I know several Republicans who will say they love trump and everything he’s doing. I say well, conservation is really important to you, and trump just cut funding to wind farms, cut tons of environmental protections, cut regulations for pollution, isn’t this against everything you stand for? And they say “well nobody’s perfect.”
Then they say rfk is going to fix our country’s health! and I say he is anti vax this is the foundation he funds to create anti vax propaganda, haven’t you been pushing for vaccines your whole life? And they say well I don’t think he’s really going to do that.
And then they say trump is going to fix the border and I say “weren’t you saying for years the problem is illegals and that we should protect refugees? Trump just canceled flights for 1500 refugees who would have been totally legal to be here” and they say well I don’t know. 1 day later they’re back to saying trump and rfk are great.
I don’t think they are faking these beliefs, it’s just as soon as a republican does it they choose to not see it. I can understand looking the other way for 1 or 2 things, but when 10+ go against their core values in the course of 3 days… it’s just really disappointing to see them value “their guy” over the work they’ve done for their whole lives.
I get it. 100%. But are these folks you want to reach, or folks you want to argue with? Because telling them is going to make them defensive. Listen to them. And then ask questions that get at contradictions. Don’t point out the contradictions other than to imply they seem not to make sense to you, so you need them explained. Don’t bring in outside sources, or even your own knowledge or opinion. Ask like you don’t have a strong opinion of your own and you are curious, but see a couple of things that don’t make sense.
And, no you won’t reach all of them. Probably not most of them. And none of them are going to suddenly change their opinions because of it. Because that stuff all takes time. And they have to come to their own conclusions. And you might not like them. Maybe the answer is, as long as taxes go down, or abortions stop, or no one comes for their guns, they will happily support Trump burning the world to ash.
But hopefully, that’s not everyone.
I think for me I’m kinda resigned that they will never change their mind because it’s so ingrained in them at this point, especially since every conservative I know perfectly mirrors the current fox news talking points. I guess i point things out to them because I’m talking to them as if it’s a friend, but it’s more like dealing with a cult member, which is really disappointing to me.
It’s rough, man. I’ve got family I don’t really talk to over this stuff. Just because I have an answer, doesn’t mean I have the answer, you know?
Best of luck.