I tried so hard not to reach this point, but I find it extremely difficult to have any patience for anyone who supports Trump, or even those who tolerate him. I’ve come to the point that if someone still supports Trump after all that we have seen, then they are either deeply misguided and uninformed, they are cruel, or they are just plain stupid. I would dearly love someone to talk me out of this, because I feel terrible to have gotten here. It goes against my “Don’t hate: Debate!” philosophy.
[But first, an editorial note. I originally posted this in June 2019, at which time its title was “My Intolerance of Trump Supporters.” I think that went too far. I have put a great deal of thought into this and rewrote this to more carefully state my position.]
It’s difficult, because I know some people who are Trump supporters who otherwise are nice people. And to be clear: I am not saying this about people who voted for Trump. This is about those who still support him, even after seeing how truly horrible he is both as a human and as a president.
To those who say Trump is admirable — a great man who can do no wrong — they are just dead wrong and I question their morality if they feel that way. To those who say they don’t like him as a person but like what he is doing, then I wonder what kind of person would like his rolling back of the environmental protections when climate change is getting so urgent, who is making it nearly impossible for people in strife from the south to legally enter the country (and is tearing apart families in the process), who has arranged things so as to make tremendous financial gains from the presidency, and has demonized the press to the point of creating a situation reminiscent of Orwell’s 1984.
I think approving of Trump because you like the social change happening in this country despite the horrible things he is doing is analogous to burning down your house because it blocks your view from your guesthouse. (And if someone actually likes the ugly social change happening in this country right now, then I have a big problem with that!)
To be clear — I don’t hate Trump supporters. But if I ever meet a Trump supporter, my first impression will be incredibly tainted and I will have to search this person for nuances to find something in them that can make me see them as a decent human under all that Trump taint.
This is how our brains work: We see someone wearing a KKK sheet and automatically have a picture in our minds of what they believe and are choosing to associate with — even if the person under the sheet is actually a loving parent, appreciates the same kind of music you love, and teaches homeless kids math for free.
I agree with those who say that if we have Trump supporters in our lives and we already know them as decent humans under the Trump-slime, then don’t stop loving them.
But loving someone and wanting to hang out with them are two different things. Their Trump support would definitely affect my relationship with them (probably just as much, to be fair, as my hatred of Trump would taint me in their eyes). What I am saying is that Trump supporters are wearing their own kind of KKK sheets — Trump Sheets — that paint them with the beliefs and behaviors of Trump, whether they realize it or not.
I don’t like lots of Trump’s behaviors too. But some people who are on the teetering edge of homelessness need that coal job. Does the desperate need to avoid homelessness fall into the category of misguided, uninformed, cruel, or just plain stupid?
Other voters, evaluating the limited choice, thought that a petulant 9-year old would be a less dangerous leader than a schizophrenic adult. You may have preferred the schizophrenic adult. How does the way you make that choice compare to torturing animals?
Other people have studied the inefficiencies of expanding government programs and want to help raise the standard of living for everyone by moving social programs to the private sector. How is that motivation like that of someone who steals money from the elderly?
There are pros and cons in every choice. If someone else doesn’t agree with your assessment of which pro or con is the overriding determinant in a decision, it might be because they traverse life through a different path where a life-or-death factor to them is irrelevant to you and vice versa. That happens all the time, but do you really want the consequences that come from rejecting everyone who doesn’t prioritize factors the same way you do?
Comments are closed.