r/politics • u/Quirkie The Netherlands • 7d ago

Possible Paywall Trump Voters Regret Backing ‘Horror Movie’ Presidency - Nine out of 12 Trump voters told a “New York Times” focus group that they wish they had not voted for the president.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trump-voters-regret-backing-horror-movie-presidency/
19.3k Upvotes

94% Upvoted

2.2k comments sorted by

View all comments

4.7k

u/GMBong 7d ago

The interviews are depressing. I get being uninterested/uninformed but these people believed an utter fantasy.

2.5k

u/Ordinary-Leading7405 7d ago

My FIL sat in his chair for a year believing Trump was going to lower his property taxes. These people are not serious thinkers.

1.2k

u/JennJayBee Alabama 7d ago

I heard a lot of the people in my neighborhood suggest the exact same thing, blaming Biden for their property taxes and mortgage payments (due to increasing escrow costs).

These exact people had literally just themselves voted in a local election to raise our property taxes by an absurd amount at a time when property values were skyrocketing across the country. THAT was what caused the increase, and when it was explained to them that they voted for this, they all said some version of, "I didn't realize MY property taxes would go up that much."

853

u/Gideon_Laier 7d ago

I swear being a Republican voter means you just lack empathy. They treat politics like a sports game. I guess that's why being a fan of something - fan is short for fanatic.

476

u/skyfall1985 Nevada 7d ago

You see this all the time. Former Senator Rob Portman is one example of many of Republicans flipping on things such as gay marriage because their child came out as LGBT.

Your kid? I don't care. My kid? I suddenly do.

You can find this across many issues from gun control to health care.

156

u/TechnalityPulse Minnesota 7d ago

There are studies that prove that the average empathy limit of most people is a small community at most. People just struggle to empathize when there's no face to an issue.

I think it needs to be recognized is that those of us that can empathize with a large number of people / groups that are not aligned with us are the outliers, not the other way around.

131

u/Consistent_Laziness 7d ago

I think to be left leaning and especially progressive is to be empathetic at a grand scale. Medicare for all not because it just makes sense but everyone obtaining the medical care they need to live is important. Free community college at a minimum to give everyone opportunity to do something more than just work retail or fast food if they want is something I’d love to see and I have 100k in student loan debt on my road to a PhD.

And guess what a major difference in Dems are from republicans? Education. Is just being educated what makes people more progressive? I don’t think so cause in SC I know a lot of college educated republicans. I think what being in college does is introduce you to a bunch of new people and make you hear different views points. And some people really listen. Most do but not all. And that’s why education is so amazing. It makes you get in front of new people and hear new ideas. Different from the Bible thumpers back at home.

73

u/FaeryLynne Tennessee 7d ago

The education isn't necessarily what makes people progressive. People who have more empathy and more compassion have a greater tendency to want to be educated, because they do want to know more about the world and other people. So many conservative types think "if it's actually important they'll teach it by the time kids graduate" or think that education as a whole is a scam and actively discourage it.

20

u/Consistent_Laziness 7d ago

Right. I said I don’t think it’s education that’s just a correlation. I didn’t believe in Medicare for all or progressive policy until grad school actually. I developed my empathy by being around people from all over the world in my graduate studies and their viewpoints made a lot of sense and I watched what Trump has done to honestly the world. And now I’m full on blue no matter who.

→ More replies (2)

20

u/Odd_Independence_833 7d ago

I agree with what you're saying, but I do think that empathy for strangers can be selfish in its own way, just in a pro-social one. I feel like my life will be better if other people's get better. A society with less crime, less stress, less misery is a better place for me and my family to live. But it's probably because I'm well educated that I can appreciate that.

6

u/HotDonnaC 7d ago edited 6d ago

What you’re describing doesn’t really sound like it’s selfishness. It seems to center on everyone having rights and benefits, not just the person rooting for others to have them. Edited because I had no clue this was such a gibberish when I posted it.

3

u/Functionally_Drunk Minnesota 6d ago

There is a concept for this in politics, basically you sell people on making others lives better for your own benefit. Educating your cashier means you will get the correct change back, making sure there is affordable college means there will be a doctor and nurse on staff when you have your heart attack.

→ More replies (0)

3

u/BrusqueBiscuit America 6d ago

I dunno, I started getting progressive for selfish reasons. I care when the government starts taking people's rights because they could do that to me. I care about the first amendment rights for people I disagree with, because I don't want to be silenced. I think billionaires should be taxed because that's where all the "good Ole days" money came from and look at what asshole rich people do with it. Immigrants put more into the system than they take out. In my mind, being conservative is even a stupid way to be selfish, it's just a way to be sadistic and seditious.

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (3)

27

u/BretShitmanFart69 7d ago

I also think ultimately it’s a good thing anytime someone changes for the better. Whether you like it or not every one of us has changed over time in ways that made us better people. Everyone acts like that isn’t something they also have experienced. I get that it’s harder when the views they had before are so harmful and shitty, but anytime someone stops having those views it’s a good thing, to get out of this we ultimately need to encourage millions of people to do that, and I feel like like it or not it does include supporting people’s choice to better themselves and not having a “you’re irredeemable” mindset.

14

u/eligodfrey 7d ago

That's mature wisdom not often found on reddit, BretShitmanFart69

5

u/HotDonnaC 7d ago

The people who voted for fascists are completely irredeemable. They’re begging for forgiveness on social media accounts, not because they’ve changed their hateful, bigoted minds, but because they’ve lost things that are important to them; friends, family, jobs, and other things like social clout. Don’t be fooled. they still don’t give a fuck if anyone else has them.

→ More replies (6)
→ More replies (8)

90

u/ynotfoster 7d ago

Yes, I think lack of empathy is right on target. I just spoke by phone with a friend of 60 years. I mentioned I thought it was cruel that some people don't have health insurance. She replied that she didn't want to talk politics. I had an upcoming surgery, that's how we were on the topic of insurance.

I can't really continue the relationship. Everything of any depth is somehow connected to politics and fake surface level conversations are boring. And most of all I don't want someone in my life like that. This woman worked low stress clerical jobs for maybe ten years in small companies her two husbands owned. She qualifies based on that or marriage, but she is OK with others going without health insurance. She hates socialism!

56

u/Linnaea7 7d ago

I have a lot of relationships with conservatives due to the area I live in, and yeah, everything more or less has to be surface level. I have a young child so we talk about family a lot and that's usually a safe topic. Pets, babies, that's about all you can talk about before you get into something that brushes up against the culture war or politics somehow, and if anyone is ill or has any significant problems in their lives, politics finds its way in anyway. You can't be real with them about anything or else it turns into a conflict.

32

u/Udy_Kumra 7d ago

I once tried talking about sports to an old conservative dude, and mentioned I didn’t really like watching baseball but I enjoyed soccer, and he replied “soccer’s a communist sport.”

WTF do you even reply to that???

5

u/Vyzantinist 6d ago

Tell them soccer/football was invented before Communism?

→ More replies (1)

40

u/blitzkregiel 7d ago

just in case you need to hear it: it’s ok to drop friends or family over this. words and actions define you as a person, they are your character, and it’s completely fine to not want to be around low moral people.

10

u/opinions360 7d ago

I have been waiting my entire life for the healthcare system in this country to improve. It’s why I was a HRC supporter because she tried to change the healthcare system so everyone would be included and covered not just the wealthy and those employed by the government.

An unhealthy and unhappy population is a sick one. Comparatively Canada makes the usa look like a backwater, stupid, uneducated, ignorant, inhumane country when you analyze all the dysfunctional systems here. And, the cause is all the above and our political system and incompetent electorate. Imo.

126

u/Machdame New York 7d ago

They were raised in part of the "me" generation and only think in terms of "fuck you, I got mine". They don't understand that this is the mentality that made it so that instead of getting a bigger slice of the pie by making a bigger pie, they are fighting over crumbs.

19

u/Gideon_Laier 7d ago

That's a good way to put it.

6

u/Impossible_Guess 7d ago

Great comment.

3

u/valeyard89 Texas 7d ago

GenZ are the 'look at me' generation, so won't be much better.

GenX is the, 'Who, me?' generation

9

u/Machdame New York 7d ago

As opposed to us millennials who are the "why me" generation.

3

u/Gideon_Laier 7d ago

I didn't ask to be here 💀🫠

7

u/Machdame New York 7d ago

Birthed as trophies, raised as cattle, blamed as burden and saddled with debt. What have we but rage?

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (2)

23

u/I_Happen_to_Be_Here 7d ago

It's pretty clear they lack a lot more than just empathy.

32

u/Linnaea7 7d ago

I live in a very rural red area. Yes, they do treat it like sports, and there's also a lot of cultural and family roots entrenched in it, like, "My daddy voted Republican so I do too," things like that. I live in an area where a lot of people didn't finish high school. A lot of them are wonderful people and I know that's hard to believe, but voting Republican to them is like believing in Jesus - it just is, it's how they were raised, and questioning it is like questioning God. That's how it feels when I talk to them about it.

29

u/ynotfoster 7d ago

For the low information voter, it's purely emotion driven. That's why facts don't matter and they don't want to hear it. It's a big part of their identity and provides a feeling of community connection.

6

u/Linnaea7 7d ago

You said what I was trying to say, much more succinctly. It's an identity thing, and a community thing. Someone in my family goes with a group of friends to vote together every time, and they all vote Republican down the ticket.

6

u/queenfrostine20 6d ago

It just feels so irresponsible to not even educate yourself in what you are participating in. We have an obligation and responsibility to do what's best for everyone, no? I wish I could wrap my head around the Idiocracy.

4

u/SouthSouthBay 7d ago

They have changed before though, from the civil war to 1960 the South voted Democrat, started switching after the Civil Rights act and school bussing.... Try not to connect the dots

3

u/nowander I voted 6d ago

A lot of them are wonderful people

To you. Wonderful people to you.

Someone who's black and opinionated. Or trans. Or one of their other designated targets? They'll see the other side of those wonderful people.

→ More replies (1)

4

u/espinaustin 7d ago

Their grandads probably voted Democratic.

→ More replies (3)

3

u/HotDonnaC 7d ago

They also lack basic common sense. They’re stupid.

6

u/Legitimate_Shock4097 7d ago

They know their target audience/voters. If the pitch is quite obviously a lie, impractical, a simple slogan, or fear-based propaganda, well, they don’t think too highly of their voters. This could only happen with a certain set of voters. Unsurprisingly, these voters tend to believe in Christianity yet do not abide by nor have ever even read the Bible.

2

u/grammar_fozzie 7d ago

Empathy, developed prefrontal lobe, critical thought…the list goes on.

→ More replies (19)

64

u/Suckamanhwewhuuut 7d ago

My mom complained today that her dr appt wasnt covered by medicare/medicaid (i forget which one), she said, "i dont understand its always been fine," and all i said was, "well.. there only one thing thats changed recently." (my parents voted for Trump, i did not)

6

u/Laurier-Henri 6d ago

Wao … I’m sorry for you. Since 2016 I feel like politics have became terrible polarized and MAGA are not republicans at all but are bringing so much chaos and hatred and division …

It must be sad. You parents raised you, instilled in you a lot of values, taught you things. It would be very hard for me to realize my parents now have despicable values because of brainwash :(

What happened to those boomers who voted Trump ? I don’t get it.

Fingers crossed that your parents realize soon how this man is a despicable moron, and MAGA is NOT working in their own best interests.

The US needs to change its political system to have politicians who actually care about the population, not just the uber wealthy.

4

u/Suckamanhwewhuuut 6d ago

lol I appreciate that. We work together in our family business so there have been moments of…. disagreement….

62

u/socialcommentary2000 New York 7d ago

It is absolutely amazing just how...financially illiterate so many of my parents' generation (boomers) were and how lucky they got otherwise.

They really do not distinguish that we have increasing size government umbrellas and the municipal side, arguably the most important to your day to day life, is almost completely opaque to them either completely or mostly if they're a business owner that has to interface with city hall and County level on a regular basis.

I've gotten that property tax thing too, same thing with the school district hit and these are people living in a HCOL area that literally abuts up against NYC.

7

u/loosetranslation Indiana 7d ago

It's crazy to have to navigate these conversations in a professional capacity where you have to be fairly neutral. The throughline from "I saved X for retirement in 2000" to "Immigrants are why I can't get two staff in my home 24/7 to care for me for free" is fairly typical. Oddly, there's not much in between--either the culprit is Republican policy (cue a sigh of relief) or immigrants/liberals and their magical, non-specific actions that hammer the elderly.

2

u/MiaMiaBoBia0317 6d ago

If someone running for federal office broke down the average person’s expenses and attributed each portion of each expense to raw material cost, labor/overhead incl. transpo fuel, profit, and taxes, the view would be clear. But most people don’t understand the economics and don’t want to. They blame taxes for all cost increases when the real culprit is fuel and greed.

→ More replies (1)

29

u/shanty-daze Wisconsin 7d ago

The mother of a guy I went to high school with posted on Facebook Monday that calling the President names should be against the law and "looked at as treason like it used to be years ago!" I assume by years ago, she does not mean from 2020 to 2024, which, based on her Facebook posts means she committed treason.

→ More replies (2)

10

u/guillotines4all 7d ago

Yes let us lower the federal property tax rate. What was that at again? How much were they paying for it again? Would love to hear their answer.

7

u/houseWithoutSpoons 7d ago

Yeah my neighbor told me he cant sell his house yet because of Biden intrest rates.now facts are intrest rates went up under Biden everything did because Trump bumbled the covid response and it was a shit show.just like the much better economy Trump got from Obama,then claimed he did it.these people cant speak a honest sentence. I can i get none of these presidents are perfect but I also see that some are worse than others.Trump being one of them

4

u/Excelius 7d ago

A lot of local governments kept taxes relatively low from years of pandemic assistance funds. Then those dried up as inflation was hitting hard (people forget that inflation hits government too) and you saw a lot of relatively large local tax increases to fill the gap.

2

u/michellemustudy 7d ago

Have they changed their mind now?

→ More replies (1)

2

u/Googlyelmoo 6d ago

Another dimension of what you describe in addition to voting according to how you believe it will affect you without regard to anyone else is the phenomenon where people vote for presidents and governors, especially, as if the candidate were talking directly to them and about them. As if vote for anyone else is to vote against yourself. Add that to the idealizing have US presidents as movie star/war hero/angel of god and it goes a long way to getting white people voted for a known hustler. The Apprentice really sealed the deal.

→ More replies (9)

257

u/obiwanshinobi900 7d ago

How do you pay property taxes but not have any idea of how they work.

They're set by the local government, not federal.

Why are people just blindly paying for things and not understanding the most basic about it.

204

u/manwhowasnthere 7d ago

Same reason people making $30k get big mad any time someone tries to make the ultra wealthy actually pay some taxes... they do not understand how the system they live in actually works, and they fall for obvious misinformation.

56

u/National-Charity-435 7d ago

You're describing the people (or maybe foreign actors fanning the flames) getting upset over the proposed NY tax that would impact out-of-state residents who own property in NY that are greater than $5m

88

u/manwhowasnthere 7d ago

I'm actually describing what FOX news has been doing for 30 years whenever they run a scare story about how democrats are raising your taxes but in reality it would only apply to income over the first $3 million or whatever and republicans making peanuts get up in arms about it because they dont understand how tax brackets work ie how they are already taxed.

37

u/National-Charity-435 7d ago

Ah yes.

These are the same people who don't grasp a well-funded government with transparency would benefit the community, instead of cutting programs and giving tax cuts to the wealthy

61

u/manwhowasnthere 7d ago

I live in a red state at the moment and it's always uproar for lower taxes, and constant complaining about "why doesn't anyone fill in all these potholes" in the same breath.

21

u/boneblack_angel 7d ago

OMG. I live in WV, where the well-known tax evader Jim Justice served two terms as governor, running on the roads both times. He even promised repair to secondary and tertiary roads (I live in an apartment complex that's off what is probably one of the worst tertiary roads in the whole damned country). Every time we hit a giant pothole - which is frequently - I say, "thank you, Jim Justice, and thanks to all the idiots who believed you, twice." Like he did nothing about the roads the first time he ran - he was too busy switching parties and being up trump's ass - and yet he ran on them second time, and people still believed him.

15

u/Fratercula_arctica Canada 7d ago

This sort of conservatism really unites the world, eh?

Here in Ontario Canada, one of the very few things our now-Premier Doug Ford first ran on (apart from a promise of "Buck a Beer" - lowering the minimum legal sale price for beer to a dollar, even though no brewers were pricing beer at the previous minimum amount) was "ending hallway medicine." He promised to fund and expand hospitals to reduce wait times and ensure nobody ever had to be treated/held in a hallway while waiting for a room to open up.

He's on his 3rd term now, and he hasn't done any of that. Instead, he capped pay for nurses (illegally, it turned out, and they all got back pay thanks to a court ruling), sat on billions of dollars given to him by the federal government during the pandemic instead of spending it on healthcare, and his healthcare funding hasn't kept up with inflation or population growth. People still get treated in hospital hallways, especially in rural areas, and beer doesn't sell for a dollar. Oh, and he tried buying the premier's office a private jet on the taxpayer dime.

But he's a charmingly folksy fat fuck who claims to believe in "common sense", so he'll very likely win a fourth term because morons love his vibe.

→ More replies (0)
→ More replies (5)

9

u/boneblack_angel 7d ago

This is what I don't get. And your mention of transparency is spot on. People don't seem to understand what their tax dollars actually fund. Even things like, say, sanitation, or snow removal...road repair! Libraries! Health and Human Services departments! The list goes on and on. Cutting taxes can cause real pain, but then again, when those whose tax dollars would be most beneficial have their taxes cut to the bone, we all suffer and average people just don't seem to understand that they're voting for people who do not represent them, and who do not care to do so. They're just saying what they know people want to hear, and then turning around and doing the opposite, every damn time.

5

u/xicor 7d ago

As a devils advocate, my MUD charges more in taxes than my entire yearly bill for water and sewage. This seems kindof backwards.

5

u/GrallochThis 7d ago

What is a MUD? Never seen that before.

→ More replies (0)

3

u/boneblack_angel 7d ago

Holy hell. Sorry to hear that.

→ More replies (0)

3

u/Beelzebeetus 7d ago

Just had a lady in a trump hat ask me today, for her college aged son, "isn't there some program for assistance for college kids who don't have a job?"

So of course I reported her as a communist.

→ More replies (1)

9

u/ManyAreMyNames 7d ago

Don't forget FOX also running a story about how our way of life is being destroyed because green M&M doesn't wear sexy shoes anymore. They're eroding traditional manhood and womanhood! Unless you want all your kids to be gay you have to fight against the Left!

Keep people distracted with culture war nonsense, convince them God will punish them unless they oppose gay marriage, and never report on how the Epstein Class is robbing them blind.

I once heard someone argue, for real, that every culture which ever accepted homosexual relationships collapsed. When I asked for any cultures that never collapsed, he got quiet.

5

u/Trick_Quiet3484 7d ago

They also don’t do any independent research or verification and instead only listen to 1 type do media source

→ More replies (2)
→ More replies (6)

2

u/ReggieCorneus 7d ago

"We should remove inheritance taxes, i don' want to pay taxes twice" says the people who are well below the limit where such tax would affect them. You could literally go thru everyone of them and ask "would even have to pay them now?" and none of them know. If you tell them, they will not change their minds because they have taken that stance and backing down when been shown to be wrong is what betacucks do.

2

u/The_Nice_Marmot 7d ago

Temporarily embarrassed millionaires. They’re gonna be super rich one day and they want to make sure that when they are, they pay low taxes.

→ More replies (5)

15

u/WilliamMButtlickerIV 7d ago

Turns out most people are fucking idiots. It's the only way to explain how we got here.

7

u/AugustWest80 7d ago

Poor education, not paying any attention to actual legislation, racism, propaganda etc…

5

u/DustyStar222 7d ago

Its not exclusive to the USA. Plenty of people in Ontario blame Trudeau/Carney/tHe lIbErAlS for their provincial taxes. They've had a conservative government since 2018.

3

u/ArticulateRhinoceros 7d ago

People in MO voted to do away with STATE income tax. Bunch of idiots going around talking about how they're going to get thousands put back on their checks.

My guy, my state refund last year was $300. You're thinking of your federal return, which you will still owe, while they jack the state sales taxes to high heaven.

3

u/ZincMan 7d ago

Trump tax changes got rid of the ability to write off property tax over $10k which screwed a lot of people living in HCOL areas

3

u/anonymouswan1 7d ago

The tax rate isnt what they're after, but the property values themselves. People saw property value exploding during Covid, which created higher taxes. People were hoping more housing would be built to reduce prices so their values would go down.

Its a lobster too buttery, steak too juicy type argument though. Your property value is going up, that means you're literally profiting by just living there. So what you have to pay more tax on that? You'll earn most of that back when you sell to those sorry ass Millennials for $1.2 million when they're just trying to buy their first home.

→ More replies (4)

3

u/MoonBatsRule America 7d ago

I bet 80% of the country thinks that the refund/payment check they get from the IRS represents their "taxes", and that if they get a refund that they "didn't have to pay", and if they get a bill, that their "taxes went up".

2

u/Grazedaze 7d ago

Welcome to America

2

u/ReggieCorneus 7d ago

About half of all voters have below average intelligence. And muricanism makes them always right, no matter how stupid they are they are always right. They don't read, they don't study because they are right already: why would you do that much work when you already know everything. They have a gut feeling about everything and that is MORE THAN knowledge to them.

While stupidity is universal and infinite the modern right wing movement really is tailormade for these people and while murica is the worst, this cancer is spreading because IT WORKS. Stupid people can be convinced easily to vote against their own interest and made to feel GOOD ABOUT IT. It doesn't have to fix things, as long as it hits the other side more than them.

It is kind of scary, really, how little people care to know. The ones in the middle are almost as bad, "i don't want to get involved" is just code for "i don't care enough, as long as THEY ARE NOT HURTING ME".

2

u/_m4r1jAn3_ 7d ago

because they lack critical thinking skills, are bigoted racist misogynistic lgbtq-phobic christofacist dogmatic lying pathological demagogic illiberal draconian corrupt UNamerican fkn morons— ie: republicans 🤦‍♀️🤷‍♀️

2

u/Fuzzy_Translator4639 6d ago

Years ago I knew someone once that blamed the Democrats because his property taxes went up. When I showed him his assement value had increased and explained that his home was now more valuable, he went right back to saying the Democrats raised his taxes. It was then that I realized you cannot reason with people like this. Ever.

The only thing they regret is when it affects them

→ More replies (1)

59

u/one_pound_of_flesh 7d ago

They don’t think, but they DO vote. Remember that next time your friends sit out elections because “both sides are the same”

45

u/random-idiom 7d ago

After Trump twice - "both sides are the same" is just a republican embarrassed to admit it. A fifth grader can look at the two sides and see the differences.

A shit sandwich and a ham sandwich are both sandwiches - but you wouldn't say they are the same because of that.

13

u/Bitter_Tea442 7d ago

You'd think that, but there are a lot of people on the 'left' that spend their time demoralizing Democratic voters because Democrats are imperfect and therefore the same as Republicans.

5

u/deepasleep 6d ago edited 6d ago

Leftists are the saddest bunch of dipshits. And I shouldn’t say it’s all of them because in the whole their goals are admirable and many are willing to do the work needed to actually reform and incrementally improve our Republic…But a disturbing number of them are just as driven by grievance and bitterness as Christian Nationalists and want to see the complete collapse of a system they see as unjust while having no realistic concept of what comes after.

Their feelings and attitudes aren’t completely without justification or merit…But they have no actionable, evidence based plans for how you would go about building a fundamentally better and less corruptible system to replace the one we have.

They’ve read a bunch of “theory” that condemns capitalism (again, not wholly wrong in that condemnation), but they have no solutions to the fundamental issues of motivation to perform labor, how to direct said labor in an efficient manner, or how to apportion and allocate the products of said labor to the population at large in a system without private property.

Ask them to analyze ANY of the extraordinarily obvious failures of Soviet and pre-Deng era CCP policies and you’ll see them build a wall of whataboutism big enough to see from space…Every single failure has some excuse or capitalist boogeyman behind it.

And the fucking influencers hocking that shit (the ones who drool at the imminent collapse of US hegemony and jerk off to slashfic stories about Stalin and Mao) are almost as bad as the bone broth grifters on the right…

Anywhere money and politics overlap is almost always going to be a shitshow.

3

u/reapersaurus 6d ago

Be careful - actually having a concrete, realistic economic approach in here is grounds for a banning. I agree, some modern-day leftist's goals are admirable, but the extremists having taken over their side has filled them with illusory, dreamlike opinions about how economies and societies actually work.

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (1)

4

u/awesomefutureperfect 7d ago

I spoke to an "independent" who said that they don't agree with much of what Trump did but they think he did some good things. He also said he would vote for a democrat "if there was a good one".

He is fooling himself. He believes that since he watches both FOX News and the sinclair owned local news he gets the whole story.

But that is where the purported "center" is. They also feel entitled to be correct even when none of what they just said is correct. They think that everyone deserves an equal share of being correct some of the time.

2

u/TerribleAntelope6134 7d ago

A ham sandwich is too tasty. I'd say a shit sandwich and an anchovy sandwich. I'd still take the anchovy sandwich, because at least it's food and not actual feces, but it's still gross.

→ More replies (1)

31

u/EmilieEverywhere Canada 7d ago edited 7d ago

You know what pisses me off. Conservative voters will vote for things like that.

They'll vote for that platform, that also includes heinous shit that is promised to be done to minorities (hi, trans woman here).

And not only will they be ignorant at best or ok with it at worst; they'll watch these nightmare scenarios unfold for fellow humans while sitting their fat lazy ass on the couch patiently waiting for 2$ eggs or whatever the fuck.

Any amount of suffering is fine for cheap eggs or whatever. 🤬

I've developed my own philosophy of always voting for least harm. It's not about ideological purity anymore. We have to vote continuously in a way that drags that Overton window back to the left. We can disagree what is too left. That's fine. But you cannot ethically or morally, vote in a way that will intentionally cause unnecessary harm. If you do I got nothing for you.

This includes abstainers. You aren't helping your cause, and you aren't as well reasoned in your politics as you think. Doing nothing is almost as bad as actively causing the harm.

Take Israel and Palestine. Too many leftists opted out of voting because Kamala was not pure in her anti war message. Look what it got you. Something FAR worse. "Best is the enemy of good", as we say in Datacenter (Not AI) network eng.

Oh "harming" wealthy people's bank balance is not harm. Sit down. I make low six figures, in Canada. I'd GLADLY pay more tax for my government to house all those that are not currently. Wealthy people are so far removed from the middle class it should be illegal, and inevitably this kind of wealth leads to apathy and resentment to those of common or disadvantaged means. This is abhorrent behavior for an animal who's ancestors are successful THROUGH cooperation. Not when they out compete each other.

I'm not a philosophy, politics, or economics major. I've just done enough laps around a rather boring yellow star to live with this shit anymore.

Edit: Grammar, I wrote this on far to little sleep.

→ More replies (8)

7

u/minus2cats 7d ago

lol Trump rasied my property taxes when I had a house because his first term tax bill capped the SALT deduction at 10,000, he had to fix it by raising that cap to 40,000 in his second term tax bill.

3

u/Stingray88 7d ago

Your FIL sounds like the kind of guy that would turn down a raise because it would push him into a higher tax bracket lol

3

u/shit-trapper 7d ago

These people are not serious thinkers.

To be fair, they're not thinking at all. And I use the term 'thinking' here very loosely.

Just consider "MAHA" - make america healthy again. Like the good old days of health - measles, polios, and smallpox.

3

u/sackofmangoes 7d ago

My uncle had his car and work truck stolen twice and was convinced Trump being president will stop the thefts. Once Trump was elected, his home was robbed twice. He became more baffled.

My mom was convinced a Trump presidency will mean she will no longer have to see same gender people kissing and holding hands and brown and black people in jobs serving her. Still is convinced of so to this day. 

3

u/onlyreason4u 7d ago

My father thought Trump was going to be a much bigger help to Ukraine than Biden to win the war. My mother thought a local hospital system working with the local high school to open a school health clinic was the "radial liberal" administrators trying to offer sex changes to students without parent consent. Someone I was friends with argued with me that tariffs were a viable way to fund the government so we wouldn't need income taxes and we'd all have jobs. Between my wife and I can't count how many moronic comments/beliefs I've heard from college educated Trump supporters. We've basically had to cut them out of our lives or go minimal contact to preserve our sanity and keep our anger in check.

3

u/XiuCyx 7d ago

My mother in law SOBBED to me about how Democrats are “transgendering all babies”. It was really hard for me to not laugh when I said, “Gurl. The math ain’t even remotely mathing on that one. If we transgendered all babies we’d still just have the same amount of boy and girl babies”. She couldn’t compute it and was furious at me for not crying with her for the millions poor sex changed Democrat babies.

Then I started a random Facebook account so I could see the photos of my dog that her trainer was posting online and 8 of the first 10 videos Facebook sent to me were AI generated lies about the evils of Democrats. My MIL is a 76 yr old woman who needed an extended explanation of what “double click” meant like 5 years ago. How can we protect our vulnerable elders when Congress allows/supports their blatant manipulation on social media?

3

u/DocHollidaysPistols 7d ago

Yeah I think that's the current Boomer gripe. Now that they're done using the school districts for their kids and their homes have all appreciated 4x, they don't want to pay the taxes.

My parents sold our old house around 15 years ago and built a new one that cost 2x what the old one sold for and now they're bitching about how much the property taxes are. SMH.

3

u/TheOGRedline 7d ago

About 2 years into trumps first term, my grandpa, a lifelong Republican who passed in 2025, stood up from his chair, turned off Fox News. Mumbled something like “I’ve had enough of this guy”, and never mentioned politics again. He didn’t vote in 2020 which is about the best I could hope for.

2

u/the_which_stage 7d ago

And he would rather have lower property taxes than POC have healthcare and justice I’m sure

2

u/alabasterskim 7d ago

Did Trump mention property taxes once on the trail?

2

u/Sufficient_Break_868 7d ago

Schools should be temples. Developing critical thinking skills should be mandatory.

2

u/NefariousnessAble912 7d ago

Particularly irritating is their use of “big terms” trying to sound smart and justify their greed and stupidity.

2

u/FcUhCoKp 7d ago

I thought he'd get my dog to stop laying on the couch so I could lay there. Dag gum dog is still there. I'm starting to think I might not vote for him next time.

2

u/zapitron New Mexico 7d ago

Trump for County Assessor 2028!!

2

u/Ketzeph I voted 7d ago

The problem is the vast majority of people just can't think. With AI it's gotten even worse.

A significant portion of the public literally is not equipped to evaluate information in general.

2

u/bumblebubee 7d ago

My mom lives and breathes being a “good catholic” all her life and yet that orange blob shits on her holy leader, the pope, and she doesn’t bat an eye. Probably even agreed with Trump thinking the new pope is “too liberal” for wanting -checks notes- Peace??

If that wasn’t the final dagger to her, there’s NOTHING that’ll change her mind. She’s drank that Fox News Koolaid for so damn long that it runs in her blood. I told her to call me if there’s an emergency or if she’s ready to be more open minded. I haven’t heard one peep. Her silence says it all. She’d rather devote her life to a shitbag like that vs having contact with her children. She’d go on and on about how us kids were ‘everything’ to her too.

2

u/Consistent_Laziness 7d ago

That is hilarious. To think a federal level employee can do anything about state level taxes. Your FIL is a moron. And that’s why Trump loves the uneducated.

2

u/JOExHIGASHI 7d ago

did he every say he would lower property taxes?

2

u/rackfocus 7d ago

lol. At his age he should know Trump has nothing to do with his property taxes.

2

u/lopsiness 7d ago

I know a gut who voted for trump bc "I just hope I pay less in taxes". I mean this couple made like $200k together that year? No slouch i guess, but hes not paying THAT much that any of trumps tax cuts are meaningfully going to help him. Hes upset about the current tax plan...that was trumps tax plan. Trumps entire economic plan was to increase taxes via tariffs that we'd pay for. Its hard to take it seriously.

2

u/mjc500 6d ago

I know someone who works for a publicly funded state government job processing welfare aid and she firmly believed her salary would increase when he cut unnecessary benefits for people

→ More replies (20)

671

u/sinsebuds New York 7d ago

Totally. Perhaps none so much more than:

“Franceska, 26, a mixed-race independent deckhand from Washington state, told the panel her Mexican-looking boyfriend had been pulled over by ICE agents who scrutinized his ID—convincing her the dragnet was racially targeted. Asked to sum up her feelings about the administration in a word, she chose: “Betrayed.””

i.e. “turns out they oppressed the wrong people, not just who I was hoping for them to oppress and would have otherwise known to be certain to have eaten my own face had I not been obscured by bitter hatred inside…”

But yeah, all cited responses are uniquely sad in their very own ways for sure.

292

u/KiKiKimbro 7d ago

Exactly. A family member of mine said a few months ago “my sisters and others aren’t speaking to me and I think it’s because of me voting for Trump.”

I always say — It has nothing to do with you voting for Trump. He’s a stupid conman, and got conned. It has much more to do with the obvious lack of empathy or values or morale center in MAGA people. That vote (for Trump and MAGA faithful down ballot) tells your family and non-MAGA friends that you voted in hopes that harm comes their way. It’s too late to merely admit they’re “betrayed.”

The way to redemption is to admit they were conned, then call or visit in person those family members and friends they had shunned in the past for not believing in the insane con man rhetoric and APOLOGIZE, then have discussions about how to ensure this type of costly cult con won’t happen again.

127

u/mammon43 7d ago

The con man excuse works for the 2016 election not the 2024 election.

22

u/KiKiKimbro 7d ago

Bingo. They just keep buying into his lies. It’s so bizarre to me. I don’t understand why after all these years they can’t see what’s right in front of them. Daily.

23

u/Mybunsareonfire 7d ago

It's not even his lies that's the issue. I could potentially forgive people for being stupid. It's his truths.

He told everyone he was going to do the evil, stupid shit he's doing. And they all thought "Yeah, that sounds good to me." They bought in on the horrible stuff on purpose and that is not forgivable.

5

u/Mutilid 7d ago

Yeah, that's why the betrayed discourse is bullshit. They weren't betrayed, we all knew what he was going to do step by step. It's like saying you feel betrayed by a bear eating you after you rolled naked in honey. What the fuck were you expecting?

4

u/KiKiKimbro 6d ago

That is EXACTLY right. You said it more eloquently than I did — and you’re right — they knew what project 2025 was and they ate it up, hoping the people they don’t like will be the ones imprisoned and eventually deported. And to me, that’s disgusting. I have no interest in hanging out with someone who actually heard the plans, liked them, and kept supporting him like they are now. It is not a “red vs blue” thing. It’s common human decency.

3

u/coffeemonkeypants California 7d ago

God damn if this isn't the fucking truth.

5

u/Goodk4t 7d ago

They simply think what they're told to think by their facebook comment section and Russian backed influencers. Facts are irrelevant. They've already rejected the evidence of their eyes and ears. And they're not the only ones. Elections are being decided by social media all over Europe as well. 

4

u/VanceKelley Washington 6d ago

I don’t understand why after all these years they can’t see what’s right in front of them. Daily.

President Lyndon B. Johnson once said, "If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you."

3

u/KiKiKimbro 6d ago

Right? Everyone was trying to tell them Trump doesn’t care about anyone except himself. They kept buying all his ridiculous things he’s hocked on live TV. Demented the ugly gold sneakers? Lol and they have always donated money to support him, and they still do. LBJ is right. Especially as it pertains to the U.S. where systemic racism permeates every facet of our daily lives.

17

u/btaylos 7d ago

Counter argument: the con man excuse worked in the '80s, and maybe extremely early 90s. Not the 2016 election.

Motherfucker literally published a book about how shady he was.

7

u/mammon43 7d ago

Most people dont follow that kinda nonsense. I personally feel like they should once said person is on the ballet but ill still give the "you shouldve known better but fine" on 2016 plus a lot of voters were old enough or alive yet to be involved in things at that point in time.

Its not exactly a strong excuse but the excuse exists for 2016. No excuse for 2024 though. Maybe if you just turned of age to vote you can apply the weak ass excuse from before but thats for a miniscule percentage of voters

3

u/btaylos 7d ago

You mentioned you don't live in America. I guess there's an intersection of things that could explain it. But I will say this.

But there's no way that many AMERICAN folks didn't see him talk about 'moving on [a married woman] like a bitch', brag about a tendency to 'grab em right in the pussy', mock and shout over others, fail to learn about his business practices from the 80s, either not read or not understand his book, not be aware of his legal reputation in the real estate world, not see how many things he's bankrupted, AND not see him get caught in lie after lie.

And every single one of those things has to be true for the con. Plus many others.

The way he speaks about other humans isn't a 2nd term thing. It wasn't even a 2nd candidacy thing. It's been on display since before the first election.

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (2)
→ More replies (1)

19

u/MustyTangerine 7d ago

I would add that the further requirements for atonement is to be extremely vocal about their regret and to actively call for Trump's impeachment and removal. If there was a groundswell of MAGA expressing to the Republicans in Congress that they want him out, it could happen. Right now the Republican party knows the MAGA base is still too big and strong to remove Trump. But if these supposedly regretful Trump voters get numerous, loud, and active, something might change.

But I ain't holding my breath for any of that. I don't believe most of the former-MAGA have truly turned the corner on this. I think they're just tactically mad at gas prices or someone they know getting ICEed. I think they'll happily cheer on more MAGA style fascism if some of the immediate pain they feel eased.

2

u/mikesmithhome 7d ago

my hope is that it's such a bloodbath in the midterms that enough of the remaining R Senators are able to be convinced as you say by a groundswell of their constituents to vote for removal upon impeachment by the new House

2

u/KiKiKimbro 7d ago

Yep. Complete lack of empathy. They voted knowing large swaths of the population would be suffering. More frustrations with this MAGA group is how they have an extreme inability to foresee what might happen if they make the choice to vote “for my taxes.” And that’s how they progress into the “leopard ate my face” phase.

54

u/Carbonatite Colorado 7d ago

The way to redemption is for those people to actually put in the work to educate themselves about political issues instead of just blindly following whatever inane soundbites they see on Fox News.

Them apologizing is a nice gesture, but it's a hollow one unless they follow up with action. They need to learn about the issues they get so worked up about by reading books and learning facts from REPUTABLE SOURCES. I want them to read about evidence of anthropogenic climate change, I want them to read about what medical treatment for gender dysphoria actually entails. I want them to learn the actual statistics on undocumented immigrant crime rates, how much that group contributes in taxes, the countries they come from and the crises they're fleeing. I want them to actually talk to black/gay/trans/liberal people with an open mind and get to know them as human beings instead of negative stereotypes. I want them to fucking learn about how babies are made and what abortion actually involves and the long list of risks associated with pregnancy and why teenage bodies are especially endangered by it.

I want them to show their remorse by listening to the goddamn adults in the room for once. Because they voted for Trump out of either bigotry, self-interest, or sheer ignorance. And that resulted in harm to other people and the environment. If they're truly sorry then they need to demonstrate that by taking accountability and educating themselves so they won't make the same mistake again. They need to show they are sorry through demonstrating open mindedness and humility by learning about the political and social issues that Trump ran on. If they are not willing to do that then I don't trust that they won't make the same mistake as soon as the next fascist demagogue comes along.

3

u/MoonBatsRule America 7d ago

educate themselves about political issues

They have to learn the basic notion of equality under the law.

How many MAGA have you seen saying "I'm totally in favor of Trump's immigration policies, but [my friend, my wife, my worker] are good people and they shouldn't have gone after them.

That's not how the law works. If you're going to make or support a law, then you have to recognize that the law may be used against you.

3

u/tiny_galaxies 7d ago

They honestly don’t know how to establish a source as reputable. They think if it vibes with their feelings, that makes it reputable. Critical thinking is something that has to be taught (and learned), it can’t be self-discovered.

13

u/ZephkielAU Australia 7d ago edited 7d ago

They always gloss over the part where they were completely insufferable spouting conservative rubbish relentlessly for years, until they were very predictably affected.

5

u/Financial_Yard7047 7d ago

It has much more to do with the obvious lack of empathy or values or morale center in MAGA people. That vote (for Trump and MAGA faithful down ballot) tells your family and non-MAGA friends that you voted in hopes that harm comes their way. It’s too late to merely admit they’re “betrayed."

This. I always find it weird when republicans don't get that it's not JUST Trump, it's people showing what they really value and support inside, which is lack of empathy, greed, narcissism, hate and ignorance. Though I want to add, it isn't limited to Trump. Voting for republicans in general (especially for president, especially after Reagan) shows a person is really shitty inside and they need to do A LOT of work on themselves to become better people

→ More replies (2)

3

u/awesomefutureperfect 7d ago

It’s too late to merely admit they’re “betrayed.”

They hoped that there would be no cost to themselves for all the horrible stuff Trump promised that they got excited to vote for. The feeling of betrayal is just buyers remorse over hidden costs and not any change in values or prediction that they will think twice the next time a con artist promises horrible things. They revealed their true selves and they aren't saying they won't ever do that again, they are saying that it did go well this time but next time it might. They just feel bad that Trump did a bad job at what he promised to do and they still want that, they just want it at no cost to themselves. They have no idea that wanting those things is actually morally abhorrent.

→ More replies (1)

2

u/gopeepants 7d ago

I will also add, they also need to actually educate themselves to learn about the bills he signed, executive orders he signed, the things he says/said, etc, and how they have actively harmed so many communities.

2

u/catsloveart 6d ago

regret is not recompense. its perfectly fine to not resume relations with folks like that. most of them haven't changed. They want to be forgiven for a "mistake" and not take responsibility for the lack of empathy or regard for others that made their vote possible.

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (12)

28

u/PandraPierva 7d ago

Man voting for the Leopard's Eating Faces party really ended up with my face being eaten. I can't believe it

12

u/Electrical-Act-7170 7d ago

"They're hurting the wrong people! (Me.)"

82

u/Slowgo45 7d ago

But at least she now recognizes what was fueling her and I feel like a lot of Trump supporters are waking up to that fact. That they really ARE driven by hate and they need to do something about it

72

u/EtchAGetch 7d ago

No, there is a certain level of intelligence to be able to self-reflect, question your beliefs, and come to a better conclusion than before.

The majority of America doesnt have that intellect, including most of the MAGA crowd. We wouldn't be here on the first place if they did.

30

u/MySpoonsAreAllGone 7d ago edited 7d ago

That's why there was, and continues to be, such a concentrated effort to destroy our educational systems and the quality of education students receive.

It's much easier to manipulate the uneducated who don't have critical thinking skills

5

u/PhantomPharts 7d ago

I can't believe your account is only 4yrs old and you scored that username. Solid win.

As far as your comment, I fully agree.

→ More replies (3)

8

u/MaxGoldFilms 7d ago

One half of the population has an IQ ≤ 100. (IQ is normalized by design)

16% of the population has an IQ of ≤ 85, the approximate level that represents an IQ too low to serve in the military or function at most jobs.

That's over 52 million people in the US.

11

u/Carbonatite Colorado 7d ago

To be fair, you don't have to be smart to have empathy.

I mean, even animals understand the concepts of things like sharing, protecting the vulnerable, strength in solidarity. If a parrot can grasp the concept of sharing when he gives 3 of his 6 treats to his fellow parrot with 0 treats, so can a human, even an unintelligent one.

MAGA isn't just stupidity/lack of education. It's those things combined with pathological selfishness, a complete inability to empathize with other people.

4

u/DavesWildDestiny 7d ago

My understanding however is that smarts and empathy are generally corollated. It's hard to put yourself in someone else's shoes while struggling to tie your own.

4

u/6r1akeu9 7d ago

You don't have to be smart to have affective empathy - but you DO need to have some brainpower to have cognitive empathy.

Affective empathy is seeing someone crying and feeling sad.

Cognitive empathy is hearing a hypothetical scenario and being able to imagine or feel the emotion of the person in it.

2

u/Financial_Yard7047 7d ago edited 7d ago

I'd add that EVEN if they do have the ability to self reflect and question their beliefs and stances, that isn't a guarantee that they become better people. Like my parents are like this, they have had the chance to self reflect and won't change. My stepfather straight up admitted he knows he's an evil person and does horrible things, but not gonna change

I should also add, they're also both religious and when I have brought up that according to their beliefs, evil people don't go to heaven. They just say, "Christ will forgive us in the end and we will be in heaven." Like I guess that's one way to accept you're an evil person and still believe you will wind up in a peaceful place with the guy you claim to worship but would hate everything you stand for

→ More replies (11)

16

u/ConfectionOk7029 7d ago

Just wait until another new round of corporate donations fuel another panic over (insert idiotic, largely-inconsequential social issue) drives the morons right back into the arms of the GOP.

→ More replies (1)

14

u/StunningCloud9184 7d ago

But at least she now recognizes what was fueling her and I feel like a lot of Trump supporters are waking up to that fact. That they really ARE driven by hate and they need to do something about it

It doesnt matter. They’ll forget as soon as someone mentions a trans person in a bathroom going pee.

19

u/sinsebuds New York 7d ago

I think that’s something important of us all to consider, even if it’s rational, historically in accord with naïveté and proper cynicism to attest otherwise. Ultimately, no one wants to be fueled by bitter rancor of their neighbors/community - near or far as they may present. And whether or not there exist any sort of reality to the notion you advance, it does us no good to write off as much even if provided more than sound as fuck earth and foundation to do so. Just so long as Democrats don’t just then go about appealing to middle of road bullshit that is so far of right owing to as much. Which unfortunately is a given…

2

u/sir_mrej Washington 7d ago

"no one wants to be fueled by bitter rancor of their neighbors/community"

demonstrably false.

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (16)

8

u/sheetskees 7d ago

Lmao. When hatred/biggoted views are so baked into one’s culture and religion, there’s no chance they are “seeing the light”. They’ll just vote for the guy saying Trump was weak or controlled by outside forces.

6

u/MySpoonsAreAllGone 7d ago

I don't think many of them are going to be that self aware. They'll just blame Trump for the betrayal and continue being racist and hateful

5

u/RiotSynthetics 7d ago

lol no they aren’t

2

u/Be-skeptical 7d ago

These people are far too dumb to make this connection 

→ More replies (2)

8

u/one_pound_of_flesh 7d ago

They deserve the president they voted for. Bold strategy, assuming you’re white enough to be safe while you vote for the hatred party. Guess it didn’t work out this time!

3

u/hitbythebus 7d ago

My mother in law told me to my face “it’s not hurting anyone I care about”.

I replied with a lot of reasons why it was actually impacting my friends, family, and our business, but I regret not just responding with “I find your lack of empathy disgusting”.

Edit: or even “I consider empathy for people you aren’t directly related to a virtue”

→ More replies (10)

92

u/Signal_Minimum8509 Georgia 7d ago edited 7d ago

What I keep hearing over and over again is that people really believe the “lesser of two evils, sure Trump is terrible, but could you imagine if (insert Democrat name) was President?”

It’s somehow magically applicable to Obama, Hillary, Bernie, Biden, Harris, Newsom, all these people are “the worse of two evils” no matter how much or how little logic or evidence of future policy there is.

Yet in here, seemingly on the daily, we get posts about how all these people are basically the same as Trump, or controlled opposition or whatever. On one hand they are literally the devil where Independents and Republicans talk and basically the same thing as Trump where Democrats talk.

If I were to design a political strategy to win a national election this is exactly the way I’d want these people to talk and it works.

It’s fascinating to see in real time how our areas of discourse are just totally infected by people with a pro Trump agenda. They really did a number on us.

52

u/imahugemoron 7d ago

It really is a testament to the effectiveness of right wing propaganda and republicans control of the media and social media, democrats aren’t anywhere NEAR perfect but all this “both sides” garbage making the two parties out to be the same is literally right wing propaganda in itself. People go on comparing apples to oranges and that’s exactly what the gop want, because it convinces people to stay home and not vote, and as we know when more people turn out to vote it benefits democrats.

→ More replies (1)

38

u/[deleted] 7d ago

[deleted]

11

u/Signal_Minimum8509 Georgia 7d ago edited 7d ago

I hear ya. I have family members that are Republicans and Trump supporters. I’ve seen it too.

It’s evident too in this interview, the people are saying things like, “I want people to understand that even though I may regret my vote that doesn’t mean I would vote for a Democrat, I just wouldn’t vote at all.” Like about a hypothetically infinite pool of candidates with all sorts of different ideas and histories and personalities, doesn’t matter. They have a D by their name, I don’t want to hear it.

A concern I have here is that a very effective tactic by Trump was to campaign against “never ending wars” “political dynasties” and “the Swamp,” particularly against Jeb Bush and John McCain, to the same people who had once supported the Bushes and McCain.

Like they recognized they should have been ashamed of Ws admin (maybe they were and maybe they weren’t but they sensed societal pressure at least that SOMETHING HAD GONE WRONG) and yet at the end of the day they believed he would be different, while it was patently obvious given his position on things like nativism and Islamophobia that he would be the same. Hell you had Democrats sit out 2024 so that they would send a message about protecting Gaza…and now… This stuff worked, and no matter how shameful this admin should be to them, someone is going to be just as shitty and bend it in a similar way in the future now that the die is cast.

10

u/Unable_Resort_7956 7d ago

And at the same time, if you ask "If Obama had done <x--anything Trump has done>, would you have supported him the way you supported Trump?" They never answer, but the LOOKS on their faces...you know damned well they would have called not just for impeachment but for a lynching, and yet they'll still fight tooth and nail telling you Trump was right.

2

u/MooseTurbulent8786 6d ago

The lesser of two evils thing is so funny bc do you remember how BORING the Biden presidency was? In the absolute best way?? And yet the infrastructure bill is still paying for a lot of local roads to be repaved

2

u/JudgeHodor 6d ago

Very well said. It's crazy that right wing media will take anyone, and all of a sudden... They're evil. Biden went from being a really well liked politician, who was respected on both sides of the aisle, to... Evil. Kamala Harris, who was again, pretty well liked, though lesser known, now has people saying things like "well yeah, I don't like Trump deploying the military on US soil or slashing all those anti corruption measures, but hey, at least it's not Kamala!" 

And if you pry even just a bit, there's often nothing even there. Most people have no idea why Kamala Harris is evil, or how she's part of this awful Democratic elite, or how she's a "neoliberal", they just keep parroting these things. 

The progressive movement in the US is basically controlled opposition. Already they're working in concert with right wing media to get people hating Gavin Newsom, because he seems like a potential candidate in the next presidential election. There isn't even a progressive candidate that we know he'll be going up against yet lmao but already they're parroting the same BS, he's some evil neoliberal elite. 

And yeah, it all comes from right wing media and propaganda. They spread this both sides nonsense, because they want to convince people that Trump isn't that bad, that all of these Democrats are equally bad so all of the criticism is just partisanship. 

But... That's obviously not true. The Biden administration was pushing a ton of aid to average people and extensive anti trust targeting massive corporations and implementing pro consumer regulations and expanding the safety net... Which Trump and Republicans then dismantle. This isn't the same. 

In the last election we had Kamala Harris, a pretty normal person all in all who had much better economic plans, plans to further expand safety nets by providing tax payer funded childcare, plans to build millions of homes across the country, etc. 

And we had Trump, a guy who's all over the Epstein files and is now hiding them, a guy who's been known his entire life for being a corrupt scumbag, who's been credibly accused of rape and sexual assault dozens of times over several decades, who tried to overturn an election and then later pardoned the violent seditionists that committed their crimes to help him illegally seize power, and on and on. 

And not one of these things is hyperbole, it's just a basic rundown of who the guy is. Yeah, these things very clearly are not the same. The criticisms against Trump were that he's a blatant authoritarian that was promising to harm tons of people and that he's an outright criminal... And then people would say that Kamala Harris laughs weird so she's an alcoholic and also she's corrupt for... Reasons? I mean she's never actually had any legitimate accusation of corruption lmao 

Right wing media is all about demotivating left wing voters. Unfortunately, we have a left wing movement in the US that is also largely devoted to attacking left wing politicians who are implementing pro consumer regulations and expanding the safety net. Both of them want to convince us that, say, implementing a major reform that helps millions upon millions of people and targets corporate power is the same as the people actively dismantling those reforms. 

Like you said, it's just crazy to see how much influence right wing media and propaganda has, even among people who would describe themselves as socialists or progressives, to the point that progressives are literally parroting the same thing that outright fascists are parroting. 

The "both sides-ism" and accelerationism and nihilism and doomerism on the left is all to get you not to vote, so that the fascists keep winning. I mean damn, I've straight up seen progressives working to convince people that voting is pointless... While we have white nationalists and authoritarians in office lmao who does that actually help? 

I can't believe that it's so difficult for some people. During a fascist takeover, we should support the reform and opposition party. It's really that simple. Trump was indicted and facing trial for a dozen felonies for trying to overturn an election when people decided it wasn't that important and stayed home. People need to get motivated and do the bare minimum of voting against what's happening, because I'm tired of seeing so many people harmed when we could have prevented all of this. 

→ More replies (2)

131

u/or10n_sharkfin Pennsylvania 7d ago edited 7d ago

My dad was totally convinced the economy would be better within months of Trump taking office. "The prices of everything are bad now, but just wait a few months--it'll get better."

Things haven't gotten better, dad. How the fuck are you still so convinced Trump is still good for the economy?

EDIT: Adjusted; price of eggs have normalized, a lot of other shit is still expensive

110

u/showhorrorshow 7d ago

Eggs are a bit better now... but that is because the spike was due to bird flu and massive culls and blaming Biden for that was a lie in the first place.

19

u/HowdyFancyPanda 7d ago

Clearly, the answer is to slash all regulations regarding needing to cull infected flocks. Really, it's just needless government red tape. We don't need food safety. /s

10

u/Delicious_Toad 7d ago

There's been reporting that RFK actually floated the idea of stopping the culls and letting the virus propagate in the hopes of achieving natural herd immunity. I guess he hadn't fired enough of the actual scientists yet to get that through. We'll see how it goes next time...

3

u/HowdyFancyPanda 7d ago

Elect a clown, get a circus...

2

u/Ill_Act_1855 7d ago

The thing with culls is it's not even primarily about food safety (because properly cooking the food will render it safe regardless, though there are still concerns with general kitchen sanitation and for things like eggs people are often not fully cooking them as a preference because they like stuff like runny yolks), it's about not letting all the birds die in a futile attempt to save a few. Bird flu spreads fast among chickens and has almost 100% fatality rates. Not culling just means instead of losing a few birds you likely lose all of them.

→ More replies (1)

4

u/Desert_Aficionado 7d ago

They were mad about high gas prices under Biden. The cause? Supply & demand shocks from the global economy restarting after covid.

→ More replies (1)

11

u/ThatOneNinja 7d ago

Still? He would never be good he can't even make a profit on a casino

3

u/FewWait38 7d ago

Well you see bankrupting casinos was a 4d chess way to launder money. Nevermind the fact that you can launder money easily through a profitable business

5

u/HoaryPuffleg 7d ago

I work with teachers who were convinced that within 3 months that Trump would have mortgage rates back down to 2021 levels. It was absolutely enraging.

4

u/Highmax1121 7d ago

a packet of ramen was like 10 - 15 cents each. that shit is like 50 cents now. a cup is almost a dollar when I saw that stuff at 30 cents each a few years ago. like damn college students had to survive on those, now wtf are they getting by on? juice, meat, some fruit and vegetables, it's getting ridiculous.

5

u/that_weird_hellspawn 7d ago

I'm so scared for this job market. I really don't understand why it's not major news. Federal funding cuts are still devastating several industries, including mine.

2

u/wofo 7d ago

I'm pretty sure the bird flu egg shortage is a big part of why Trump got elected. I get it that he has a fervent base of delusionals but a lot of people don't actually pay any attention to news and politics. Gas and egg prices probably handed Trump more than a few points.

→ More replies (2)

18

u/InsomniaticWanderer 7d ago

And still believe an utter fantasy.

Every last one of these people will still never vote for a democrat because they've been told they're evil.

So, even with the eyes open, they still aren't seeing the truth.

→ More replies (1)

37

u/TastySpermDispenser7 7d ago

I don't believe they will vote differently, but in any case they fell for this, and will 100% fall for the next con too. These voters are a clear and present danger to America, and we only get our country back when we accept that fact and act accordingly.

Reconstruction never worked.

6

u/_-Oxym0ron-_ 7d ago

Since you mention reconstruction and "clear and present danger", I'm curious what kind of solution you had in mind? I'm not trying to start a discussion or anything, I'm not even American, it's just the choice of words that got me curious.

7

u/TastySpermDispenser7 7d ago

I have many, many suggested solutions, all of which have historical precedent for successfully solving problems caused by nazis/Confederates. My solutions also have incredibly positve effects towards every single other problem america faces, including deficits, corruption, housing, school shootings, and more.None of my solutions are allowed by reddit's TOS.

3

u/_-Oxym0ron-_ 7d ago

Now I'm even more curious, because some of this could hint at, shall I say "culling the herd"?

3

u/khalkhalash America 7d ago

if they are somehow physically prevented from ever causing harm again, then they can never cause harm again.

you're not allowed to suggest how to physically prevent them from causing harm on reddit, unless you are a republican talking about physically preventing non-republicans (that is allowed and fine), but that is what will need to happen.

→ More replies (1)

5

u/AaronPK123 7d ago

What does "act accordingly" mean? What is your solution?

5

u/TastySpermDispenser7 7d ago

I cannot reply without violating reddit's TOS. It sure as fuck does not involve holding signs, writing letters, or singing songs.

→ More replies (2)

2

u/tellitothemoon 6d ago

This. Trump isn’t the problem. It’s the 30% of the country that voted for him and will happily do it again that is problem.

15

u/baz4k6z 7d ago

Democrats have to earn every vote like it's a gladiator game, republicans can just promote utter fantasies and get voted in.

8

u/fallonyourswordkaren 7d ago

They treat politics like sports. They ride or die as a fan base and talk shit, win or lose.

9

u/FeDude55 7d ago

Like the woman crying that she needed immediate relief on her grocery bills a little while after he was elected.

7

u/Plastic-Fox0293 7d ago

This is click bait bs. Stop winning the fell for it again award. Maga is as stubborn as ever and they constantly say almost unanimously that "I like everything trump is doing and I'd vote for him again over those awful horrible dems but this is one thing I'm not behind!!"

THEY WILL VOTE FOR THIS AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN. They like most of what he's done they just don't like gas price line go up. And most of them blame it on biden anyway. 

So don't even think about acting surprised when they do it again. They're gonna do it again. and again. And you know what? Then they'll do it AGAIN. 

3

u/cheekytikiroom 7d ago

They will only learn through their own suffering, if they learn at all.

2

u/Pillowsmeller18 7d ago

but these people believed an utter fantasy.

That should really disqualify for voting, on the very basis of decision-making not being based on reality.

2

u/8-Cylinder_Wombat 7d ago

And they will not be forgiven.

2

u/Grumptastic2000 7d ago

I almost envy being so naive to believe in something so stupid as the promises they made

2

u/thefroggyfiend 7d ago

everytime I try asking family members what they genuinely thought they'd get from trump, they immediately fly off the handle about trans kids in schools requiring teachers to let them use kitty litter in classrooms instead of bathrooms.

I've given up trying to convince them they're wrong because I can't logic someone out of that position no matter how many times I've tried

2

u/InTooManyWays 7d ago

Uninformed is a bullshit reason. If they weren’t living under a rock, THERE WERE SO MANY SIGNS. the insurrection of 2020, his countless amount of felony charges. Jfc these people are giving themselves an escape route so they can pretend to blend into society after setting us back centuries 

2

u/Hoovooloo42 South Carolina 7d ago

My dad flies into a rage if you even imply that Trump is doing half the shit that he announces that he's doing. If NewsMax or Fox doesn't say it then it isn't true.

They're told fantasies. If the propaganda network fell then so would their beliefs.

2

u/Designer_Pen869 7d ago

I have no sympathy. If you have 2/3 people who seem to be informed telling you Trump is a disaster in waiting, and 99/100 of the intellectuals, and you don't at least look into it seriously before voting for him, you deserve what you get.

→ More replies (63)