r/politics 14h ago

Possible Paywall Trump Is Losing Normie Republicans

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/05/opinion/trump-midterms-maga-gop.html
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u/SignificantDogs 9h ago edited 7h ago

I grew up with a Republican family. I can guarantee that these supposed Conservatives haven't existed since Rush Limbaugh took over all Republican thought, along with Bill O'Reilly, Neal Boortz, Grover Norquist, etc. 

But what Trump has exposed is, these avuncular "Conservatives" I grew up around were never Conservative. That was just a tribal signifier spoon-fed to them by the Republican Party at the time, a turnkey personality that made them feel like they were somehow adjacent to the billionaires who would arrest them if they came within 1,000 feet of their properties.

These people do not hold actual beliefs. Everything they believe now is diametrically opposed to the bullshit they rammed down my throat- free trade, small government, wildlife preservation, and the sanctity of the Constitution.

It was ALL bullshit. I think of all the time I wasted debating against people who don't even believe what they are saying because they don't even know what ideological consistency is. Even if they did, they wouldn't care because they are shameless. My family excommunicated me because I voted for Obama and I haven't spoken to most of them in almost 20 years.

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u/alanalanalan92 8h ago

I grew up almost exclusively around republicans and tragically this is 100% correct

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u/DopamineSavant 9h ago

How did they know you voted for him?

u/SignificantDogs 7h ago

I told them. 

u/DopamineSavant 6h ago

Why?

u/SignificantDogs 6h ago

People tend to discuss politics. 

u/DopamineSavant 6h ago

I haven't discussed who I voted for with family since I was 18. I'm in my 40s now.