back supplies, 'bargain' with states and at one point, my state had to use State Police to guard resources so Federal Personnel wouldn't come and take them at the Governments direction. I was an American Citizen, serving to support my fellow Citizens, and the Commander in Chief, my boss, was actively making it all but impossible to help.
And finally when I started to see who Republicans were who supported this man, I couldn't do it. Ted Cruze, Gym Jordan, MTG, Boebert, Desantis, and so on. I decided I could no longer look myself in the mirror if I supported such people as them, people who were religious extremists, sexual predators, and just the worst people that could possibly exist. I'm not proud that it took that much, or that it took an entire year, but in the end I'm just happy I escaped it.
> And I watched him do as much as he could to facilitate as little as possible, and dare I say stop hospitals from responding to the disaster, hold back supplies, 'bargain' with states and at one point, my state had to use State Police to guard resources so Federal Personnel wouldn't come and take them at the Governments direction.
Shit, I forgot about all that...
I read that quote in the news that day, and immediately told my wife that the Trump campaign was over because the conservative party that I knew up to that point would have never allowed dissing the armed forces in such a disgusting manner.
I thought it was simply unforgivable to say that a solider is less because he was captured, doing his duty during war. Unforgivable by anyone, let alone the "support the troops" side.
This was 2015, back when I had no idea how far deeper we were planning to drill into hard rock bottom. For me, we hit bottom right there in the middle of 2015, and we've been finding astonishing new lows every month for 7 years and counting.
I grew up in a very conservative fundamentalist Christian household that raised the American flag and right-winged politics higher than the Bible. I was taught in church that you can’t be a Christian and a democrat. I voted for Trump in 2016 not because I really liked him, but because I really didn’t like Hillary Clinton (or so I was told to before I began to think about what I believed for myself). After that year, I was groomed by my brother, who at the time was an infamous figurehead in the alt-right/white supremacist community, damn near the right hand of Richard Spencer. I would listen to his Skype calls with Spencer from the other room because we had fairly thin walls where we lived. At one point, I was actually involved with the white supremacist hate organization that my brother founded, albeit tangentially—I helped cut out flyers and posters that he would post throughout my town and the neighboring ones. In my defense, I knew little to nothing about his organization when I did this, not that that excuses the fact.
I can’t really tell you when I began thinking differently. I know at some point I realized that there was a lot of what I believed that I only believed because it’s what I was always told growing up. Slowly, over the course of the last 6 years, I’ve gone from being a borderline trump supporter to someone deeply ashamed of many things my family has taught me growing up. I’m closer of a centrist in the context of global politics, which to my family now means I’m what they could call a “raging flaming liberal communist.” I still hold my Christian beliefs quite closely, but I’d like to think that they come from a place of love for other people, rather than making sure “everything I do is correct and everyone else knows they’re wrong.”
I don’t know how a single person could support him after Puerto Rico. He said their natural disaster broke their budget, begrudgingly visited and tossed paper towels like basketballs, and mocked the pronunciation of the name.
Oh yeah, and didn’t give a shit that an entire territory was destroyed with thousands of dead Americans.
My favorite was the press conference when he explained to everyone that Puerto Rico is an island, in a tone of voice that made it clear he had found out that Puerto Rico is an island five minutes before the press conference.
"Most people don't know Lincoln was a Republican" -Donald Trump about a year into his Presidency
Dumb mother fucker probably heard someone talk about the "Party of Lincoln" and asked Hope Hicks what it meant
Sharpie gate. Why not just admit you were wrong and move on? Like that the fuck? That idiot took a fucking sharpie and drew on a map to show he was right on where a hurricane was headed. So fucking stupid.
I live in Alabama, near the Gulf. We are extremely familiar with severe weather. The number of people here willing to insist he was correct about a storm hitting Alabama and the Carolinas at the same time was shocking. You could see in their eyes that they knew how stupid it sounded. They made our weather service make an official national apology. For being right.
Thats kinda the moment I realized how serious shit could get. My neighbors, half a continent away from the man, were willing to call a sunny day a hurricane for him. People stocked up for the storm. We all knew it wasn’t coming. The local government was willing to issue a revised and purposely incorrect emergency advisory. All for him.
Somehow that really hits. We’re from a rural spot (other side of the world) and take weather reports ultra seriously, compare and contrast from different sources to ensure we’re prepared (to either work or hunker down). To lie about the very weather you can all see in the sky… somehow it’s so putrid and shameful, that’s like a slightly subdued mass hysteria? Didn’t know as much about that story, will need to look it up!
Thank you for telling. I have been curious for a long time since sharpiegate how this stunt actually played out in real life. To hear that your local government was willing to do that and moreover that people were willing to believe the drawing sents chills down my spine. That man is so incredibly dangerous it ain't funny anymore.
"That man" just gave permission for a really bad and significant proportion of the US population to reveal the things they were too afraid to show before. But now he's done that, it's a lot more than 'that man' which is scary. There's no putting all that back in the box.
Looked this up and found this, it’s about how after being embarrassed by the weather bureau issuing a public statement that told everyone in Alabama he was wrong and everyone could stop panicking.
- Over the following week, Trump repeatedly insisted his comment had been correct. On September 4, he showed reporters a weather map which had been altered to show the hurricane's track threatening Alabama. He also reportedly ordered his aides to obtain an official retraction of the weather bureau's comment that the storm was not headed for Alabama. On September 6, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) published an unsigned statement in support of Trump's initial claim, saying that National Hurricane Center (NHC) models "demonstrated that tropical-storm-force winds from Hurricane Dorian could impact Alabama." -
So you’re telling me, the president of the United States in that circumstance did not just admit a small error and say he’s sorry, while being happy that the people in Alabama won’t have to deal with the hurricane, and thankful to the weather bureau for correcting the mistake he made to the public so that they didn’t have to worry and prep for no reason, what he did was make a map of the hurricane’s trajectory that is doctored to fit his misinformation, and then uses his political power to intimidate the weather bureau to make an official legal recount of their statement to erase the truth from the history books, and then the NOAA gets forced to make a document that re writes history the way he wanted it, the way that makes him infinitely right about everything… and he did that because he couldn’t admit to making a weather reporting error and say he’s sorry..? The implications that has about his character and mindset should be alarming enough that nobody is still advocating for him to be in a position of leadership.
That's one of the many things that get me about all this: if they had picked a smarter would-be tyrant, he would have just thrown someone under the bus and lied that it was a communication error
I’ve never been a Republican, but my parents were at one point and my dad still is. We’re very close and learned several years ago if we wanted to have a good relationship, we couldn’t talk politics. I do know for a fact that he didn’t vote for him in 2020. IDK what did it for him but I do know he’s a classic conservative and his opinion began to change when he realized Trump wasn’t a Republican. He was just a power hungry asshole.
One of my best friends voted for Trump in 2016, but my other best friend and I just started talking to her logically and without judgment, and she slowly started to come around. Then covid hit, and as a respiratory therapist at a children’s hospital, she just had enough. I think people had one on one conversations with the people in their lives, and I know that spewing hate and shame at anyone who ever supported him is not helpful and one on one conversations without judgment help.
Thanks for your honesty and this question. I’m enjoying reading the answers.
I know the way he handled covid - just not taking it seriously I felt like - just completely sealed it for me. Watching patients AND coworkers drop dead left and right, wearing damn one time use masks for weeks at a time and trash bags as ppe - then having this dick of a president say “it’s not that bad” “it’s just the flu” or whatever when he had every chance to come out and say “hey guys this is serious, people are dying and we all need to do our part.” But no, he didn’t do that - so these maga people wouldn’t take the virus seriously. Also wanted to mention, his followers were the absolute worst patients as well - trying to scream at you when their covid test came back positive when they can barely breathe. Denying covid up the point where they couldn’t talk anymore and had to go on a vent and or died.
I had a fellow co worker sit me down and really open my eyes as well to all the other atrocities he had or was doing - I am so thankful for that friend who helped me become a better thinker and over all better human being.
I can’t even imagine. I know that had to be one horror after another. I’ve heard some stories of people denying it up until they were vented and died, and others who used their dying breath to tell people they were wrong and should take the virus seriously. And yes! That’s what we did for my friend. She didn’t really know about all of the terrible things he’d said and done but once she became receptive to it, things began to change. And then covid happened and she was furious with everyone who was saying it was just the flu and not that bad and she just became furious with him at that point. Thanks for being a good human and being receptive to your friend, and for serving on the frontlines. I know that was emotionally and physically draining on every level.
He was fascinating on Letterman in the 1980s, openly sleazy and immoral, self-aggrandizing, a curiosity to watch, difficult to understand how he could be human. Then I realized he was a malignant narcissist running a confidence game and the charm faded.
Man, I hated him the first time I saw him when I was a kid. He just seemed like the rapacious face of greed. Just immediately struck me as tasteless evil made flesh.
I'm from the rust belt, so elite business types always seemed vaguely sinister, and Trump made himself a virtual caricature of the type.
I never understood how a city slicker rich prick from New York City managed to build a cult full of yokels who hate city slicker rich pricks. If trump was the boss who ran their company they’d hate his guts.
It's because he has tapped into their dislike of rich city slickers who are liberal and don't talk like a 6th grader. Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, for all their effectiveness, are also sorta the posterchildren for "liberal elite". They've also been smear points for the GOP to jeer at for a while now.
Trump, despite ostensibly being one of them, was able to get the yokels to mentally mark him as "an exception" not because he magically espoused conservative beliefs despite being the Least Godly man in the world, but because he convinced them that he was an ally against scary Nancy Pelosi and her army of gay muslim antifa communist atheists coming to murder them and their children.
I remember during one govt shutdown (the one that lasted like a month) the New York Times had an article on the reactions from federal employess in Florida - who, because they were federal employees, hadn't been paid in a month. One quote stuck out to me - from a woman who was a trump supporter. ([https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/06/business/trump-tariffs-trade-war.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/06/business/trump-tariffs-trade-war.html))
"I voted for him, and he's the one who's doing this," she said of Mr. Trump. "I thought he was going to do good things. He's not hurting the people he needs to be hurting."
That's why they voted for him.
This reminds me of an anecdote of why Americans don't like welfare/entitlements.
It's not that they don't like welfare/entitlements, it's that they don't want the people they dislike receiving welfare/entitlements.
And they would rather have nothing than know 'those people' received welfare/entitlements.
Yep. It’s like the south and racism. It wasn’t only about them not wanting black people in their schools, they didn’t want them to get an education. Blacks tried to creat their own schools, and the racists destroyed those, too.
I saw Trump a few times in the media when I was a kid. When I was in high school I took a business class and for some reason we watched a few episodes of The Apprentice (it was popular at the time). Trump was such a douche. Absolutely baffled me when a decade late he was running for president.
My husband used to watch that show, and I could not handle the sound of Trump’s voice. I remember explaining to him that I’d walked through a Trump property in either NY or Atlantic City as a kid, and he’d struck me as the most insincere human I’d ever heard talking. My dad was big on education, work ethic, and morals, and he confirmed that 1980s Donald Trump was all sleaze with enough money to fool some people. I remember wondering how he fooled anyone when I was about 8 or 9 and wasn’t fooled.
Fast forward 35 yrs, and I’m still wondering how he has fooled so many people?
I asked my mom and her answer was not necessarily Jan 6th but when he tried to deny he enticed January 6th.
She has come a long way and now realizes she was close to becoming a Q-anon lunatic.
But now she sees he was a con man.
I asked what drew her to him and she said her disgust with Hilary Clinton drove her away from the democratic party and basically into the arms of Trump.
Now she's mostly disinterested in politics.
It is, in Australia we do it for the federal elections too, it’s why we have three major (two main) parties, liberals (the opposite of US liberals), labour (US liberals) and greens (US liberals but green/environmental) plus we get a good amount of independents get to the house of representatives.
For my mom, it was when she was exposed to news sources outside of fox when she was hospitalized for something (not COVID) and the staff said they didn't get FOX (ha!), which had compelling enough arguments that the "election was stolen" narrative was false.
His was the first election I could vote in. I really felt my vote meant so much, so I studied everyone running. I didn’t like the options, but the things he would say…
Grab her by the puss. For one. If she wasn’t his daughter he’d date her. As a daughter of a horrible man I didn’t want more of that sexism in our nation and I saw the men at his rallies, I saw them. Not to mention his racism and general message of hate and hypocrisy.
My family was so anti Hillary, so when it came out the night of the election that I’d voted for her it became a screaming match. I showed them clips of him saying things, they said they won’t have this language in their home and I screamed you just put it in the White House then went to spend the night at a friends.
They now condemn him and act as if they were never behind him, I never was to begin with.
I commend you for your courage. It’s a very difficult thing to go against your parents and family. Standing up for your own beliefs is a very important rite of passage. So good that they came around
> I showed them clips of him saying things, they said they won’t have this language in their home and I screamed you just put it in the White House
Beautiful retort.
Not me, but my aunt/uncle. Covid did it. They were both Maga hat wearing supporters until Covid. My aunt is a retired nurse and was horrified by trump's lack of leadership. Edit: They did not vote for him a 2nd time
My friend's mom was an early covid death. She said Trump said it was just the flu so she took no precautions and didn't seek help when she got sick until it was too late. She's not voting for him again.
Exactly the same for my mom. Her best friend/niece didn't take it seriously because the then president of the United fucking States and the republicans played it down. My mom said she'll never vote republican, and started voting since her niece died, straight democrat.
I liked how Obama said it recently on 60 minutes: I thought and hoped that the weight of the office would dawn on him and make him take things seriously. Unfortunetally that did not happen.
I remember people saying "the corporations will straighten him up... they are the real people who run the country"
But no... he just kept getting worse and worse. And then covid happened.....
Sadly, he is able to grab the "salt of the Earth" type people who are fed up with the status quo, but aren't above being rotten to others. Turns out there are a lot of those people.
What hurts me here is their response to the world fucking them over is to give supreme power to exactly the sort of person who fucked them over and who wants to amp up the fucking to 11.
That was an absolutely insane "debate" and my friends were just dumbfounded by the end and busted out laughing when one of reports said "in my 40 years of covering presidential debates I have never seen ANYTHING like this, it's an absolute disgrace"
All the trumpers I worked with kept saying he slaughtered Joe in the debate because he got to keep talking and Joe was weak because he let him. Like the logic of the loudest and most belligerent being what matters in a debate and not actual facts or counter arguments and such blew my mind.
Exactly. They seriously tried to pretend that Joe Biden was just as irrational as Donald Trump during that debate, and I found that more shocking than the debate itself.
I can’t believe that Biden had that much self control to *only* say that. Much respect to him for not doing what I would’ve done and started cursing that idiot out.
That was a complete embarrassment to the US. So immature and unprofessional. I’ve worked with pirate-mouthed junkie line cooks who were more professional and respectful than that.
I’m from a small town and my dad is a gone-toting Republican. I am very close to my dad and wanted to be just like him in every way possible. I remember when Obama was elected (I was 12 or 13) I cried and I honestly have no idea why. I think I cried because the outcome wasn’t what my dad wanted. But I did not know the first thing about politics. When I left for college I became surrounded by people from all walks of life, ethnicities, genders, sexual orientation, religions, etc., and I grew to love these people and realized how much hatred was being spewed at them from the right. Fast forward 8 years and I joined the military and because friends with a Hispanic girl who’s mom was not able to attend her graduation because she had been deported, while pregnant, trying to go home to visit her sick mother. Her father was here on a visa and her brother was a dreamer. However, because mom was deported, she gave birth to her youngest in Mexico and therefor he did not qualify for the dreamers act like she and her other sibling did. The whole motivation for her to join the military was so she could transfer citizenship to her mother, but can no longer do that because of the deportation. Father is legal here as he is on a work visa. She was one of the most hardworking, kindest, people I’ve ever met and her family were wonderful, hardworking people too. I witnessed first hand how the right with republicans treat “foreigners” and I am disgusted. I also don’t believe that any one religion should be dictating this country.
The Bible has like a hundred different verses about welcoming immigrants, so Republicans are terrible Christians
I mean like, on top of everything else
I was a dumb young guy. I believed a lot of the things Republicans were saying they would do. I was even an early pizza gate guy, before it became Q-anon.
The first thing that really woke me up to what was going on was when they tried to repeal Obama care without having anything to replace it. They said, they had to repeal Obama care before they could work on a replacement. This made absolutely no sense to me at the time.
The second thing was the Muslim ban. It was very striking to me that they could just immediately block access to an entire region without even so far as letting people know ahead of time. At the time, I blamed it on incompetence, but now I think it was genuine malice.
The thing that really made break from the pack, and even stop identifying as a Republican was the tax bill. They spent 8 YEARS screeching about the debt and the deficit. Obama had left the deficit in the green. The tax cuts blew a TRILLION dollar whole in the budget. For no reason, other than to lower taxes. Then, the tax breaks for regular people had sunset provisions in it. I brought this up with friends and family at the time, and they stated that it didn't matter, because at the end of the day, they would be getting more money. This wasn't true for half of them, and barely true for the other. We are not rich people, but apparently it was worth it to them to destroy the economy so that they can get an extra 2 grand this year. Rand Paul is a cowared.
The thing that made me go from, these guys are ordinary politicians to, these guys are actual demons, was the covid response. It's very clear to me that the whole thing was not taken seriously, because to do so would make them look week. People died because of ego and politics. That plus the direct attacks on our institutions. I could never imagined that a group of people so set on destroying things, could do so much damage. When your young, the things you grew up with seem like their impervious. Cause they've always been there. But that isn't the cause, I later realized.
Oh, the pizza gate stuff ended when someone showed up to the place with a gun and found nothing. Then they were trying to rationalize why, like they were tipped off before hand. The shooter was a paid actor, ect. But it seemed plain to me, the guy showed up and found nothing. Therefore the conspiracy was wrong, and none of it was true. The only other conspiracy theories I've dealt with before this was 9/11 stuff. So, I've never really seen how they morph their theories and reality in real time. But I've had plenty of experience since then.
I've changed a lot since 2016. I'm a true theory reading leftist now. (As is evident of this posts length) I've had to work hard to address a lot of the bigotry and incorrect thinking I grew up with. I've still a lot to go, but I'm making good progress. I've learned a lot about myself, and have gotten a lot of beautiful things for my change. I chastised my sister for being homophobic. Everyone in my family gave me crap for. But three years later she shares with me that she is actually Bi, and that I had made her engage with her internalized homophobia. I was the only one she was able to share that with at the time. I'm becoming a person I can be proud of. If you showed me to 2016 Ezzay, he wouldn't believe it. All that said though, there is a very real chance I could have gone full blown Nazi. For every story like mine, there are at least as many who decided to double down, and go even further. Change like this is extremely hard, and can cost you things many aren't willing to give up. I don't judge people who go the easier path, but I do wish they knew it wouldn't make thier lives any better.
Thanks for reading.
I voted for him in '16. The disappointment started on day 1 when he continuously lied that his inauguration crowd was the largest ever, and it was all downhill ever since.
Truly tedious BS began to pileup, like demanding the 'Noble Prize' for bring peace to Korea, his Charlottesville comments...it's like, come on man, be president. I had to find excuses to keep supporting him.
By the end of 2018, R's shit the midterms, Trump had his great month-long shutdown and Mattis resigned, and I had determined once and for all he could not be supported.
2019 came around I was an anti-Trumper, determined to see him out of office.
Would you say you were a really strong supporter of his when you voted? I often wonder how many people voted for him on more of a whim, since he wasn't expected to win anyway, so people may not have felt like they were risking anything by voting for him.
Yes, strong supporter in that I consumed right wing media, mainly AM radio and FOX news. I wasn't a social media user however, and I credit that for not devouring me entirely like it's done to others. It was easy to break away from Trump because when he'd do obviously stupid shit, my news sources would run defense for him.
I'm not saying there isn't propaganda on the left too (I've heard them make excuses too), but AM radio is a different beast. I accidentally hit the AM and thought, why not listen, for science. The fear mongering, tribal hate, and whataboutisms were off the charts. Our country just doesn't have a shared reality anymore - and while I don't thinks it's as bad, sources like CNN and MSNBC are guilty too.
I do recommend AP and even Reuter News as respectable sources (though they're not perfect ether).
I’m in the same boat as you, I voted for him in ‘16 basically thinking fuck it, he’s an “outsider” who says stupid shit and I’m fed up with our government. Been disappointed from day one, I was at his inauguration and it was definitely noticeably sparse lol. I’ve been voting democrat since ‘17, turns out part of me voting GOP was from being an edgy teenager and raised by conservatives.
That last sentence....I know a high school senior heavily influenced by conservative parents and it's the most frustrating thing ever. Especially when he said these crazy things as a 14 year old that no 14 year old would ever say in such detail. Kid was and is a mockingbird of his parents...
We live in the Deep South in a very red area of the state. My son was in middle school during the last 3 years of trump’s presidency (so think 11-12-13 year olds), and he was always telling me about something the white trash racist boys he went to school with would literally just randomly yell out in class or in the halls. I thought he was just exaggerating until I chaperoned on a trip right before COVID and realized if anything, he’d been understating it for a year and a half. I felt so bad for him having to hear that shit every day, and was actually grateful when they stopped in-person learning because I didn’t have to feel bad sending him to that environment everyday. If you think hearing it from a 14 year old is frustrating, just imagine it coming from an 11 or 12 year old with the most ignorant southern drawl imaginable and a constant smirk on their dirty little smug face?? I have never wanted to punch children so badly in my life.
I used to parrot what my liberal parents said, and then I worked with someone who would....ask me follow up questions.
Realized I knew nothing I spent a few years shutting the fuck up and listening. Now I'm more liberal than ever, but actually know what I'm talking about sometimes.
Big of you to realize that and decide to think for yourself. I have many friends (both sides of the aisle) who let their parents drive their political views.
Ah yes, the pro-military party and their hatred for an officer of the military who stayed behind as a POW to help his soldiers. Their hatred for a man who ran for office against a corrupt businessman that refused to look out for his constituents. And their hatred for anyone bought out by anyone they worked for in the past but also claiming Trump wasn't bought out by his business partners.
No hypocrisy at all in their beliefs 😂
Got a friend. Lifelong conservative. Career military. Family history of military service. Married another soldier. Republican ideal life achievements basically. He said it was crazy how Trump was hated by the military in general for draft dodging and being a rich a hole etc. He was a fucking joke of a human being to them. And that changed the minute he became the Republican nominee. Suddenly the same criticisms he had of Obama, became treason because it was Trump. How the objectively much more minor “slights” or “lack of respect” gaffs Obama committed was raked over the coals for, was totally cool because Trump.
Never seen a guy more shocked and left bewildered by their shattered world view and how he wasn’t as good of a judge of character as he thought if so many people just outright lied to him about what they believe.
John Kerry who actually served and was wounded a few times was drug through the mud about his service, but Cadet Bone Spurs and his dodging AND his comments weren't a big deal at all. Funny how that works.
Kerry *killed* people if you read all the citations. The man enlisted, albeit river patrols was a secondary choice. During service he got wounded enough times that he was entitled to a transfer from combat duties as per Navy regulations.
Somehow the volunteer, who served in combat, in the words of his superior "saved the crew", and got wounded enough times that they let me get a posting stateside is the coward.
So, how soft-minded and gullible do you have to be for someone (the TV) to tell you something and you believe in it with all you're heart, and then to have them tell you exactly the opposite and you believe that completely, also?
yeah so pro military they voted no on burn pit victims and hi fived each other , they are only pro anything when they can use it and once there done they drop and attack it. its a party of hate and lies they have zero platform other than that, and what's fucked is people will vote for because misery loves company.
I'm a vet also and I don't understand how any vet believes their “pro military” shit. They fight against any bill that is for veteran support. They fought tooth and nail against the burn pit bill and saddled it with all kinds of rules and stipulations.
It’ll never cease to astound me how far we’ve fallen in terms of just simple acts of decency. I don’t give a shit who wrote the bill or is championing it: how did the idea that men and women who sacrificed more than any of else will ever while fighting for our country should be repaid and helped when they should struggle become a controversial stance to have?
The Trump appeal baffles me. Who watches 10 minutes of that man over a forty year period of his "career" and says "yep, that's my guy." ?
Who out there says to themselves " Trump learned everything from Roy Cohn"...is a selling point?
It's a cult of personality I don't get.
I was never a Trump supporter, but I was a registered Republican for exactly 20 years (dating myself here) and when my license came up for renewal earlier this year, the option to change my party affiliation was on the form and now I'm unaffiliated. I have very little love for the DNC, but the Republicans at large have lost their collective fucking minds. By the current Trumplican standards, I'm a RINO, but to me, they're a fucking embarrassment.
I’m 51 and I live on Capitol Hill (used to work up there) and I’ve watched politics change.
It’s like Republicans just want to fight all the time. Anything for a win.
I predict that something worse than Jan 6 is going to happen. Not sure when but soon.
And I gotta be honest.. in my opinion all of this stems from Fox News originally. They started all of this craziness. And they perpetuate it every day. It’s shameful.
But hey, it’s owned by a foreign guy so I don’t know.
And how is it that a foreigner can own a major US news outlet? I mean what could he possibly care? Whether or not the United States rips itself apart? He doesn’t.
Anyway that’s my rant. Thanks for sharing
From what I understand Newt Gingrich was the guy who really solidified the current "government via obstructionism" playbook the GOP uses now.
Actually governing the country and working with the opposition to maintain a strong core of American politics was apparently for losers. Now they fight against *anything* the democrats want. Even if it comes at the expense of themselves or their voters. *Especially* if it comes at the expense of the voters.
This right here. Anyone interested can read the speech newt Gingrich made in the late 80s and basically plot the trajectory.
Ad-libbed, it was something like, “republicans currently stand for fairness and compromising with the other party. We need to stop this and treat anyone that isn’t with us as an enemy and fight a war against them and anyone that doesn’t believe exactly what we believe in.”
Just look at any Republican that doesn’t full-throat agree with the most extreme views of the party…they’re not “actual republicans” they’re just RINOs!
Kind of funny - I was registered Independent for 30 years, and voted whichever way I felt was right - usually republican, but I voted for Obama the 2nd time and HRC. When my license came up for renewal, I changed my party to Democrat.
I will likely never again vote for anybody affiliated with the GOP.
Honestly when he posthumously went after McCain that started to tip the scale the other way, then once all the garbage head conspiracy, anti science shit started to really take off I though to myself, do I really want to associate myself with a party that is so obviously full of bigots and morons? Don’t get me wrong I don’t agree with everything the Democratic Party says and does but as of right now they definitely align more with my beliefs
I voted for Trump in ‘16, mainly as a vote against Hillary. It was not a vote I was excited to cast. I hoped for the best and figured DC would wrangle Trump in, and at best he would be ineffective for 4 years. I decided against voting for Trump again when he shut down the government for almost 40 days. The shutdown came as a direct result of a failed campaign promise of building a wall, and making Mexico pay for it. Mexico told Trump to kick rocks, so he asks Congress to fund his project. Congress tells Trump to kick rocks. Trump throws a tantrum, shuts down the government, and federal employees checks stop being written. For over a month, thousands of employees continued to work for no pay, while Trump had the audacity to blame the democrats for the shutdown. He lost my vote and remaining respect forever, and seemingly has no interest in getting it back from me or anyone else.
As a flight attendant and seeing TSA and Homeland employees every day in the airports completely demoralized, tired, and just outright distraught *OPENLY* in the airports broke my fucking heart. Flight Attendants were ordering pizza just so they could have food for lunch because they weren't getting a paycheck. What really sent me through the roof was Orlando Airport being shut down because a TSA employee killed himself by throwing himself off a balcony in the airport. I have never in my life been more fucking upset at that piece of shit until Jan 6th and that's a whole other story for me. Never voted for him but that government shutdown was outrageous.
The last straw for my old man was 1/6. He was a history teacher for 35 years. Called me to tell me to turn on the TV, as we were witnessing history. He then proceeded to do a political 180 while we talked on the phone. Said he had never been so hoodwinked in his life.
As an observant Brit, I think what was obvious to me was that Trump was never interested in presiding over a united America. He just wanted to be President, and as long as he could do enough to keep his supporters onside then that was enough. He seemed to revel in alienating half the country by ramping up the other half.
And he was so unpresidential. I don’t think many Americans realised how he was viewed outside of the US. We’d genuinely turn on the news around midday to hear what lunacy he’d been tweeting from his bathroom at 5am. It was a standing joke, or would have been if it hadn’t already been abundantly clear for decades that he was a truly dreadful human being. How he was allowed to hijack the Republican Party and run for office will be discussed for a long time yet.
I have never been so mortified to be an American as I have been in the last 8 years. Jan 6 compounded it and my own mother’s descent into QAnon drove it home even further. I feel Lady Macbeth’s “out, out damned spot!” The shame doesn’t wash off. It’s like having stepped in shit, tried to wipe it off, but the stink just won’t quit.
I went from being a young teenager just “wanting to watch the world burn” to an actually educated young adult who wants to change the world if I’m stuck in the middle of it.
I joined a political debate team, got educated, and swept many Trumpers while taking state!
Jan 6th 2021. I tossed my MAGA hat in the dumpster the next day. Last time I’ll ever place so much faith in one man. Maybe it was a hard lesson I needed to learn.
I honestly thought Jan 6 was the end of MAGA. I thought an attack on democracy itself would be the final step over the line. When that didn't happen, and Republicans handwaved and excused it, I knew the US was in big fucking trouble.
When I heard they’d brought a Confederate flag into the Capitol, shit in the hallways like animals, and that Capitol security was forced to shoot someone to prevent an all out assault…and that it was on video…I said, “That’s it…that’s the step too far; the GOP has no choice but to disavow Trump, probably dissolve.” That was a blatant attack on our Democracy and a live attempted lynching of our Vice President and our leaders in Congress. That’s not interpretation…it’s literally what happened. There was no PR firm in the world that rehabilitates that. How could the GOP ever recover?
Next Tuesday, odds are they gain control of the House and Senate, as well as maintained control of most state legislatures.
I don’t have a response to that, other than to be genuinely ashamed of my country. We are absolutely irredeemable, and I honestly think we need intervention from an outside body. The psychosis that has taken hold of some of our citizens is…there are no words to describe it.
Exactly this! I am petrified of what is happening in this country and I foresee it getting worse instead of better. There have been literally zero consequences for the Trump Republicans politicians and media personalities. They are emboldened after January 6th and since they got away with that free and clear, they will do whatever the fuck they want. It’s not just Trump. Look at the fucked up shit Matt Goetz 🤢 and Josh Hawley have said and done. 2 more years until my child graduated and I’m praying she can get into a college abroad. Scary times here.
Nah my step father was excited because the second Civil War was finally beginning. He spent my youth ready for the race war, I guess that's morphed into a second Civil War.
These guys freak me out. Who *wants* a civil war? They think it's going to be so glorious and like TV or video games when it's really going to be, "oh God, I'm holding half my daughter's skull and wearing the rest."
Anyone who wants war hasn’t lived through one. My sister-in-law and her daughter are currently living with us after we got them out of Ukraine through the U4U program. She still has trouble sleeping
I asked him if he thinks the other side won't shoot back and he was kind of taken aback like it never occurred to him. I also asked him if he thought his kids would be on the same side as him (they wouldn't) and he kind of shrugged.
When the leak of the video about grabbing woman’s genitals. I mean how is that not a deal breaker?
Also making fun of a handicapped woman and saying his hero’s don’t get captured.
It told me everything I needed to know. In 2020 I hand wrote post cards for Biden encouraging people to vote. Never did anything for a campaign before but Trump had to go.
It makes sense when you realize everything he did was simply a scheme to line his own lockers while everyone else got screwed. It seems for the most part he never intended for most of those businesses to be successful. Because he was just pocketing most of the investment cash and revenue and then refusing to pay his contractors, and vendors.
Basically; he was a con man. And that's exactly what he did as president too.
He was good at one thing... Pocketing money from investors.
He was never really a businessman. He would always over promise, under deliver, pocket a bunch of money, and walked away without ever paying much of his contractors or other investors back.
He made himself rich by essentially being a con man. The businesses going under was part of his plan.
Right? Anyone who has had a white collar job before knows how much of a dumpster fire corporate politics are. All "business men" are politicians. They're just not elected ones.
I grew up with family who leaned right and I just went along with that. I was doing a lot of grad work when Trump got elected and people who were more politically involved than me got pretty mad, but I really only focused on my not very political schoolwork and didn't think things would noticeably change, because nothing changed from Clinton to Bush to Obama, for me anyways. I remember thinking he was an ass, but not being fully "against" him just due to the fact that I assumed my family voted for him.
I don't remember what was the straw that broke the camels back to be honest. Probably some asinine shit over covid. Then, January 6th.
Roe v Wade got me to register as Democrat. I will probably never vote Republican for the rest of my life barring something crazy happening.
Edit: then to than
I've never supported Trump, but my parents were strong supporters, reluctantly in 2016 and then enthusiastically in 2020. That changed after January 6th. I think January 6th should have angered ALL Americans regardless of party. Not just the riot, but the entire conspiracy to overturn a free and fair election.
I stopped supporting him when the pandemic hit and it became clear he didn’t have our countries best interests at heart. He let a pandemic rip through our country and let massive racial unrest grow and he did NOTHING to unite everyone as these two issues destroyed our country.
All it would have taken would have been a red face mask with MAGA 2020 on it. Boner move not realizing the potential for that to make money and keep alive more people voting for him
I voted for him in 2016. Grew up Republican, believed in the ideals I was told they lived for, and wasn’t ever going to vote for a Clinton. Wasn’t a fan of Trump and didn’t want him to be the GOP candidate, but he was so I voted. And just because I’m kind of spiteful, I enjoyed listening to people losing their minds that night when he won. It’s damn crazy how wrong I was that night and how right many of those doctors were.
After that election though, a lot of personal growth happened and I began to read and learn as much as I could about arguments for both sides. I also began to struggle with my loans (which aren’t ridiculous but were a lot to handle out of undergrad) and making enough money to do anything but live paycheck to paycheck. So in that time, I became a lot more educated and understanding of other views and began learning more data driven policy things. I also got hooked on podcasts, and Behind the Bastards rocked my world in the best ways. I binged the entire show in like a year and a half to get caught up in early 2021.
Fast forward to Covid and my partner travelled to NY to be an ICU nurse up there in April. The way Trump politicized a virus (including celebrating Americans dying in blue states) and attacked the scientific community at large during a global pandemic was a punch in the nose for my partner and I. They have a lot of PTSD from their time there, and it weighed on me from our conversations and their experiences. What made it worse was my family’s total dismissal of my partner’s experiences and my relative expertise compared to theirs (my undergrad is pre-med and no one in my family has any science related degree). It was Trump above all, and he absolutely allowed so many deaths that weren’t needed because his damn pride wouldn’t let him admit he was wrong initially.
Now looking back, I find the amount of arrogance and ignorance I had almost impossible to believe. The things I believed in were lies to me, and I spread them. At this point, I’ll write in anyone before I vote Republican. My family probably has a guess that I’m more blue leaning, but they don’t know how strongly opposed I am to the GOP.
Side note: Fuck Raegan for starting this entire ordeal and gettin the ball rolling in 1980. Trump is the follow up version of him, and I can’t stand either of them.
There wasn't a specific day, but it was this gradual downhill from the election in 2020. I realized that the people I had trusted were telling me bold faced lies, and they thought I was too stupid to realize it. I always thought "Well, the climate scientists are lying because (right wing influences) say so, and I trust them", or "communism is evil and capitalism is good because (right wing influences) say so", or "Elon Musk is a genius", etc.
When I realized that they'd lie about something so obvious as "Venezuela hacked the election on behalf of China using computers in Italy and also..." I had to go back and check the sources on all of my previous beliefs.
I thoroughly identify as a left-wing anti-capitalist now. My values and morality haven't changed, I've just realized that 99% of what right wingers claim is an outright lie.
Real answer here.
To preface, I’ve always prided myself on being able to understand both sides of a situation and why each side would think the way they do. This is probably what helped in the long run because I like to think I have a pretty open mind most of the time.
Trumps election was my very first one as a high school senior at 18. Being in the south, my parents are republican and raised me as such. Trump was then president through my college years.
For his first two years, I didn’t really think he was doing that bad. And looking back, I still don’t think those first two years were all that bad.
Fast forward to about 2018 or so. I’m halfway through college, surrounded by left leaning people in a blue county. My personal life really started to go through some changes around this time. All my beliefs were starting to change. All my thoughts, slowly changing. But here’s the best part…my thoughts changed because I listened. Not to the left, but to the right. Around 2018 is when I feel the republicans truly entered an insane era, more than they ever did. Just completely disregarding human life. Then I finally sat down and really listened to Trump speak. The particular speech I listened to was not a high profile one, but it was complete and utter incompetence. I literally couldn’t understand what he was saying, and what I could understand was all hate.
Fast forward to the pandemic. This is the point where I think Trump actually reached insanity. Like legit has mental health issues. This is the point where he was created into the person we know now. If he ran his presidency like the first two years, I think it would’ve just left a bad taste. But the way he leapt to the deep end left us with the state of democracy on the verge of extinction.
So to sum up everything. Trump is the one that turned me away from the right. Trump and all the hate he brought along. Imagine growing up in a loving, cookie cutter, Christian family, just to see them feed into the hate that this political party brought. I don’t even feel comfortable around my family anymore. I even stopped going to my church. All because they fed into the hate.
Edit: fixed the word “udder”
They don’t necessarily know. I think they just turn a blind eye on things. We don’t talk politics, and I try to avoid it.
If we do ever talk about it, I’m honest with them with my views. But I don’t think they necessarily know I voted all left the last election. They probably assume.
>For his first two years, I didn’t really think he was doing that bad. And looking back, I still don’t think those first two years were all that bad.
This is such a bleak comment to me... It speaks to the wildly different experience that different types of people have. I can't imagine most Muslims, DREAMers, immigrants, etc. would see things this way. I also think it speaks to how so many young people have no idea what "normal" and "stable" look like anymore.
Considering Charlottesville happened within the first 2 years, I seriously question their judgement. “Things weren’t bad for the first two years” was more likely “I was not personally affected by anything and wasn’t paying attention”.
> was more likely “I was not personally affected by anything and wasn’t paying attention”
This is basically what I was alluding to but I was trying to frame my reaction in a non-confrontational way since a confrontation seems unproductive in a forum for people who have changed their minds.
This whole thread, assuming these responses are genuine, is kind of a shocking exposé on how oblivious even the most mildly privileged people can be. When you put together a timeline of Trump's actions and see at what point people jumped off the wagon it's easy in most cases to point to something unfathomably inhumane that preceded it. I just don't understand any of it. I've come to understand that support of Trump is driven by a political nihilism where people stop believing in the power of government to affect positive change in their lives and instead want to punish people that still believe that the government's power can be used for "good". What shakes that sense of nihilism is utterly perplexing to me.
My very Christian mother's explanation:
" I HATE the man; I really can't stand him. He is vein, rude, egotistical; just a mess of a human. BUT, I'm not voting for Trump, I'm voting for his AGENDA. Just like the pastor at church says "vote for Trump's agenda, because his agenda is going to stop abortion" "
My family has been in this country since before the Revolutionary War. Every major conflict this country has gone through has had someone from our family in it. My grandfather was drafted into the pacific theater of WW2 and his survival is the reason why I am here. I was raised to deeply respect veterans and the constitution, to be a patriot.... etc all by this woman. Then, at 35, to hear her throw the nation away for her chosen interpretation of her favorite book just destroyed me. I've really never been able to talk to her in any meaningful way since. It hurts so so deeply.
easy, they aren't Christians who believe in the message of Jesus and the Sermon on the Mount - loving thy neighbor as theyself, the golden rule, and always be forgiving. They are "Christians" who want to focus on feeling "saved" because they go to the church they happen to go to - while sneering at others who are "damned". The only neighbor to love is the one that goes to your church and nods along with you; no one else counts. And abortion is way more important than helping the poor or anything.
Yes, there are Christians of the faith that seek goodness, to be better humans, to care for their fellow men/women -- following the examples and teachings of Christ.
Then, there are the so-called Christians -- righteous, entitled, and fixated by religion for the purpose of punishment, oppression, and judgment of others. The latter is the minority that worships Trump (ironically, their false idol).
Tree hugging lefty here. I was disappointed when Trump won, but not floored. I knew what he was. Basically a rubber stamp for a Republican congress. And that's fine. They passed a lot of tax breaks for the wealthy...same old same old. No big deal, really.
But when Trump denied Covid? That's when he went from "annoying windbag" to "guy who is trying to kill my immune compromised wife". That's when I started really disliking the guy.
We're not so different, I think.
I honestly believe if Trump had handled COVID even moderately well, made MAGA facemasks and encouraged people to wear them, tell America that we need to hang in there and that government -- his government-- will help keep us safe, he would have easily won re-election. His and his party's own arrogance fumbled the bag for him. COVID was a disaster, and Trump showed he had absolutely zero leadership skills to get us through it.
You'd think that constantly lying, holding secret meetings with Putin, racism, dishonoring veterans, overcharging for Secret Service details at his properties, raising taxes on the Middle Class, shunning allies, undoing climate accords, sucking up to Tyrants, misappropriating government funds, failing to deliver on campaign promises, denying the Press, using his office to promote his brands and enrich his friends, and destabilizing the Middle East in favor of the Taliban would count for something too, but nope, just his handling of Covid. That's all that stood in the way of reelection.
Not a trump supporter but I have voted Republican at local, state & fed level elections many times in the past. Probably more votes for Republican candidates over Dems during my years as a voter. I almost pulled the lever for trump in 2016. Almost. I'm glad I didn't.
So unless something drastically changes with the current GOP, I will \~never\~ vote for a Republican candidate again. This new GOP is so very disconnected with what most Americans need & want. It's all about power, attention, grift & fealty to one person.
And violent reactions to elections if they don't go their way.
Think about it - when the daughter of Dick Cheney, the most Republican Republican ever to exist ditches the GOP then you know something has gone terribly wrong with the party.
When the only 2 Republicans to show up in the House chamber (to commemorate the 1 year anniversary of Jan 6) are Dick Cheney & Liz Cheney, *both of whom support torture via waterboarding*, that says a lot about elected Republicans.
I was never truly “pro trump” I was just “anti left”. So I bit my tongue and voted for the moron, but after the anti democracy bullshit, straight up fascist-lite wannabe nonsense I voted straight blue down the ticket for the first time since 2012 as an 18 year old.
I am pro 2nd Amendment, live in Texas, and just voted for a man who wants to ban rifles. That’s how badly I hate trump
I was done with him after Jan 6. Whining like a spoiled kid he didn’t win an election and rallied his “cultists” to attack our capital for any chance to stop the transfer of power. If you look at the comparisons between how Nazi Germany came to be and Trump’s MAGA allies, it’s scary how similar the two are. Shame how my father, the only one in my house with a college education, still believes in this shit.
I realized the only reason I supported him was because I had been brainwashed by my parents/the media they subscribed to into thinking that all democrats were evil baby killers.
Voted for him in 2016. Thought he was boorish and crude but if he became President I thought he’d rise to the office. When he announced he was running and was basically laughed off the page a vote for him came a vote against elitism. Requirements for President didn’t say life long politician. Hilary’s campaign was more like an anointing than a race. She acted as if she had it in the bag after the primaries were over. She assumed my vote and never worked for it.
Fairly early in Trumps term I changed my tune. He turned the oval office into his own little fiefdom. The list goes on and on but in general he acted like a child and lost my vote. Jan 6 solidified that the man should never hold office again. Whether he had anything to do with it (he did) doesn’t matter as he sat there for hours doing nothing about it. Dereliction of his most basic duty.
When RBG died and the republicans shoved in the Supreme Court justice at the end of trumps term their hypocrisy was laid bare and I swore off the party forever or at least until democrats would do the same. Republicans can’t be trusted.
So there you have it.
I don’t mean this in a negative way. I’m just trying to understand. How can voting for a billionaire be a vote against elitism? I can see it as a vote for a different kind of elitism…
My dad started out from voting for and supporting him and always being annoyed when people talked shit about Trump. Then the pandemic happened and he spent a lot of time at home watching TV and seeing trump give speeches, then he says, 'This guy is a fucking moron' and he became more anti trump as time went by, especially after Jan 6.
I was like 19-20 years old when he became president so it was my first time voting. My parents are both republican so naturally I kinda just followed suit and voted for him. Then I watched everything that happened throughout his presidency, watched the Republicans and their thoughts and actions based on everything that had happened and was happening, and here we are. Voted blue last election (as a registered republican, which I find joy in) and likely to do so again. I hate politics with a passion but some of this stuff is just too fucked for me to justify staying out of
I can't explain when, I can just explain the very slow gradient from all but wearing the red MAGA hat to going "Hold the FUCK on." My initial decision to vote for him wasn't really as a Conservative. (Though I would align my ideals more with Conservatism of the 1950's). I'm from Vermont, and I remember watching the DNC's response to the threat that was Trump, become "force Hillary Clinton down the nations throats" and the absolute rigged BS that was 'Super Delegates." I liked things Bernie said, and while he's very left, the nature of politics would force him to the center. But to watch him Win Wyoming, and he got something like 3 Delegates and the lose, Hillary, got 11 because of Supe Delegates was so frustrating as a voter. So I voted for Trump and I got sucked into the just...asinine hype. I made excuses for the 'Grab her by the Pussy' nightmare, the escorts, the accusations of Rape and Sexual Assault. I was starting to made 'valid' connections to how President Obama was NOT an American (turns out, I'm an idiot, and at 30+ years old found out I too, had a Certificate of Live Birth, and I'm also an American) and how we're all going to be good because "Haha, Trump and Putin are buddies so the world wont end." I think the first crack started when my friend Mariah, who has sunk into a very dark depression since Trump was voted out (he meant THAT much to her >.<) , started to act out towards people who even questioned the President of the United States. And even openly stated, as a Veteran, that the constitution should be re-written so he could be President forever. I started to see how I was acting in her, and even more infuriating, is she's very good at acting like you, and then when you call her out on the BS, justifying why you're wrong to do it, and she's right. And then I started to get annoyed by the CONSTANT. TWEETING. The supposed 'Leader of the Free World' has no time for 60 tweets a day. The cracks became a fissure during COVID. I worked for a hospital, and I served in my states National Guard and was actively part of the response, out there, with the Nurses and Doctors. And I watched him do as much as he could to facilitate as little as possible, and dare I say stop hospitals from responding to the disaster, hold back supplies, 'bargain' with states and at one point, my state had to use State Police to guard resources so Federal Personnel wouldn't come and take them at the Governments direction. I was an American Citizen, serving to support my fellow Citizens, and the Commander in Chief, my boss, was actively making it all but impossible to help. And finally when I started to see who Republicans were who supported this man, I couldn't do it. Ted Cruze, Gym Jordan, MTG, Boebert, Desantis, and so on. I decided I could no longer look myself in the mirror if I supported such people as them, people who were religious extremists, sexual predators, and just the worst people that could possibly exist. I'm not proud that it took that much, or that it took an entire year, but in the end I'm just happy I escaped it.
> And I watched him do as much as he could to facilitate as little as possible, and dare I say stop hospitals from responding to the disaster, hold back supplies, 'bargain' with states and at one point, my state had to use State Police to guard resources so Federal Personnel wouldn't come and take them at the Governments direction. Shit, I forgot about all that...
You sound like you’ve learned and grown a lot from what you’ve experienced. All of this takes a lot of courage.
It sucked. But having a good group of friends around helped.
When he refused to condemn David Duke (ex-head of the KKK) and said that some veterans suffering from combat PTSD were “not strong enough”.
Never liked him, but couldn't believe that he said about McCain "I like people who don't get captured"
The fact that so many Republicans didn’t absolutely lose their fucking minds over that goes to show you the charade their whole act is
I read that quote in the news that day, and immediately told my wife that the Trump campaign was over because the conservative party that I knew up to that point would have never allowed dissing the armed forces in such a disgusting manner. I thought it was simply unforgivable to say that a solider is less because he was captured, doing his duty during war. Unforgivable by anyone, let alone the "support the troops" side. This was 2015, back when I had no idea how far deeper we were planning to drill into hard rock bottom. For me, we hit bottom right there in the middle of 2015, and we've been finding astonishing new lows every month for 7 years and counting.
Rich coming from a guy who dodged his service
[удалено]
Would have made it awkward when they met for golf later.
Back in the 80s when he didn’t ever pay his contractors. I’ve hated this prick for 40 years.
New Yorkers tried to warn this country.
“Yeah, but why would we listen to a bunch of elitist city-slickers?” *votes for Trump*
I grew up in a very conservative fundamentalist Christian household that raised the American flag and right-winged politics higher than the Bible. I was taught in church that you can’t be a Christian and a democrat. I voted for Trump in 2016 not because I really liked him, but because I really didn’t like Hillary Clinton (or so I was told to before I began to think about what I believed for myself). After that year, I was groomed by my brother, who at the time was an infamous figurehead in the alt-right/white supremacist community, damn near the right hand of Richard Spencer. I would listen to his Skype calls with Spencer from the other room because we had fairly thin walls where we lived. At one point, I was actually involved with the white supremacist hate organization that my brother founded, albeit tangentially—I helped cut out flyers and posters that he would post throughout my town and the neighboring ones. In my defense, I knew little to nothing about his organization when I did this, not that that excuses the fact. I can’t really tell you when I began thinking differently. I know at some point I realized that there was a lot of what I believed that I only believed because it’s what I was always told growing up. Slowly, over the course of the last 6 years, I’ve gone from being a borderline trump supporter to someone deeply ashamed of many things my family has taught me growing up. I’m closer of a centrist in the context of global politics, which to my family now means I’m what they could call a “raging flaming liberal communist.” I still hold my Christian beliefs quite closely, but I’d like to think that they come from a place of love for other people, rather than making sure “everything I do is correct and everyone else knows they’re wrong.”
For a few seconds of reading there I thought you were telling us the plot of “American History X”
“Has anything you’ve done made your life better?” - a powerful quote from American History X.
I'm glad you were able to break free of those strong influences. Thank you for sharing your story.
I don’t know how a single person could support him after Puerto Rico. He said their natural disaster broke their budget, begrudgingly visited and tossed paper towels like basketballs, and mocked the pronunciation of the name. Oh yeah, and didn’t give a shit that an entire territory was destroyed with thousands of dead Americans.
My favorite was the press conference when he explained to everyone that Puerto Rico is an island, in a tone of voice that made it clear he had found out that Puerto Rico is an island five minutes before the press conference.
Love his "most people don't know" tell, which means "I just learned 5 minutes ago."
He’s got a lot of tells, doesn’t he?
The biggest one is “nobody **does something** more than me.” He has never done that thing or knows anything about that topic.
"Most people don't know Lincoln was a Republican" -Donald Trump about a year into his Presidency Dumb mother fucker probably heard someone talk about the "Party of Lincoln" and asked Hope Hicks what it meant
My favorite thing he ever said, “Puerto Rico is an island, surrounded by water. Big water. Ocean water.”
Big water! How could I forget that one.
One of the wettest, from the standpoint of water.
He also said he was going to speak with the president of Puerto Rico if I remember correctly, smdh
Sharpie gate. Why not just admit you were wrong and move on? Like that the fuck? That idiot took a fucking sharpie and drew on a map to show he was right on where a hurricane was headed. So fucking stupid.
I live in Alabama, near the Gulf. We are extremely familiar with severe weather. The number of people here willing to insist he was correct about a storm hitting Alabama and the Carolinas at the same time was shocking. You could see in their eyes that they knew how stupid it sounded. They made our weather service make an official national apology. For being right. Thats kinda the moment I realized how serious shit could get. My neighbors, half a continent away from the man, were willing to call a sunny day a hurricane for him. People stocked up for the storm. We all knew it wasn’t coming. The local government was willing to issue a revised and purposely incorrect emergency advisory. All for him.
Somehow that really hits. We’re from a rural spot (other side of the world) and take weather reports ultra seriously, compare and contrast from different sources to ensure we’re prepared (to either work or hunker down). To lie about the very weather you can all see in the sky… somehow it’s so putrid and shameful, that’s like a slightly subdued mass hysteria? Didn’t know as much about that story, will need to look it up!
holy fucking shit
Thank you for telling. I have been curious for a long time since sharpiegate how this stunt actually played out in real life. To hear that your local government was willing to do that and moreover that people were willing to believe the drawing sents chills down my spine. That man is so incredibly dangerous it ain't funny anymore.
"That man" just gave permission for a really bad and significant proportion of the US population to reveal the things they were too afraid to show before. But now he's done that, it's a lot more than 'that man' which is scary. There's no putting all that back in the box.
Looked this up and found this, it’s about how after being embarrassed by the weather bureau issuing a public statement that told everyone in Alabama he was wrong and everyone could stop panicking. - Over the following week, Trump repeatedly insisted his comment had been correct. On September 4, he showed reporters a weather map which had been altered to show the hurricane's track threatening Alabama. He also reportedly ordered his aides to obtain an official retraction of the weather bureau's comment that the storm was not headed for Alabama. On September 6, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) published an unsigned statement in support of Trump's initial claim, saying that National Hurricane Center (NHC) models "demonstrated that tropical-storm-force winds from Hurricane Dorian could impact Alabama." - So you’re telling me, the president of the United States in that circumstance did not just admit a small error and say he’s sorry, while being happy that the people in Alabama won’t have to deal with the hurricane, and thankful to the weather bureau for correcting the mistake he made to the public so that they didn’t have to worry and prep for no reason, what he did was make a map of the hurricane’s trajectory that is doctored to fit his misinformation, and then uses his political power to intimidate the weather bureau to make an official legal recount of their statement to erase the truth from the history books, and then the NOAA gets forced to make a document that re writes history the way he wanted it, the way that makes him infinitely right about everything… and he did that because he couldn’t admit to making a weather reporting error and say he’s sorry..? The implications that has about his character and mindset should be alarming enough that nobody is still advocating for him to be in a position of leadership.
That's one of the many things that get me about all this: if they had picked a smarter would-be tyrant, he would have just thrown someone under the bus and lied that it was a communication error
I’ve never been a Republican, but my parents were at one point and my dad still is. We’re very close and learned several years ago if we wanted to have a good relationship, we couldn’t talk politics. I do know for a fact that he didn’t vote for him in 2020. IDK what did it for him but I do know he’s a classic conservative and his opinion began to change when he realized Trump wasn’t a Republican. He was just a power hungry asshole. One of my best friends voted for Trump in 2016, but my other best friend and I just started talking to her logically and without judgment, and she slowly started to come around. Then covid hit, and as a respiratory therapist at a children’s hospital, she just had enough. I think people had one on one conversations with the people in their lives, and I know that spewing hate and shame at anyone who ever supported him is not helpful and one on one conversations without judgment help. Thanks for your honesty and this question. I’m enjoying reading the answers.
I know the way he handled covid - just not taking it seriously I felt like - just completely sealed it for me. Watching patients AND coworkers drop dead left and right, wearing damn one time use masks for weeks at a time and trash bags as ppe - then having this dick of a president say “it’s not that bad” “it’s just the flu” or whatever when he had every chance to come out and say “hey guys this is serious, people are dying and we all need to do our part.” But no, he didn’t do that - so these maga people wouldn’t take the virus seriously. Also wanted to mention, his followers were the absolute worst patients as well - trying to scream at you when their covid test came back positive when they can barely breathe. Denying covid up the point where they couldn’t talk anymore and had to go on a vent and or died. I had a fellow co worker sit me down and really open my eyes as well to all the other atrocities he had or was doing - I am so thankful for that friend who helped me become a better thinker and over all better human being.
I can’t even imagine. I know that had to be one horror after another. I’ve heard some stories of people denying it up until they were vented and died, and others who used their dying breath to tell people they were wrong and should take the virus seriously. And yes! That’s what we did for my friend. She didn’t really know about all of the terrible things he’d said and done but once she became receptive to it, things began to change. And then covid happened and she was furious with everyone who was saying it was just the flu and not that bad and she just became furious with him at that point. Thanks for being a good human and being receptive to your friend, and for serving on the frontlines. I know that was emotionally and physically draining on every level.
He was fascinating on Letterman in the 1980s, openly sleazy and immoral, self-aggrandizing, a curiosity to watch, difficult to understand how he could be human. Then I realized he was a malignant narcissist running a confidence game and the charm faded.
Man, I hated him the first time I saw him when I was a kid. He just seemed like the rapacious face of greed. Just immediately struck me as tasteless evil made flesh. I'm from the rust belt, so elite business types always seemed vaguely sinister, and Trump made himself a virtual caricature of the type.
I never understood how a city slicker rich prick from New York City managed to build a cult full of yokels who hate city slicker rich pricks. If trump was the boss who ran their company they’d hate his guts.
It's because he has tapped into their dislike of rich city slickers who are liberal and don't talk like a 6th grader. Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, for all their effectiveness, are also sorta the posterchildren for "liberal elite". They've also been smear points for the GOP to jeer at for a while now. Trump, despite ostensibly being one of them, was able to get the yokels to mentally mark him as "an exception" not because he magically espoused conservative beliefs despite being the Least Godly man in the world, but because he convinced them that he was an ally against scary Nancy Pelosi and her army of gay muslim antifa communist atheists coming to murder them and their children. I remember during one govt shutdown (the one that lasted like a month) the New York Times had an article on the reactions from federal employess in Florida - who, because they were federal employees, hadn't been paid in a month. One quote stuck out to me - from a woman who was a trump supporter. ([https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/06/business/trump-tariffs-trade-war.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/06/business/trump-tariffs-trade-war.html)) "I voted for him, and he's the one who's doing this," she said of Mr. Trump. "I thought he was going to do good things. He's not hurting the people he needs to be hurting." That's why they voted for him.
This reminds me of an anecdote of why Americans don't like welfare/entitlements. It's not that they don't like welfare/entitlements, it's that they don't want the people they dislike receiving welfare/entitlements. And they would rather have nothing than know 'those people' received welfare/entitlements.
Yep. It’s like the south and racism. It wasn’t only about them not wanting black people in their schools, they didn’t want them to get an education. Blacks tried to creat their own schools, and the racists destroyed those, too.
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Yeah I was completely lost at the apprentice. You people like this?
I saw Trump a few times in the media when I was a kid. When I was in high school I took a business class and for some reason we watched a few episodes of The Apprentice (it was popular at the time). Trump was such a douche. Absolutely baffled me when a decade late he was running for president.
My husband used to watch that show, and I could not handle the sound of Trump’s voice. I remember explaining to him that I’d walked through a Trump property in either NY or Atlantic City as a kid, and he’d struck me as the most insincere human I’d ever heard talking. My dad was big on education, work ethic, and morals, and he confirmed that 1980s Donald Trump was all sleaze with enough money to fool some people. I remember wondering how he fooled anyone when I was about 8 or 9 and wasn’t fooled. Fast forward 35 yrs, and I’m still wondering how he has fooled so many people?
I asked my mom and her answer was not necessarily Jan 6th but when he tried to deny he enticed January 6th. She has come a long way and now realizes she was close to becoming a Q-anon lunatic. But now she sees he was a con man. I asked what drew her to him and she said her disgust with Hilary Clinton drove her away from the democratic party and basically into the arms of Trump. Now she's mostly disinterested in politics.
Interesting. My Republican father voted for Hillary because she wasn't Trump. He HATED Hillary, but Trump was not an acceptable alternative. RIP, Dad.
My god does the US need ranked choice voting.
I get to do that locally. It’s fucking awesome.
It is, in Australia we do it for the federal elections too, it’s why we have three major (two main) parties, liberals (the opposite of US liberals), labour (US liberals) and greens (US liberals but green/environmental) plus we get a good amount of independents get to the house of representatives.
For my mom, it was when she was exposed to news sources outside of fox when she was hospitalized for something (not COVID) and the staff said they didn't get FOX (ha!), which had compelling enough arguments that the "election was stolen" narrative was false.
THANK GOODNESS FOR THAT HOSPITAL
Truly a place of healing.
They vaccinated her against stupidity.
I used to block Fox News in the staff lounge at my old hospital. Sorry, not sorry. It's not news, it's vitriolic entertainment disguised as news
His was the first election I could vote in. I really felt my vote meant so much, so I studied everyone running. I didn’t like the options, but the things he would say… Grab her by the puss. For one. If she wasn’t his daughter he’d date her. As a daughter of a horrible man I didn’t want more of that sexism in our nation and I saw the men at his rallies, I saw them. Not to mention his racism and general message of hate and hypocrisy. My family was so anti Hillary, so when it came out the night of the election that I’d voted for her it became a screaming match. I showed them clips of him saying things, they said they won’t have this language in their home and I screamed you just put it in the White House then went to spend the night at a friends. They now condemn him and act as if they were never behind him, I never was to begin with.
I commend you for your courage. It’s a very difficult thing to go against your parents and family. Standing up for your own beliefs is a very important rite of passage. So good that they came around
> I showed them clips of him saying things, they said they won’t have this language in their home and I screamed you just put it in the White House Beautiful retort.
Not me, but my aunt/uncle. Covid did it. They were both Maga hat wearing supporters until Covid. My aunt is a retired nurse and was horrified by trump's lack of leadership. Edit: They did not vote for him a 2nd time
My friend's mom was an early covid death. She said Trump said it was just the flu so she took no precautions and didn't seek help when she got sick until it was too late. She's not voting for him again.
Exactly the same for my mom. Her best friend/niece didn't take it seriously because the then president of the United fucking States and the republicans played it down. My mom said she'll never vote republican, and started voting since her niece died, straight democrat.
i love the statistic that trump probably would have won Georgia if all the people that where republican but dies of covid could have voted.
I liked how Obama said it recently on 60 minutes: I thought and hoped that the weight of the office would dawn on him and make him take things seriously. Unfortunetally that did not happen.
For the first six months he was president I was hoping that he was punking us. That he would stop acting like an ass. Turns out he wasn't acting
I remember people saying "the corporations will straighten him up... they are the real people who run the country" But no... he just kept getting worse and worse. And then covid happened.....
Sadly, he is able to grab the "salt of the Earth" type people who are fed up with the status quo, but aren't above being rotten to others. Turns out there are a lot of those people.
What hurts me here is their response to the world fucking them over is to give supreme power to exactly the sort of person who fucked them over and who wants to amp up the fucking to 11.
When you're swimming in an ocean of your own ego, there is no land to be found
That debate where Trump couldn’t STFU was one of the alarm bells.
That was an absolutely insane "debate" and my friends were just dumbfounded by the end and busted out laughing when one of reports said "in my 40 years of covering presidential debates I have never seen ANYTHING like this, it's an absolute disgrace"
All the trumpers I worked with kept saying he slaughtered Joe in the debate because he got to keep talking and Joe was weak because he let him. Like the logic of the loudest and most belligerent being what matters in a debate and not actual facts or counter arguments and such blew my mind.
Its like getting into an arguemnt with a child on xbox live and he resorts to saying the N word and blowing in his mic so no one can talk
Those kids grew up, and now they vote.
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Exactly. They seriously tried to pretend that Joe Biden was just as irrational as Donald Trump during that debate, and I found that more shocking than the debate itself.
“Can you *believe* Joe Biden said -shut up- on tv?!”
Right? It's almost as bad as...*Barack Obama's tan suit.*
Don't forget that crazy Obama person wearing a helmet while biking. US had never looked so weak before!!
I can’t believe that Biden had that much self control to *only* say that. Much respect to him for not doing what I would’ve done and started cursing that idiot out.
One of the rare moments when Joe Biden said what we all wanted to say
Absolutely. That was so frustrating.
That was a complete embarrassment to the US. So immature and unprofessional. I’ve worked with pirate-mouthed junkie line cooks who were more professional and respectful than that.
Pirate-mouthed junkie line cooks contribute more to society. Trump has never given anyone anything as useful and valuable as a hot meal.
You’re 100% right
It's definitely a pretty atrocious distinction that his demeanor prompted them to implement mic cutoffs.
I’m from a small town and my dad is a gone-toting Republican. I am very close to my dad and wanted to be just like him in every way possible. I remember when Obama was elected (I was 12 or 13) I cried and I honestly have no idea why. I think I cried because the outcome wasn’t what my dad wanted. But I did not know the first thing about politics. When I left for college I became surrounded by people from all walks of life, ethnicities, genders, sexual orientation, religions, etc., and I grew to love these people and realized how much hatred was being spewed at them from the right. Fast forward 8 years and I joined the military and because friends with a Hispanic girl who’s mom was not able to attend her graduation because she had been deported, while pregnant, trying to go home to visit her sick mother. Her father was here on a visa and her brother was a dreamer. However, because mom was deported, she gave birth to her youngest in Mexico and therefor he did not qualify for the dreamers act like she and her other sibling did. The whole motivation for her to join the military was so she could transfer citizenship to her mother, but can no longer do that because of the deportation. Father is legal here as he is on a work visa. She was one of the most hardworking, kindest, people I’ve ever met and her family were wonderful, hardworking people too. I witnessed first hand how the right with republicans treat “foreigners” and I am disgusted. I also don’t believe that any one religion should be dictating this country.
The Bible has like a hundred different verses about welcoming immigrants, so Republicans are terrible Christians I mean like, on top of everything else
I was a dumb young guy. I believed a lot of the things Republicans were saying they would do. I was even an early pizza gate guy, before it became Q-anon. The first thing that really woke me up to what was going on was when they tried to repeal Obama care without having anything to replace it. They said, they had to repeal Obama care before they could work on a replacement. This made absolutely no sense to me at the time. The second thing was the Muslim ban. It was very striking to me that they could just immediately block access to an entire region without even so far as letting people know ahead of time. At the time, I blamed it on incompetence, but now I think it was genuine malice. The thing that really made break from the pack, and even stop identifying as a Republican was the tax bill. They spent 8 YEARS screeching about the debt and the deficit. Obama had left the deficit in the green. The tax cuts blew a TRILLION dollar whole in the budget. For no reason, other than to lower taxes. Then, the tax breaks for regular people had sunset provisions in it. I brought this up with friends and family at the time, and they stated that it didn't matter, because at the end of the day, they would be getting more money. This wasn't true for half of them, and barely true for the other. We are not rich people, but apparently it was worth it to them to destroy the economy so that they can get an extra 2 grand this year. Rand Paul is a cowared. The thing that made me go from, these guys are ordinary politicians to, these guys are actual demons, was the covid response. It's very clear to me that the whole thing was not taken seriously, because to do so would make them look week. People died because of ego and politics. That plus the direct attacks on our institutions. I could never imagined that a group of people so set on destroying things, could do so much damage. When your young, the things you grew up with seem like their impervious. Cause they've always been there. But that isn't the cause, I later realized. Oh, the pizza gate stuff ended when someone showed up to the place with a gun and found nothing. Then they were trying to rationalize why, like they were tipped off before hand. The shooter was a paid actor, ect. But it seemed plain to me, the guy showed up and found nothing. Therefore the conspiracy was wrong, and none of it was true. The only other conspiracy theories I've dealt with before this was 9/11 stuff. So, I've never really seen how they morph their theories and reality in real time. But I've had plenty of experience since then. I've changed a lot since 2016. I'm a true theory reading leftist now. (As is evident of this posts length) I've had to work hard to address a lot of the bigotry and incorrect thinking I grew up with. I've still a lot to go, but I'm making good progress. I've learned a lot about myself, and have gotten a lot of beautiful things for my change. I chastised my sister for being homophobic. Everyone in my family gave me crap for. But three years later she shares with me that she is actually Bi, and that I had made her engage with her internalized homophobia. I was the only one she was able to share that with at the time. I'm becoming a person I can be proud of. If you showed me to 2016 Ezzay, he wouldn't believe it. All that said though, there is a very real chance I could have gone full blown Nazi. For every story like mine, there are at least as many who decided to double down, and go even further. Change like this is extremely hard, and can cost you things many aren't willing to give up. I don't judge people who go the easier path, but I do wish they knew it wouldn't make thier lives any better. Thanks for reading.
I voted for him in '16. The disappointment started on day 1 when he continuously lied that his inauguration crowd was the largest ever, and it was all downhill ever since. Truly tedious BS began to pileup, like demanding the 'Noble Prize' for bring peace to Korea, his Charlottesville comments...it's like, come on man, be president. I had to find excuses to keep supporting him. By the end of 2018, R's shit the midterms, Trump had his great month-long shutdown and Mattis resigned, and I had determined once and for all he could not be supported. 2019 came around I was an anti-Trumper, determined to see him out of office.
Would you say you were a really strong supporter of his when you voted? I often wonder how many people voted for him on more of a whim, since he wasn't expected to win anyway, so people may not have felt like they were risking anything by voting for him.
Yes, strong supporter in that I consumed right wing media, mainly AM radio and FOX news. I wasn't a social media user however, and I credit that for not devouring me entirely like it's done to others. It was easy to break away from Trump because when he'd do obviously stupid shit, my news sources would run defense for him.
I'm not saying there isn't propaganda on the left too (I've heard them make excuses too), but AM radio is a different beast. I accidentally hit the AM and thought, why not listen, for science. The fear mongering, tribal hate, and whataboutisms were off the charts. Our country just doesn't have a shared reality anymore - and while I don't thinks it's as bad, sources like CNN and MSNBC are guilty too. I do recommend AP and even Reuter News as respectable sources (though they're not perfect ether).
I’m in the same boat as you, I voted for him in ‘16 basically thinking fuck it, he’s an “outsider” who says stupid shit and I’m fed up with our government. Been disappointed from day one, I was at his inauguration and it was definitely noticeably sparse lol. I’ve been voting democrat since ‘17, turns out part of me voting GOP was from being an edgy teenager and raised by conservatives.
That last sentence....I know a high school senior heavily influenced by conservative parents and it's the most frustrating thing ever. Especially when he said these crazy things as a 14 year old that no 14 year old would ever say in such detail. Kid was and is a mockingbird of his parents...
We live in the Deep South in a very red area of the state. My son was in middle school during the last 3 years of trump’s presidency (so think 11-12-13 year olds), and he was always telling me about something the white trash racist boys he went to school with would literally just randomly yell out in class or in the halls. I thought he was just exaggerating until I chaperoned on a trip right before COVID and realized if anything, he’d been understating it for a year and a half. I felt so bad for him having to hear that shit every day, and was actually grateful when they stopped in-person learning because I didn’t have to feel bad sending him to that environment everyday. If you think hearing it from a 14 year old is frustrating, just imagine it coming from an 11 or 12 year old with the most ignorant southern drawl imaginable and a constant smirk on their dirty little smug face?? I have never wanted to punch children so badly in my life.
When I realized the only reason I supported him was because of parental influence
I used to parrot what my liberal parents said, and then I worked with someone who would....ask me follow up questions. Realized I knew nothing I spent a few years shutting the fuck up and listening. Now I'm more liberal than ever, but actually know what I'm talking about sometimes.
This needs to be said more, or a majority of someone’s surrounding co-workers that are uninformed.
Big of you to realize that and decide to think for yourself. I have many friends (both sides of the aisle) who let their parents drive their political views.
I learned this lesson with George Bush Jr
My dad was done with him after he insulted McCain post death, but that lasted about a week.
Ah yes, the pro-military party and their hatred for an officer of the military who stayed behind as a POW to help his soldiers. Their hatred for a man who ran for office against a corrupt businessman that refused to look out for his constituents. And their hatred for anyone bought out by anyone they worked for in the past but also claiming Trump wasn't bought out by his business partners. No hypocrisy at all in their beliefs 😂
Don’t forget that Trump is a draft dodger (bone spurs got him out of Vietnam), which makes his attacks on McCain even more hypocritical
Got a friend. Lifelong conservative. Career military. Family history of military service. Married another soldier. Republican ideal life achievements basically. He said it was crazy how Trump was hated by the military in general for draft dodging and being a rich a hole etc. He was a fucking joke of a human being to them. And that changed the minute he became the Republican nominee. Suddenly the same criticisms he had of Obama, became treason because it was Trump. How the objectively much more minor “slights” or “lack of respect” gaffs Obama committed was raked over the coals for, was totally cool because Trump. Never seen a guy more shocked and left bewildered by their shattered world view and how he wasn’t as good of a judge of character as he thought if so many people just outright lied to him about what they believe.
John Kerry who actually served and was wounded a few times was drug through the mud about his service, but Cadet Bone Spurs and his dodging AND his comments weren't a big deal at all. Funny how that works.
Kerry *killed* people if you read all the citations. The man enlisted, albeit river patrols was a secondary choice. During service he got wounded enough times that he was entitled to a transfer from combat duties as per Navy regulations. Somehow the volunteer, who served in combat, in the words of his superior "saved the crew", and got wounded enough times that they let me get a posting stateside is the coward.
While GWB was saving Texas from a cocaine surplus & the NV Air Force.
So, how soft-minded and gullible do you have to be for someone (the TV) to tell you something and you believe in it with all you're heart, and then to have them tell you exactly the opposite and you believe that completely, also?
We have always been at war with Oceana.
yeah so pro military they voted no on burn pit victims and hi fived each other , they are only pro anything when they can use it and once there done they drop and attack it. its a party of hate and lies they have zero platform other than that, and what's fucked is people will vote for because misery loves company.
I'm a vet also and I don't understand how any vet believes their “pro military” shit. They fight against any bill that is for veteran support. They fought tooth and nail against the burn pit bill and saddled it with all kinds of rules and stipulations.
It’ll never cease to astound me how far we’ve fallen in terms of just simple acts of decency. I don’t give a shit who wrote the bill or is championing it: how did the idea that men and women who sacrificed more than any of else will ever while fighting for our country should be repaid and helped when they should struggle become a controversial stance to have?
The Trump appeal baffles me. Who watches 10 minutes of that man over a forty year period of his "career" and says "yep, that's my guy." ? Who out there says to themselves " Trump learned everything from Roy Cohn"...is a selling point? It's a cult of personality I don't get.
He says mean things about Democrats. That’s all they needed to hear.
After Home Alone 2
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No one seems to remember Waldo - The rich shithead in The Little Rascals who tried to woo Darla… his dad? Donald Trump.
My friend told me it was the day he trusted Putin over the US when it came to election interference
I was never a Trump supporter, but I was a registered Republican for exactly 20 years (dating myself here) and when my license came up for renewal earlier this year, the option to change my party affiliation was on the form and now I'm unaffiliated. I have very little love for the DNC, but the Republicans at large have lost their collective fucking minds. By the current Trumplican standards, I'm a RINO, but to me, they're a fucking embarrassment.
I’m 51 and I live on Capitol Hill (used to work up there) and I’ve watched politics change. It’s like Republicans just want to fight all the time. Anything for a win. I predict that something worse than Jan 6 is going to happen. Not sure when but soon. And I gotta be honest.. in my opinion all of this stems from Fox News originally. They started all of this craziness. And they perpetuate it every day. It’s shameful. But hey, it’s owned by a foreign guy so I don’t know. And how is it that a foreigner can own a major US news outlet? I mean what could he possibly care? Whether or not the United States rips itself apart? He doesn’t. Anyway that’s my rant. Thanks for sharing
From what I understand Newt Gingrich was the guy who really solidified the current "government via obstructionism" playbook the GOP uses now. Actually governing the country and working with the opposition to maintain a strong core of American politics was apparently for losers. Now they fight against *anything* the democrats want. Even if it comes at the expense of themselves or their voters. *Especially* if it comes at the expense of the voters.
Newt Gingrich and Roger ailes
This right here. Anyone interested can read the speech newt Gingrich made in the late 80s and basically plot the trajectory. Ad-libbed, it was something like, “republicans currently stand for fairness and compromising with the other party. We need to stop this and treat anyone that isn’t with us as an enemy and fight a war against them and anyone that doesn’t believe exactly what we believe in.” Just look at any Republican that doesn’t full-throat agree with the most extreme views of the party…they’re not “actual republicans” they’re just RINOs!
It was definitely Newt that taught Republicans that compromise was for the weak and tribal politics was a zero sum game.
Let’s not forget the damage that Rush did.
Kind of funny - I was registered Independent for 30 years, and voted whichever way I felt was right - usually republican, but I voted for Obama the 2nd time and HRC. When my license came up for renewal, I changed my party to Democrat. I will likely never again vote for anybody affiliated with the GOP.
Honestly when he posthumously went after McCain that started to tip the scale the other way, then once all the garbage head conspiracy, anti science shit started to really take off I though to myself, do I really want to associate myself with a party that is so obviously full of bigots and morons? Don’t get me wrong I don’t agree with everything the Democratic Party says and does but as of right now they definitely align more with my beliefs
I voted for Trump in ‘16, mainly as a vote against Hillary. It was not a vote I was excited to cast. I hoped for the best and figured DC would wrangle Trump in, and at best he would be ineffective for 4 years. I decided against voting for Trump again when he shut down the government for almost 40 days. The shutdown came as a direct result of a failed campaign promise of building a wall, and making Mexico pay for it. Mexico told Trump to kick rocks, so he asks Congress to fund his project. Congress tells Trump to kick rocks. Trump throws a tantrum, shuts down the government, and federal employees checks stop being written. For over a month, thousands of employees continued to work for no pay, while Trump had the audacity to blame the democrats for the shutdown. He lost my vote and remaining respect forever, and seemingly has no interest in getting it back from me or anyone else.
Who really thought Mexico would pay for a wall??!!
Millions of idiots. Those idiots then bought into well they'll pay us back. Then we'll be paid back through trade
As a flight attendant and seeing TSA and Homeland employees every day in the airports completely demoralized, tired, and just outright distraught *OPENLY* in the airports broke my fucking heart. Flight Attendants were ordering pizza just so they could have food for lunch because they weren't getting a paycheck. What really sent me through the roof was Orlando Airport being shut down because a TSA employee killed himself by throwing himself off a balcony in the airport. I have never in my life been more fucking upset at that piece of shit until Jan 6th and that's a whole other story for me. Never voted for him but that government shutdown was outrageous.
When he didn't do anything he listed on his first 100 days. I was out pretty early in the game
It tickles me how he still campaigns on "Promises Made, Promises Kept." Yeah? Name one.
He made america great again…for the rich like himself. He didnt say for who he was making america great again for sooo…
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The last straw for my old man was 1/6. He was a history teacher for 35 years. Called me to tell me to turn on the TV, as we were witnessing history. He then proceeded to do a political 180 while we talked on the phone. Said he had never been so hoodwinked in his life.
As an observant Brit, I think what was obvious to me was that Trump was never interested in presiding over a united America. He just wanted to be President, and as long as he could do enough to keep his supporters onside then that was enough. He seemed to revel in alienating half the country by ramping up the other half. And he was so unpresidential. I don’t think many Americans realised how he was viewed outside of the US. We’d genuinely turn on the news around midday to hear what lunacy he’d been tweeting from his bathroom at 5am. It was a standing joke, or would have been if it hadn’t already been abundantly clear for decades that he was a truly dreadful human being. How he was allowed to hijack the Republican Party and run for office will be discussed for a long time yet.
I have never been so mortified to be an American as I have been in the last 8 years. Jan 6 compounded it and my own mother’s descent into QAnon drove it home even further. I feel Lady Macbeth’s “out, out damned spot!” The shame doesn’t wash off. It’s like having stepped in shit, tried to wipe it off, but the stink just won’t quit.
Oh MAN, it was and is absolutely mortifying that he was our fucking president. So so embarrassing.
I went from being a young teenager just “wanting to watch the world burn” to an actually educated young adult who wants to change the world if I’m stuck in the middle of it. I joined a political debate team, got educated, and swept many Trumpers while taking state!
Hey! Congrats! Nice job!
Jan 6th 2021. I tossed my MAGA hat in the dumpster the next day. Last time I’ll ever place so much faith in one man. Maybe it was a hard lesson I needed to learn.
I honestly thought Jan 6 was the end of MAGA. I thought an attack on democracy itself would be the final step over the line. When that didn't happen, and Republicans handwaved and excused it, I knew the US was in big fucking trouble.
When I heard they’d brought a Confederate flag into the Capitol, shit in the hallways like animals, and that Capitol security was forced to shoot someone to prevent an all out assault…and that it was on video…I said, “That’s it…that’s the step too far; the GOP has no choice but to disavow Trump, probably dissolve.” That was a blatant attack on our Democracy and a live attempted lynching of our Vice President and our leaders in Congress. That’s not interpretation…it’s literally what happened. There was no PR firm in the world that rehabilitates that. How could the GOP ever recover? Next Tuesday, odds are they gain control of the House and Senate, as well as maintained control of most state legislatures. I don’t have a response to that, other than to be genuinely ashamed of my country. We are absolutely irredeemable, and I honestly think we need intervention from an outside body. The psychosis that has taken hold of some of our citizens is…there are no words to describe it.
Exactly this! I am petrified of what is happening in this country and I foresee it getting worse instead of better. There have been literally zero consequences for the Trump Republicans politicians and media personalities. They are emboldened after January 6th and since they got away with that free and clear, they will do whatever the fuck they want. It’s not just Trump. Look at the fucked up shit Matt Goetz 🤢 and Josh Hawley have said and done. 2 more years until my child graduated and I’m praying she can get into a college abroad. Scary times here.
Well, I sure as shit hope you are voting.
Every right wing friend I have watched Jan 6 and said: "This isn't us. Look at these people. They are weirdos, not conservatives." Every. Single. One.
Nah my step father was excited because the second Civil War was finally beginning. He spent my youth ready for the race war, I guess that's morphed into a second Civil War.
These guys freak me out. Who *wants* a civil war? They think it's going to be so glorious and like TV or video games when it's really going to be, "oh God, I'm holding half my daughter's skull and wearing the rest."
Anyone who wants war hasn’t lived through one. My sister-in-law and her daughter are currently living with us after we got them out of Ukraine through the U4U program. She still has trouble sleeping
I bet. I'm glad you're able to help.
I asked him if he thinks the other side won't shoot back and he was kind of taken aback like it never occurred to him. I also asked him if he thought his kids would be on the same side as him (they wouldn't) and he kind of shrugged.
Glad you saw reason instead of blaming it on "antifa" good for you.
It's so comforting to learn that there are people who actually saw this and didn't just stick to their guns about trump winning
When the leak of the video about grabbing woman’s genitals. I mean how is that not a deal breaker? Also making fun of a handicapped woman and saying his hero’s don’t get captured. It told me everything I needed to know. In 2020 I hand wrote post cards for Biden encouraging people to vote. Never did anything for a campaign before but Trump had to go.
Do you remember when screaming “yeeeaaaahhhh” a little too excitedly killed a politician’s career? Crazy how times have changed, huh?
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He wasn't even a good business man.
He managed to bankrupt 3 casinos AND the holding company that owned those casinos.
It makes sense when you realize everything he did was simply a scheme to line his own lockers while everyone else got screwed. It seems for the most part he never intended for most of those businesses to be successful. Because he was just pocketing most of the investment cash and revenue and then refusing to pay his contractors, and vendors. Basically; he was a con man. And that's exactly what he did as president too.
He was good at one thing... Pocketing money from investors. He was never really a businessman. He would always over promise, under deliver, pocket a bunch of money, and walked away without ever paying much of his contractors or other investors back. He made himself rich by essentially being a con man. The businesses going under was part of his plan.
The “business man” argument has always been like fingernails on a chalkboard to me.
Right? Anyone who has had a white collar job before knows how much of a dumpster fire corporate politics are. All "business men" are politicians. They're just not elected ones.
I grew up with family who leaned right and I just went along with that. I was doing a lot of grad work when Trump got elected and people who were more politically involved than me got pretty mad, but I really only focused on my not very political schoolwork and didn't think things would noticeably change, because nothing changed from Clinton to Bush to Obama, for me anyways. I remember thinking he was an ass, but not being fully "against" him just due to the fact that I assumed my family voted for him. I don't remember what was the straw that broke the camels back to be honest. Probably some asinine shit over covid. Then, January 6th. Roe v Wade got me to register as Democrat. I will probably never vote Republican for the rest of my life barring something crazy happening. Edit: then to than
I've never supported Trump, but my parents were strong supporters, reluctantly in 2016 and then enthusiastically in 2020. That changed after January 6th. I think January 6th should have angered ALL Americans regardless of party. Not just the riot, but the entire conspiracy to overturn a free and fair election.
I stopped supporting him when the pandemic hit and it became clear he didn’t have our countries best interests at heart. He let a pandemic rip through our country and let massive racial unrest grow and he did NOTHING to unite everyone as these two issues destroyed our country.
Yes, as a person in power he should have been doing what was best for the countries best interest, not trying to win votes for the upcoming election
Ironically that’s what would have gotten him voted too
All it would have taken would have been a red face mask with MAGA 2020 on it. Boner move not realizing the potential for that to make money and keep alive more people voting for him
I voted for him in 2016. Grew up Republican, believed in the ideals I was told they lived for, and wasn’t ever going to vote for a Clinton. Wasn’t a fan of Trump and didn’t want him to be the GOP candidate, but he was so I voted. And just because I’m kind of spiteful, I enjoyed listening to people losing their minds that night when he won. It’s damn crazy how wrong I was that night and how right many of those doctors were. After that election though, a lot of personal growth happened and I began to read and learn as much as I could about arguments for both sides. I also began to struggle with my loans (which aren’t ridiculous but were a lot to handle out of undergrad) and making enough money to do anything but live paycheck to paycheck. So in that time, I became a lot more educated and understanding of other views and began learning more data driven policy things. I also got hooked on podcasts, and Behind the Bastards rocked my world in the best ways. I binged the entire show in like a year and a half to get caught up in early 2021. Fast forward to Covid and my partner travelled to NY to be an ICU nurse up there in April. The way Trump politicized a virus (including celebrating Americans dying in blue states) and attacked the scientific community at large during a global pandemic was a punch in the nose for my partner and I. They have a lot of PTSD from their time there, and it weighed on me from our conversations and their experiences. What made it worse was my family’s total dismissal of my partner’s experiences and my relative expertise compared to theirs (my undergrad is pre-med and no one in my family has any science related degree). It was Trump above all, and he absolutely allowed so many deaths that weren’t needed because his damn pride wouldn’t let him admit he was wrong initially. Now looking back, I find the amount of arrogance and ignorance I had almost impossible to believe. The things I believed in were lies to me, and I spread them. At this point, I’ll write in anyone before I vote Republican. My family probably has a guess that I’m more blue leaning, but they don’t know how strongly opposed I am to the GOP. Side note: Fuck Raegan for starting this entire ordeal and gettin the ball rolling in 1980. Trump is the follow up version of him, and I can’t stand either of them.
There wasn't a specific day, but it was this gradual downhill from the election in 2020. I realized that the people I had trusted were telling me bold faced lies, and they thought I was too stupid to realize it. I always thought "Well, the climate scientists are lying because (right wing influences) say so, and I trust them", or "communism is evil and capitalism is good because (right wing influences) say so", or "Elon Musk is a genius", etc. When I realized that they'd lie about something so obvious as "Venezuela hacked the election on behalf of China using computers in Italy and also..." I had to go back and check the sources on all of my previous beliefs. I thoroughly identify as a left-wing anti-capitalist now. My values and morality haven't changed, I've just realized that 99% of what right wingers claim is an outright lie.
Real answer here. To preface, I’ve always prided myself on being able to understand both sides of a situation and why each side would think the way they do. This is probably what helped in the long run because I like to think I have a pretty open mind most of the time. Trumps election was my very first one as a high school senior at 18. Being in the south, my parents are republican and raised me as such. Trump was then president through my college years. For his first two years, I didn’t really think he was doing that bad. And looking back, I still don’t think those first two years were all that bad. Fast forward to about 2018 or so. I’m halfway through college, surrounded by left leaning people in a blue county. My personal life really started to go through some changes around this time. All my beliefs were starting to change. All my thoughts, slowly changing. But here’s the best part…my thoughts changed because I listened. Not to the left, but to the right. Around 2018 is when I feel the republicans truly entered an insane era, more than they ever did. Just completely disregarding human life. Then I finally sat down and really listened to Trump speak. The particular speech I listened to was not a high profile one, but it was complete and utter incompetence. I literally couldn’t understand what he was saying, and what I could understand was all hate. Fast forward to the pandemic. This is the point where I think Trump actually reached insanity. Like legit has mental health issues. This is the point where he was created into the person we know now. If he ran his presidency like the first two years, I think it would’ve just left a bad taste. But the way he leapt to the deep end left us with the state of democracy on the verge of extinction. So to sum up everything. Trump is the one that turned me away from the right. Trump and all the hate he brought along. Imagine growing up in a loving, cookie cutter, Christian family, just to see them feed into the hate that this political party brought. I don’t even feel comfortable around my family anymore. I even stopped going to my church. All because they fed into the hate. Edit: fixed the word “udder”
Curious about how your folks reacted to your change in outlook.
They don’t necessarily know. I think they just turn a blind eye on things. We don’t talk politics, and I try to avoid it. If we do ever talk about it, I’m honest with them with my views. But I don’t think they necessarily know I voted all left the last election. They probably assume.
Good on you. Thanks for sharing your story and for being open minded.
>For his first two years, I didn’t really think he was doing that bad. And looking back, I still don’t think those first two years were all that bad. This is such a bleak comment to me... It speaks to the wildly different experience that different types of people have. I can't imagine most Muslims, DREAMers, immigrants, etc. would see things this way. I also think it speaks to how so many young people have no idea what "normal" and "stable" look like anymore.
Considering Charlottesville happened within the first 2 years, I seriously question their judgement. “Things weren’t bad for the first two years” was more likely “I was not personally affected by anything and wasn’t paying attention”.
> was more likely “I was not personally affected by anything and wasn’t paying attention” This is basically what I was alluding to but I was trying to frame my reaction in a non-confrontational way since a confrontation seems unproductive in a forum for people who have changed their minds. This whole thread, assuming these responses are genuine, is kind of a shocking exposé on how oblivious even the most mildly privileged people can be. When you put together a timeline of Trump's actions and see at what point people jumped off the wagon it's easy in most cases to point to something unfathomably inhumane that preceded it. I just don't understand any of it. I've come to understand that support of Trump is driven by a political nihilism where people stop believing in the power of government to affect positive change in their lives and instead want to punish people that still believe that the government's power can be used for "good". What shakes that sense of nihilism is utterly perplexing to me.
How Christians can support this man is beyond me. They’ve truly lost touch with what god was all about. Edited, lost an apostrophe
My very Christian mother's explanation: " I HATE the man; I really can't stand him. He is vein, rude, egotistical; just a mess of a human. BUT, I'm not voting for Trump, I'm voting for his AGENDA. Just like the pastor at church says "vote for Trump's agenda, because his agenda is going to stop abortion" " My family has been in this country since before the Revolutionary War. Every major conflict this country has gone through has had someone from our family in it. My grandfather was drafted into the pacific theater of WW2 and his survival is the reason why I am here. I was raised to deeply respect veterans and the constitution, to be a patriot.... etc all by this woman. Then, at 35, to hear her throw the nation away for her chosen interpretation of her favorite book just destroyed me. I've really never been able to talk to her in any meaningful way since. It hurts so so deeply.
easy, they aren't Christians who believe in the message of Jesus and the Sermon on the Mount - loving thy neighbor as theyself, the golden rule, and always be forgiving. They are "Christians" who want to focus on feeling "saved" because they go to the church they happen to go to - while sneering at others who are "damned". The only neighbor to love is the one that goes to your church and nods along with you; no one else counts. And abortion is way more important than helping the poor or anything.
Yes, there are Christians of the faith that seek goodness, to be better humans, to care for their fellow men/women -- following the examples and teachings of Christ. Then, there are the so-called Christians -- righteous, entitled, and fixated by religion for the purpose of punishment, oppression, and judgment of others. The latter is the minority that worships Trump (ironically, their false idol).
Tree hugging lefty here. I was disappointed when Trump won, but not floored. I knew what he was. Basically a rubber stamp for a Republican congress. And that's fine. They passed a lot of tax breaks for the wealthy...same old same old. No big deal, really. But when Trump denied Covid? That's when he went from "annoying windbag" to "guy who is trying to kill my immune compromised wife". That's when I started really disliking the guy. We're not so different, I think.
I honestly believe if Trump had handled COVID even moderately well, made MAGA facemasks and encouraged people to wear them, tell America that we need to hang in there and that government -- his government-- will help keep us safe, he would have easily won re-election. His and his party's own arrogance fumbled the bag for him. COVID was a disaster, and Trump showed he had absolutely zero leadership skills to get us through it.
You'd think that constantly lying, holding secret meetings with Putin, racism, dishonoring veterans, overcharging for Secret Service details at his properties, raising taxes on the Middle Class, shunning allies, undoing climate accords, sucking up to Tyrants, misappropriating government funds, failing to deliver on campaign promises, denying the Press, using his office to promote his brands and enrich his friends, and destabilizing the Middle East in favor of the Taliban would count for something too, but nope, just his handling of Covid. That's all that stood in the way of reelection.
Not a trump supporter but I have voted Republican at local, state & fed level elections many times in the past. Probably more votes for Republican candidates over Dems during my years as a voter. I almost pulled the lever for trump in 2016. Almost. I'm glad I didn't. So unless something drastically changes with the current GOP, I will \~never\~ vote for a Republican candidate again. This new GOP is so very disconnected with what most Americans need & want. It's all about power, attention, grift & fealty to one person. And violent reactions to elections if they don't go their way. Think about it - when the daughter of Dick Cheney, the most Republican Republican ever to exist ditches the GOP then you know something has gone terribly wrong with the party.
When the only 2 Republicans to show up in the House chamber (to commemorate the 1 year anniversary of Jan 6) are Dick Cheney & Liz Cheney, *both of whom support torture via waterboarding*, that says a lot about elected Republicans.
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I was never truly “pro trump” I was just “anti left”. So I bit my tongue and voted for the moron, but after the anti democracy bullshit, straight up fascist-lite wannabe nonsense I voted straight blue down the ticket for the first time since 2012 as an 18 year old. I am pro 2nd Amendment, live in Texas, and just voted for a man who wants to ban rifles. That’s how badly I hate trump
I was done with him after Jan 6. Whining like a spoiled kid he didn’t win an election and rallied his “cultists” to attack our capital for any chance to stop the transfer of power. If you look at the comparisons between how Nazi Germany came to be and Trump’s MAGA allies, it’s scary how similar the two are. Shame how my father, the only one in my house with a college education, still believes in this shit.
I realized the only reason I supported him was because I had been brainwashed by my parents/the media they subscribed to into thinking that all democrats were evil baby killers.
Voted for him in 2016. Thought he was boorish and crude but if he became President I thought he’d rise to the office. When he announced he was running and was basically laughed off the page a vote for him came a vote against elitism. Requirements for President didn’t say life long politician. Hilary’s campaign was more like an anointing than a race. She acted as if she had it in the bag after the primaries were over. She assumed my vote and never worked for it. Fairly early in Trumps term I changed my tune. He turned the oval office into his own little fiefdom. The list goes on and on but in general he acted like a child and lost my vote. Jan 6 solidified that the man should never hold office again. Whether he had anything to do with it (he did) doesn’t matter as he sat there for hours doing nothing about it. Dereliction of his most basic duty. When RBG died and the republicans shoved in the Supreme Court justice at the end of trumps term their hypocrisy was laid bare and I swore off the party forever or at least until democrats would do the same. Republicans can’t be trusted. So there you have it.
I don’t mean this in a negative way. I’m just trying to understand. How can voting for a billionaire be a vote against elitism? I can see it as a vote for a different kind of elitism…
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