Thank you for collecting and sharing all of this! It was a tough one to read, but it did echo a lot of the cognitive dissonance that I've been hearing from the Trump supporters in my life: "I trust him to use tariffs to protect us, but I'm nervous about the direction of the economy." "I'm excited for things to come back to the United States, and look forward to prices coming down." "He's transparent and is doing what he said he would do, but sometimes he just says stuff and we shouldn't take it so seriously." "I wanted him to deport illegal immigrants, but not *those* illegal immigrants." ("I never thought the leopards would eat MY face, etc...")
With grace and kindness toward this person, I do think this quote summed it up: "If you can remove Jan 6 and the tweets and things like that from his first administration, it wasn’t so bad. But now, it just feels so chaotic, unhinged, and miscalculated."
The problem is that, for those who did take the tweets and the law-breaking and January 6th seriously, this is exactly as chaotic, unhinged, and miscalculated as it was expected to be.
Yes, my first thought when reading this was how disconnected the thinking was. In one breath they say that I love how he does what he says, that he's so transparent and then in the next breath they say oh he just says things, he doesn't really mean it. What? How am I ever supposed to trust what he says then?
My not voting for Trump has nothing to do with "putting aside my hate for Trump" and everything to do with his words, his actions, his trustworthiness, his past, how he treats people, how he creates chaos and uncertainty, the illegality of his actions, his trampling of the constitution and I could go on and on. That I might agree with one or two end results of something he did is irrelevant to all the other horrific things he is doing. Policy is irrelevant when character and democracy is on the line.
Sharon, thank you for sharing all of this. I love to engage with people who think differently than me and have in the past with some Trump supporters in real life. Most of the time it doesn't end well as they turn to "what about" a lot or say things like "you just hate Trump". I've always told them I'm happy to have a conversation with you if you want to talk about policy issues, but that's not what you are doing.
Yeah, people claiming "you just don't like anything Trump does because you hate him!" drive me crazy. I dislike Trump BECAUSE of what he's done as a politician - my feelings about him were completely neutral prior to his entrance into politics. On the rare occasion that he surprises me with something that seems decent, I'm suspicious, but happy to give him flowers in the hopes that it's genuinely a good thing. But my feelings about him are completely self-earned by Trump.
Exactly! I hate Trump because of everything he does. I don’t hate everything he does because he’s Trump. I didn’t like him as a person before he entered politics, but I didn’t care enough about him to think more than that. Definitely wouldn’t vote for him. His first term, he did a lot I disagreed with and was embarrassing. But he didn’t ruin the country. Then Covid happened. And January 6. And everything since.
I don’t think people really realize the long term negative impacts that are coming are going to far outweigh any perceived benefits. I’m a medical provider. I seriously fear for our future health, safety, scientific research and educational system. Not to mention… well… everything else.
When he was elected in 2016, I was hopeful he could or would slow down the corruption or at least get the parties to work together for good. What a fantasy! Not only has corruption and dysfunction flourished, we now have citizens and family members hating each other due to toxicity in politics.
I have never seen a more “uninformed” candidate or elected official. “I don’t know about Project 2025, I don’t know what Signal is” - I realize these are not direct quotes, but really? If he truly doesn’t know all the things he says he doesn’t know, why isn’t that a problem? Any private citizen who had a group chat like the plans on Signal, would be fired immediately.
Senate confirmation hearings are a joke. Does anyone tell the truth? The ability to tell one lie after another seems to be a key qualification for a job.
This regime is out of control and I am astounded more people do not see it or care. Imagine if this was the Biden administration. We are watching the destruction of the federal government.
I said this further down, but yes…it’s a conversation killer. If Trump supporters can dismiss a fact or analysis they don’t like because the person sharing it “just” hates Trump in their mind, it effectively inures them from self examination too.
Prior to his entrance into politics I did not care one bit about him. He was just some rich real estate mogul/reality star who would sometimes make headlines for family drama. Didn't affect me one way or another. Then he started the whole birth certificate thing with Obama and hasn't shut up since.
As a long time reader of Sharon, I find these comments very discouraging. There is no mention of our constitution, the rule of law, truth, character, how our government is to work for all of us. I also agree that it feels so uninformed to dismiss someone who didn't vote for Trump simply as someone who hates him. I do not hate Trump. I actually think he is a deeply damaged human being. I hate what he has done & continues to do to our country. The person who dismisses Jan. 6 is a sad representative of so many who don't seem to think that the unprecedented attempt by a president to overturn a free & fair election is not serious & disqualifying. Making excuses for his behavior is something I continually find discouraging. Character matters & it certainly matters to me.
The fact that these are folks who follow Sharon is discouraging. It would indicate that they are getting information from biased sources that confirm their beliefs. I don't know how we move on from this when we are so divided & hear such opposite information.
I 100% agree with you and to be honest, I just can't get on board with anyone who is okay with the way immigrants and refugees are being treated. I can't get on board with firing so many people without looking at it from a more educated and thoughtful approach, I can't accept stopping aid that vaccinates and feeds children that will now die of starvation and disease. I can't get on board with flying immigrants to prisons in Guatanomo which cost taxpayers over 40 million dollars to pay 1000 workers for only 100 detainees.. now that is government waste!! And I can't get on board with ripping immigrants off the street becuase they have a tattoo and shipping them off to El Salvador prisons without due process and with no regard for human decency... And there are so, so many other things, silencing the press, threatening people who disagree with them, taking away Veteran's jobs and benefits, letting Elon Musk, an unelected official, have free reign and access to all of our data. Destroying our relationships with Canada, the EU and Mexico and saying several times out loud that he doesn't care if prices go up and he doesn't care about the rule of law.. and his actions show he doesn't really care about the Constitution. It is truly heartbreaking that this Administration is treating people as if they are disposable, unimportant, and that they don't matter. With all that said, what I struggle with the most, is that these people and so many others are okay with any of it, so no, I can't find common ground with them and honestly, if they are okay with ANY of this, I am sorry, but I don't want to.
I don’t know what it was about COVID if it was the isolation or the loss of independence to make decisions or just a blooming social media presence, but it made conspiracy theories just blossom and it never really let go for many. I listened to this podcast series called Embedded: Alternate Realities about a father who’s going down the conservative conspiracy theory rabbit hole. He makes a bet with his son that by the end of the year 2024 his ten predictions will come true. He ends up losing the bet and pay 10k to the son, but he still thinks he just got the timeline wrong. If a son can’t logic a father into reality it’s hard to logic a stranger.
I do hate Trump. He instigated the insurrection. He's a convicted felon. He was convicted of sexual assault. He lies, cheats, and bullies. He's destroying our democracy. What's not to hate?
THIS:" ...has everything to do with his words, his actions, his trustworthiness, his past, how he treats people, how he creates chaos and uncertainty, the illegality of his actions, his trampling of the constitution and I could go on and on." Amen. The cognitive dissonance of these people who cannot seem to see the active dismantling of our government and the rule of law, is chilling. That and the attitude of "if it does t affect me, I'm not concerned" is terrible. How anyone living in America today is not deeply, gravely concerned for our future is beyond me.
The part that I never understand is they always say that Trump is transparent, but somehow things like his tweets and Jan 6 are not, they’re complicated, not what he meant, etc, but everything else is? He says he’s going to do xyz which they like and believe but then says he’s going to take over Greenland which they don’t like and thus think isn’t honest. So which is it?
I honestly believe those who do not agree with Trump see him as transparent on all things and that’s why we don’t agree. Which is why things like Jan 6 and his tweets are so concerning.
Well said, Emily. I also am married to someone with that cognitive dissonance. The way you pulled those things together displayed great writing , critical thinking, and was far kinder than i am at this point (try as i may). Yes, I also find him transparent. As he deploys Weaponized ignorance as an answer to everything he has been challenged by congress and reporters displays clear lack of intention to ever own any misdeed. I recall as a young woman reading about his very cavalier and condescending comments towards the women and his behavior around the beauty pageants he owned. He has very transparently conveyed his opinion about women, Mexico, immigrants, anyone who disagrees with him, the construction companies in New York, that he ripped off, and his megalomania. Yes, he says what he thinks, and I personally feel that he routinely offers up why you should never have even been considered by any political party as someone who will champion ‘in order to form a more perfect union”.
Well put! They seem to be confused by what they don’t like and eager to dismiss it as “Trump being Trump. You can’t take it seriously”. But then to say “he’s transparent and does what he says he’ll do” makes the first statement meaningless. I truly believe many of these people will not see how badly he’s doing until they are severely damaged by his actions and policies. Their identity is wrapped up in being a Trump supporter so to admit they were wrong is a bridge too far. They will shape the facts to align with their identity. No one wants to admit by voting for him they may have hurt the country. It’s a tough thing to live with when you see people getting hurt.
Thanks for laying this out, because it was exactly my takeaway. I would be curious how these people are able to carry these contradictory feelings / beliefs around all of the time, but maybe it's human nature. It did illuminate something very important for me - why his voters won't ever change their support of him: their support solidly comes from a place of BELIEVING that he is correct, strong, and capable, and every bit of evidence that quite clearly does not support those beliefs is filed under "something we should not bother looking too closely at or taking seriously or we should blame on Biden" It's why nothing Trump does or says will sway a person - they have already programmed themselves to automatically file those things away into a "it doesn't mean anything" folder so that it won't upend their original belief, a belief that matters more than the reality playing out.
Thank you for taking the time to type all that out because it is EXACTLY what I wanted to say. 😊 I truly value these perspectives. But I also kept thinking, "Do they not hear themselves contradicting themselves?" And the comment about removing January 6 was a bit 🤯 because, for me, that is the #1 reason he could never earn my vote under any circumstances. It's not something I can remove or would be willing to even consider removing, regardless of how great anything else he does might end up being.
I wish I could just remove Jan 6 from my memory! It's wild that people think it's just a little blip or mistake and not an attempted overthrow of the government encouraged by the president.
Your comment is so much more eloquent than my thoughts😂 As someone who left a high demand religion, the cognitive dissonance is so apparent to me and surprisingly brought up a lot of uncomfortable feelings. Thank you for sharing.
I agree when people tell me “you just hate Trump because you just believe what the media tells you.” My response is always “why do you hold such fealty to one person no matter whatever egregious thing they do?” I will never forget Jan 6th. That IMO is the most egregious thing any president has ever done. Did Trump really do that well economically like they claim during his first term? I don’t see facts to support that.
My thoughts exactly. We can’t remove January 6th, it happened. And there are human beings still living the trauma both physically and mentally from it. Then the perpetrators were pardoned. I can’t wrap my head around how these folks can choose to ignore the bad bits… as the bad bits are undermining our democracy and doing so by breaking laws. The short sightedness is terrifying me.
I had a lot of initial reactions to reading this Preamble, but agree that the "if you just remove Jan 6" comment was at the top. How in the world can we discard Jan 6 and all its implications as not integral to a candidate's character when we voted in 2024?
Emily…you said what I wanted to say. So, thank you for sharing so eloquently. And, you did do it with grace and kindness. You and I agree on here the majority of the time. I appreciate your opinions and thoughts. 💕
Every single reason they approve or disapprove of this administration can be debunked very easily. What is really appalling is their lack of information and inability to think critically. And that is the reason why we are here today. A healthy democracy can only function if the electorate is smart, well informed, and able to think. Bottom line is, we get what we deserve.
Yeah, all the things that Trump voters mentioned “surprise” or disappointment on are things that many of us were warning about. Taking Gaza, siding with Putin, stepping over Congressional authority, embracing P2025. It was all so predictable, and it is agonizing to hear people now say, wait, we didn’t expect this!
My mom was moaning to me about the defunding of the ED, the harsh deportation happenings, etc things that she, a Trump voter, was not a fan of. I told her I saw it all coming because of P2025, which I sent to her and the rest of my family prior to the election and suggested they read up on it and expressed my concerns.
She had no idea that everything she thought was happening unexpectedly was laid out in P2025.
I think when we hear people say “We didn’t expect this!” It’s our opportunity to encourage them to vote differently next time rather than making them feel bad for what the current administration is doing. Shaming doesn’t get anyone anywhere.
Or at least take the time to truly educate themselves. I’m thinking that anyone who answered these questions has probably been following Sharon? So there was plenty of solid factual information given on a daily basis that anyone could have continued to research if they were interested
You can’t shame the shameless. Harsh, but true. I do think you’re right though. The more mature and persuasive course would to say perhaps you should vote differently next time.
The economy claims always get me, because the simple fact is that Trump inherited a strong and growing economy that had managed to get control over rising inflation and, in doing so, also avoided a recession. Anything he might do to "fix" things now will just be a repair of damage his administration has caused.
This! I’m starting to think that a lot of those who say the economy was bad before this election are actually bemoaning that they personally can’t take a trip to Hawaii, or buy a new car, or have a fancy house. I know there are many people in our communities truly struggling to provide the basics for their families, I do. But, I have people in my life who spend senselessly and desire more than they can afford and complain about economy. I want to say ‘stop eating at the fancy restaurant once a week, stop buying Mercedes and get the Honda, don’t go to Hawaii do you can’t pay for it!’ I know that’s not eveyone, just an observation from my own world.
I've really been enjoying Kathryn Ann Edwards' work (at https://www.kedits.com/ and her new podcast 'Optimist Economy') because she breaks this stuff down so well, and she has definitely mentioned that people's *feelings* about the economy are often divorced from the reality of the economy because they are so conditioned to specific pain points for that person.
I really didn’t think the American people could be so ignorant on things like politics since it affects their everyday lives, and it seemed to me, growing up, historically many Americans were involved in politics (thinking about war times, etc).
But my eyes were opened this week when my mom, a Trump voter who is now hoping for an impeachment, told me I should pray for it. I told her I would, and that we could always also vote in the midterms for a more favorable Congress, and she was incredibly confused why I said this.
She is almost 60, and I had to tell her that we vote for our Congresspeople.
I’ve lost a lot of faith in the average American now.
Can I tell you how heartened I am that she has been able and willing to change her mind? I understand being upset by how few people care about the political system, though.
While this is so sad and I feel you, I’m so glad you’ve taken the opportunity to educate her on how she can vote differently next time and maybe help her do that. That’s an amazing step!
Mia, I have two people in my life that I love dearly but are not interested in politics. They don’t even understand how our political system works. I have tried with one of them to explain how our system of government works. I have pointed out where Trump has disregarded the Constitution. She doesn’t try to understand. It’s so frustrating but at least she lets me try explaining. The other one says she doesn’t like politics and won’t talk about it. It’s so incredibly sad. 😢
I appreciate your passion, Mariza. The frustration is real when you see such contradictions in voters' reasoning. I wonder, though - has the electorate ever truly been universally "smart, well-informed, and able to think"? I don't think people have suddenly gotten less intelligent. What's changed dramatically is our media ecosystem, which has evolved faster than our ability to navigate it critically.
People are swimming in a sea of conflicting information where algorithms feed them content that reinforces existing beliefs. Media outlets have discovered that catering to political biases is profitable, regardless of educational value. The result isn't stupidity but confusion and tribalism. But they aren’t necessarily a lost cause.
I've noticed cognitive dissonance isn't unique to one political side - I catch myself making similar logical leaps when confronted with information that challenges our narratives. Perhaps instead of concluding "we get what we deserve," we might consider how to rebuild information systems that prioritize clarity over confirmation bias?
Part of me thinks that we as Americans need to admit that none of us are experts enough to know how to vote in our own interest. It’s a full time job to keep democracy healthy. Perhaps, if we really wanted to fix this problem, we need to think about something bold, like having people with paid full time jobs to inform voters from the perspective of a peer, as opposed to a journalist or politician. Someone who has the time to attend city council meetings and read the text of the bills being passed. Because I don’t think there’s any possible future where voters who work so many hours per week have the time to accurately vote in their own interest. Instead, they only have time for a TikTok hot take or an advertisement, both of which are now targeted specifically to engineer a response based on data that’s been mined from our internet activity. I don’t think an effective solution exists that won’t be seen as extremely bold. I’ll keep thinking about this today.
Thanks for your reply, Timothy. And thanks for your suggested solutions. Although I agree with your points, there are some basic principles that don’t require a lot of reading… As an example, during the 2016 presidential campaign, I knew very little about Mr. Trump. And of course, I followed the entire campaign because I wanted to hear about the candidates’ differing visions for our country. However, Mr. Trump lost me when he made that comment about Megyn Kelly “bleeding from everywhere” because in my view, a candidate for the highest office in the country simply MUST respect ALL the people he is supposed to protect, defend, and represent. Period. Mind you, everything else he said or did after that, only served to prove my point.
I think you've articulated what many Americans feel - that there are certain baseline standards of respect and decorum we expect from our leaders, especially the president, and any attempt to meet Trump with an open mind has been met with one non-starter after another. You're right that the current president has made zero effort to bridge the divide with those who didn't support him. Instead of seeking reconciliation, he's often chosen to deepen and profit from those divisions, which only reinforces the polarization we're experiencing.
As for those voters who continue to support Trump, I think there's a wide spectrum of reasons. Some people may not be following politics closely. Others might approach politics transactionally - focusing exclusively on policies that directly impact their lives while overlooking character concerns. I’ve heard from people who are horrified by his actions but still voted for him because they have specific circumstances they felt put their family at risk under Democrat policies, and they wished they had the safety net to vote their conscience. Many were raised to prioritize certain issues above all others, and many were raised to view politics through a tribal lens.
While we can certainly hold our own judgments about these attitudes toward politics, I've found that proving people wrong about their perception of you (and the political identity you represent) is more effective than proving them wrong about their chosen side.
When Trump supporters are treated as if they're intellectually or morally deficient, it validates the narrative they've been told - that the opposition is elitist and condescending. This makes them more likely to reject not just you personally, but anyone associated with your political perspective.
On the other hand, when we approach political conversations with genuine curiosity and openness, we challenge those stereotypes. We demonstrate that it's possible to disagree fundamentally while still respecting each other's humanity.
This might feel confusing because that’s affording them a lot more respect than we receive from them, but I’m arguing for getting us out of the mess more than fairness. It's easier said than done and takes a lot of patience.
I believe this approach doesn't require compromising our principles, but rather shows confidence in those principles by being willing to examine and discuss them openly. It's telling them: "I arrived at my point of view after examining all the evidence and considering alternate viewpoints, did you?" What are your thoughts on this approach?
I admire you for taking the higher ground. But I have to admit that it’s really hard, because my frustration is not being able to make people see what seems to me to be so outlandishly obvious…
But, believe it or not, the answer is Congress, Congress, Congress, a thousand times! No matter people’s difference of opinions, the Legislative for me is the most important pillar of our democracy. It’s quite simple. I believe we all want the same things—a decent life, with equal opportunities for our kids to have a good education, good jobs, security, etc. Where we all differ in our views is how to get there. We need to overturn Citizens United, we need term limits, end of insider trading, we need Congress to have the same healthcare that we all have, we need laws and government by the people, for the people—to name a few things.
Of course, I wished the media had done a better job educating their audience. In any case, now it’s too late. None of us will be around 250 years from now, to enjoy how (or if) we were able to rebuild our democracy.
I appreciate your kind words about "taking the higher ground," but I want to clarify something - it's not actually about being nice or moral superiority. It's about effective persuasion. When people assume the worst about you, defensiveness or aggression rarely changes minds. It's strategic: the goal is simply getting your point across to someone who might otherwise dismiss you.
You're absolutely right about Congress being the crucial pillar of our democracy. Historically, people did focus too much on the presidency when trying to create change in their lives. The interesting shift we've seen recently is how Republican representatives seem to defer to Trump rather than serve as an independent branch. You’d think Congress is meaningless now, but that's precisely why focusing on Congress is more important than ever - we need to restore its function as a check on presidential power, regardless of who holds office.
Your list of priorities is fantastic - campaign finance reform, term limits, ending insider trading, healthcare reform. Many of these issues, when framed in neutral language that focuses on outcomes rather than partisan talking points, actually have support across the political spectrum. Most Americans want a government that works for ordinary people, even if we disagree on implementation details. That common ground is often where real progress can happen.
I spend a lot of time in these comments (as I know you do too) and people who support Trump are LOCKED IN. They are reading the same Sharon pieces that we are and still choosing erroneous information. I don't think we can appeal to their better angels, because I don't think any of this is about logic or fact. It seems to be about feeling powerful, and feeling superior.
Thank you, Les! And I agree...to an extent. Blame is a weird concept when you're talking about something so large and abstract as "the media". Can we really say they are a culprit? Because to me that makes it seem like we just have to wait until the system fixes itself, and someday "the media" will learn its lessons and fix itself. It makes it seem like there are just some corrupt individuals making things bad. But just like dark money in elections, it's more like we have built a system that is broken. We keep shaking our fists at traditional media for being biased, but then we select our chosen media outlets based on that bias, baking it in as their revenue structure. Objective, principled journalism is dying except in small, independent organizations that have found niche audiences. And I don't think that the solution is blaming the consumers of the news, either. People have now been conditioned to think that the news should be free of charge.
Perhaps the only way to fix it is for regular people like us to brainstorm ways to correct the root causes and campaign for some reforms, like: make social media companies pay journalists for the content they use to keep their users engage. Repeal Citizens United. Get voters together to make these demands. Easier said than done, but I'm working on something right now that I hope might help people organize these kinds of thoughts into action.
Reforming integrity in information gathering and dispensing is the only way, I think. I honestly don't know how we put that genie back in the bottle, if it ever was in there to begin with. But there has to be some baseline of integrity we create. I don't know how or what that looks like, but it's our only hope.
Yes! "The media" is such a nebulous phrase. It makes me cringe when people say it, especially now in 2025 when there's news media, social media, entertainment media. Anyone can have a podcast, anyone can make a website - there are billions of ways to get information now. Just saying "the media" is so lazy and feels like parroting of Trump's propaganda.
Oh, heck yea. Hypocrisy is not limited to any one political ideology. Biden did so many things I disagreed with. And I found my self agreeing with things he did that were contradictory. Did I love it when I thought about it and realize how myopic I was being? Heck no. It hurts. I was an advanced placement, high performing kid who always wanted to be the smarty pants. I work every single day to overcome that. I think there are two major differences. 1. We do not worship "our" politicians as golden gods. 2. We are willing to call BS. No one who is a true Trump supporter can say those things. I think the one example we might have now is Bernie Sanders. HE runs and rails against the left everyday, so it is an interesting case.
I think that the algorithms and short takes on social media are a huge problem. The human mind seeks easy answers and short, un nuanced videos provide that. I fear that so many humans are not thinking for themselves anymore because it is uncomfortable and they are addicted to the dopamine hits they get that confirm their biases. I know it’s ironic since I am posting on my phone right now but I really need to use my phone as a tool instead of it using me.
Quit saying that Trump voters, as in "they," lack information and inability to think critically. Every single person I know that voted for Trump, including myself, made the best decision based on the options given. The end. I hold a bachlor's degree in accounting, by the way. I am perfectly capable of thinking critically. And it's comments like these that continue pushing this huge wedge in our country. "They." Enough of it. In the end, I truly do believe we have more in common than not, but we are ALL guilty of getting sucked into echo chambers.
“They” seems like a much more kind way to address the Trump voters compared to the Trump phrase of the “left lunatics…” Do we not think that’s driving a wedge?
When I said “they” I was referring to the people Sharon mentioned in her well written post. I never said that “the other side” knows it all. Quite on the contrary. I ended with “We” get what we deserve. But I want to clarify that expressing opinions that you disagree with is NOT what is dividing us. The GOP is. The President is. The Republicans, unfortunately, see all Democrats as the enemy of the people. And that is what’s dividing America.
As a fellow accountant, I'm genuinely curious on your thoughts about DOGE. I was so disheartened that the Inspectors General - trained forensic accountants - were fired in favor of Musk's mysterious young team that has no apparent training in fraud/forensics. I'm all for locating and rooting out fraud and inefficiencies (it's what accountants do best!), but I don't see Musk's team as doing this right - at all.
Fellow accountant here too and I'm appalled that people think what DOGE is doing is rooting out fraud and inefficiencies. All he is doing is feeding in words into AI software and axing the programs with those words. What he is doing has nothing to do with analyzing for inefficiencies. How can you identify inefficiencies when you don't know what they are doing in the first place or what the goal is? It is complete bullsh*t and people are swallowing it all hook, line and sinker. 🤯
I discussed the gutting of the Dept of Ed with a Trump supporter who said she was glad Musk was making sure "all that money spent doesn't end up in the wrong hands." I pushed back a bit on that by asking how it's possible for him to get it out of the wrong hands when he's just shutting it off altogether? There's just such a disconnect... It drives me crazy.
So interesting that you bring up the Dept of Education. I hear about this a lot too, how Trump is "bringing education back to the states" when curriculum and funding already is directed by individual states. The federal government basically helps with extra funding for low income schools (Title 1), special education funding and student loans and Pell grants. I'm not sure most people realize this.
I think it's important to have conversations about the Dept of Education or any agency for that matter, but we have to start with some shared reality and facts. Slashing the entire agency with no real plan in place seems like a recipe for disaster, as we are seeing with the chaos that's ensuing.
I would encourage you to dig into how American education has fared since the DOE's inception. As someone who has been very involved at my local level since 2020, I have been APPALLED at the very real waste in even our small town with the $ that are spent. Did you know that over 75% of the DOE's budget doesn't even go to students directly? There is so much bureaucratic and administrative waste at the federal level, a lot on salaries of people who either haven't ever been in a classroom OR cannot relate to the small town teacher in Oklahoma or rural teacher in Kansas, etc.
Can you also please give specifics as to what you believe DoEd has done (or not done) to cause the state of America’s education today? With the states being in charge of the large, large majority of funding, curriculum, etc, I’m curious what the Fed has done to cause concern.
I'm in a small rural town and I don't blame the federal government for our issues as we are mostly funded by the state and local governments and that is where I largely have issues. If we didn't have some of the additional funding for special education, I'm not sure what our small district would do. What I'm not saying is that there is no discussion to be had about the Dept of Education.
Also, where I'm from, small, rural districts are basically running on shoestring budgets. There is no "waste" left to cut since we've been largely underfunded for years. Our local referendum failed this past fall, so we had to make some very difficult cuts this year. We've been making cuts for years and one analogy from the school board/district was that the first cuts trimmed the fat, the next cut deeper into the skin and now we are cutting into the bone. They have already told us that even if the referendum passes this fall, we will still have to make more cuts since we are falling behind.
Yes! Another accountant chiming in to say this irks me. Fraud and waste is NOT 'this program that we just don't like for whatever reason.' I am all for having legitimate conversations about what we spend our taxes on. What's our return on investment in a program? (Realizing that this isn't always measured monetarily, so maybe a better metric is 'did our spending achieve the stated goals?') And there were already departments and personnel in place to DO this.
Does anyone remember that the Clinton administration rooted out waste and was able to eliminate some jobs in a strategic manner after studying the problems and coming up with solutions?
That's *exactly* what I would love to see done here. This "burn it all down" thing is despicable. My good friend who works for the federal government said no one hates bad government employees like good government employees, and he would gladly take a scalpel to his team instead of dealing with the ramifications of DOGE's sledgehammer approach. He had to let go of some brilliant people who work the hardest and make the least amount of money.
Yes, Ashley! A beloved family member/accountant recently touted the rooting out of "waste, fraud, and abuse." She works her butt off for her company (far more hours than they pay her for!), making sure everything is exactly as it's meant to be. I guarantee she could not cite a single instance of waste, fraud, or abuse that DOGE is "fixing." She just repeated what she'd heard without looking into it further. She is very smart but also does not pay attention to anything more than very surface headlines.
I can tell you that no one working in my field (Healthcare Compliance) thinks that the government did not care and has not already been *aggressively* prosecuting Fraud, Waste, and Abuse in the federal healthcare programs (which collectively represent almost 30% of the federal budget). My whole job exists BECAUSE they take that mission so seriously.
If you still believe that what is happening now in our country is what you voted for, then you and I have absolutely nothing in common except perhaps the fact that we both subscribe to this substack.
That's a really sad way to go about life thinking that you and 78 million people don't have many of the same interests at heart that probably include wanting what is best for your family. But, to be honest, it tracks. I've been friends with Democrats my entire life. The difference? I never once defriended any of them after the 2020 election.
Maybe you didn’t defriend them because they didn’t support rewriting our history to remove white men from it, sending out masked men to whisk MAGA college students off the streets to put them in far away detention camps, instituting measures to make it more difficult for white people to vote, using government power to go after Fox News and Breitbart for saying things that weren’t nice about them, pardoning any of the convicted criminals who engaged in violence against police during BLM protests, or bringing in George Soros to run a chain saw through the federal government.
I did not lose friendships after 2020 but we can no longer be close because our conversations are now very shallow. Some relatives have told me I am absolutely crazy for thinking that democratic policies such as a social safety net, are good for everyone and strengthens the country. I am crazy because I believe in equality and inclusion.
And this comment RIGHT HERE is such a BIG reason why the DNC is in such shambles. Instead of looking inward and in the mirror to see what could have been done differently in November, it's a continued attack on people who think differently than you. There was PLENTY done by the Biden administration that I took personal affront to but I understand that different people have different priorities. I am not going to continue arguing about this with you or anyone. You are not morally superior because of who you voted for - either way.
Well, it's kind of logical, isn't it? I absolutely abhor the things Trump is doing and the lies that have been told to justify it all. Still, it couldn't be done without people like you. If you refuse to "argue" or debate it, how are the poor Democrats ever supposed to figure out why people voted for all of these horrible things? All I did was list all of the things Trump is doing but I did it from the opposite perspective. Your considering it a personal attack says a lot. I would much rather be a member of a highly diverse party with many competing opinions than a member of the monolithic MAGA where even the tiniest amount of dissension is called out and threatened with immediate retaliation. And for your own edification, my mentioning George Soros was in no way, shape or form accidental. Feel free to take a deep dive into The Open Society Foundations to which Soros has contributed $32 billion of his own money, starting in the late 1970s. It's all very transparent and online and you can see exactly where the money has gone to aid OSF's goals in over 120 countries to support civil society groups that promote human rights, justice, education, public health, and independent media. Then compare and contrast this with the activities of Elon Musk, who built his billion dollar businesses with huge infusions of U.S. taxpayer funds, who paid almost a quarter billion dollars to elect Trump, who is arguably the singe largest purveyor of lies, misinformation and disinformation on social media and who stands to make billions more for himself through his myriad contracts and conflicts of interest with the federal government, while he takes a wrecking ball to foreign humanitarian assistance and programs like Social Security and Veterans Affairs that impact so many people here at home. Yeah, I'll take George any day and be proud of it.
A TREMENDOUS portion of the left leaning media is dedicated to calling out what the Democrats are not doing right and why we lost the election. That time between the election and inauguration was almost entirely dedicated to that. We are holding our representatives to task more harshly than we are holding anyone else to task. We are calling for change more than anyone else is. The DNC is in shambles, and it isn't because we aren't trying. It's because the massive amount of money that is allowed into politics means that decent people, with very few exceptions, can't run, or get edged out, or turn corrupt. It's happening in the DNC and it's happening in your party, at the highest level.
Dems have generally been doing a LOT of mirror-looking. It's a constant conversation in the liberal media that I follow. Perhaps you haven't seen it if you're not in those circles?
Are you creating a safe space on your fb/social media pages to have constructive conversations with others? Or are you sharing more divisive hatred with no room for conversation/growth with “friends” that vote and think differently than you? Maybe asking yourself “why” friends are removing you is a good place to start, especially if you are asking others to look into the mirror.
I will admit that I have had to mute/take breaks from some of my very loud conservative friends for the very reason that they just want to yell at me, call me names and tell me I’m stupid when I speak up.
Hi Nikki. Agree. I had 7 people in my life “break up” over who I voted for. Ridiculous, hurtful, and really shows the low tolerance they have for people with different opinions.
I agree that there is much we have in common. I would love some good figures on how the economy was in such trouble from the Biden administration and how the new policies are going to fix it. I keep looking for this answer and have not found it yet.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_nicknames_used_by_Donald_Trump Really? Taking the high ground on "othering" people? I think not. "Biden and the Ho". Radical Left Socialist. Blue state crazies. The entire point of the Trump presidency to date is cruelty. So you voted for cruelty.
I was raised right and someone calling me names does not make it OK to call others names, but there is a serious lack of self awareness contained in your comment that makes me scream into the void.
Before this election I thought we might still have things in common. Now I do not. But I do believe that you made this choice actively and I don't believe that you need to be educated or saved or whatever. You liked what Trump said, and you chose that route of sound mind and body. I believe that our choices show that we have polar opposite values, and I'm fine with just accepting that.
Thanks, Nikki. All of us getting caught in echo chambers - that's exactly the media ecosystem problem I was trying to articulate in my own reply.
The reality is that voters on all sides make decisions based on the information they have access to and what matters most in their lives. Nobody’s life is inherently more valuable and nobody’s vote is inherently more legitimate. We're all navigating the same complex information landscape, just from different starting points. Thanks for speaking up.
This is what kills me. You hear how divided the news is and are they seriously not seeing any of the stories being reported by neutral or left sources? Is it really that cut and dry? "Well, I don't like anything else so let's give it a shot." Yeah, we did. And he told people to inject bleach. "Dems can't admit DNC was wrong in their pick" i feel like most of us have been saying this for years that DNC is messing up? I just don't understand this level of ignorance and cognitive dissonance.
I'm aware of his comments. While one could argue that Trump should not have speculated on live television about treatments he didn't fully understand, it was counterproductive to interpret his remarks in the worst possible way. He clearly did not tell people to inject bleach, yet this claim continues to be repeated as fact.
More broadly, the media has often pushed misleading narratives, frequently assuming the worst possible interpretation of Trump's statements. From the start of his presidency, he was treated as an adversary, which has only deepened distrust in the media among conservatives. Many commenters here dismiss Trump voters as uneducated or misinformed—an inaccurate and oversimplified view—without considering the broader factors that led to this political divide.
I do agree that we shouldn't repeat oversimplified claims! If we repeat them often enough then people stop understanding the nuance or even questioning if the claim is fully accurate (see also: the claim that the White House named Kamala Harris the "border czar").
"From the start of his presidency, he was treated as an adversary, which has only deepened distrust in the media among conservatives."
I think it's a little more complicated than that, and blaming "the media" is a little too easy a cop-out. Donald Trump was pushing the Obama birth certificate conspiracy for years before he ever ran for President, and during his campaign for the presidency gave plenty of reasons for the press to fact-check his claims (as *all* candidates should expect), but by the time he assumed office he was already calling the press "the enemy of the people." Trump has never liked being challenged or disagreed with, and his insistence that he's only treating the media badly because they treated him badly is, with respect, the logic of a childish bully...or an abuser. He ran for and became the President, and he should be able to take that heat without stooping so low.
Trump likes to spin it as though he alone has been uniquely persecuted by the press, but plenty of Presidents before him (George W. Bush and Barack Obama to name two obvious examples) have been absolutely lambasted by the media without resorting to calling the press "the enemy" or using those criticisms to broadly delegitimize any media sources that criticized them. What's unfortunate is that, as you say, many Trump supporters no longer trust any media that is critical of Trump. Whether that makes them "uninformed" I could not tell you, but choosing to isolate in a preferred information ecosphere (either one that says the economy was in dire straits under Biden and that we had a 'wide open' border, or one that says Trump is a Russian asset and Elon Musk stole the election) is certainly not going to result in nuanced takes. We should all be wary of that impulse.
I'm not disputing that Trump has always been antagonistic toward the press. But if you examine network news coverage of him, the bias is undeniable. During his first term, his first 100 days in office received significantly more negative coverage than any of his predecessors. The 2024 election saw the most lopsided media coverage in modern history, with nearly all reporting on Trump being negative while Harris received overwhelmingly positive treatment.
Beyond just the coverage imbalance, the media has actively spread falsehoods. They pushed the claim that Trump told people to inject bleach, misrepresented his travel restrictions as a "Muslim ban," and perpetuated the "fine people" hoax. They falsely reported that tear gas was used to clear Lafayette Park for a Trump photo-op, spun COVID-19 travel bans as racist, and ran with the baseless "suckers and losers" story. Even minor incidents, like Trump’s koi pond feeding in Japan, were distorted to make him look foolish. And your own reference to the "border czar" coverage is misleading. The media initially branded Kamala Harris the "border czar" before walking it back when the border crisis worsened and the Trump campaign drew attention to it.
This isn’t about who lies more—Trump is certainly dishonest. But, like I said, many people here dismiss Trump voters as misinformed without ever acknowledging the complexities of why they distrust mainstream media in the first place. Restoring trust in the media is key to getting Trump voters to acknowledge his wrongdoings. When the press is consistently biased or misleading, it reinforces the belief that Trump is unfairly targeted, making his supporters more likely to dismiss legitimate criticism. A fair and accountable media would make it harder for Trump voters to ignore his faults while also rebuilding credibility with the broader public.
What is "the media" exactly? It's 2025, we have TONS of ways to get information now. Are you specifically referring to major cable news media? And if so, do you really think that everyone pays attention to them?
I can tell you that I have not watched "the news" since I tuned in to see what was happening on Jan 6 2021. Before that, years.
Many of us are capable of interpreting what Trump says without any outside help/opinions.
What other factors do you think have contributed to this political divide? Because I would agree that SOCIAL media has, but I have a feeling you did not mean that when you were referring to the media.
Thank you. I bet if anyone put out a poll about where most of us get our information, very little of it would be from those cable networks. I haven't watched "The News" since we cancelled our plan in 2012. Before that, my parents were always very good about watching a bit from every news program, so I was always conditioned to know that relying too heavily on one source is not the best approach.
You’re right, I was referring to the major news networks. I agree with your point that viewership has shifted significantly from 2016 to today. I’d argue that this shift is partly due to the growing distrust in the media over that period. I’d also agree that social media has played a major role in shaping public perception, often in detrimental ways.
What I find so maddening is the love for Trump’s “unconventional” methods to change our country. I see his EO’s and bullying as dangerous red flags for authoritarianism, because they represent a significant breach of the checks and balances of power. What makes it even more glaring is the GOP has the WH, Senate, and House of Rep, so it didn’t have to be done this way. Trump could’ve followed the constitution and used Congress just like Bill Clinton did in the 90’s when he restructured the federal government in a legal way. Sharon’s message of power yielded in your favor now could be used against you in the future is ringing in my ears. I don’t hate what Trump is doing because it’s Trump. I hate what Trump is doing, because I believe it is wrong.
THIS! I don’t like the cuts and all that, but if he went through the legal, constitutional methods to pass them then I’d accept it and move on. The purposeful subversion of the constitution makes it feel like they are knowingly committing illegal acts and know they wouldn’t actually have the support of congress (and therefore the constituents of the country). Very contradictory to the party of “law and order”. Furthermore, every time one of these illegal EO’s gets walked back by a judge, the US taxpayers foot the bill for lawsuits etc. Hardly “efficient” in my mind. Do things the right way and stop forcing the taxpayers to pay for all this back and forth litigation.
Yes, I don't think they are including all the taxpayer money spent on litigation offsetting their so-called "savings" which I'm not sure is accurate anyway. Definitely NOT efficient.
Another disconnect, like you said, "do things the right way". I hear that all the time regarding immigrants and immigration, but here is our President hardly doing things the right way.
Thank you. Unconventional is one thing. Unconstitutional is another issue entirely, and some of these folks don't seem to understand, or care, about that distinction.
Yeah. Being critical of how public health experts dealt with a public health CRISIS because you don't like wearing a mask and you prefer not to trust science. Ugh. Let's react by destroying the constitution!
Yes, someone in the post said they support DOGE tactics because they couldn’t see cuts getting done any other way - but they could literally use their majority! I get that they may have to involve SOME Dems, but there are clearly Dems ready and willing to vote with Repubs on issues they like.
Yes! Going that route though would remove the shock and awe which I believe Trump the bully loves to inflict. It speaks to his sociopathy. Bullies traditionally aren’t good at compromise or collaboration, so they use force. It’s still so hard to accept that many Americans (some of whom I thought were good people) are OK with his behavior. They see it as benefiting them or justified for a cause, but I just see the harm.
I would be interested in Sharon doing a comparative piece between the reshaping of the Fed Government that Trump/Musk are currently doing and the restructuring Clinton/Gore did in the 90’s. It seems like Gore was much more meticulous (and elected, also a plus) but maybe it was also a chaotic time?
From what I read Gore formed a commission that reviewed the Fed govt for 6 months looking for ways to create efficiencies. They took their recommendations to Congress. It was voted on by both parties. Appears some acts were passed in response. It appears they used a scalpel instead of a chainsaw.
Here’s the Wikipedia about it, but there’s lots of articles from various news organizations if you google key words. It’s not a Sharon stamped review though which I would love to see as well!
That's the sticky wicket. Harris voters do tend to think of Trump's voters as blindly loyal, and that's not the case at all. Trump voters also tend to think that Harris voters don't understand or won't acknowledge the flaws in the Democratic party, and boy is that also not the case.
It's just that for most of us, because we are voting for the next leader of a democracy, in the 'Pros/Cons' columns for each candidate "Subverting Democracy" is simply the cardinal sin...and Trump did that. It's an automatic disqualification. He not only undermined valid election results, he attempted to overturn them, and NOTHING else tops that. Little else even comes close.
My husband voted for Trump twice, but after watching Jan 6 live on television, he was Done—with a capital D. Now he tells anyone who brings it up what a horrible person Trump is and that he shouldn’t be anywhere near the White House.
I’ll respond to Taylor and Beth since they spoke to “us” and asked something of us.
Taylor says she wishes more Americans “could put aside their hate for Trump and admit that while they don’t agree with every single thing he does, he has done good for our country so far. I wish the same Americans could simply admit that Kamala Harris was not the best choice for the Democratic Party, and it was their own party who failed them.”
Hate is not what drives my problems with Trump. It’s my values. Love for our constitution. Love for the rule of law. Love for those suffering and marginalized. Principles over party. Leaders must have character. He does not share my values. Kamala did. No leader is perfect or worth our unexamined loyalty. But to me, values and character will always win my vote over policy.
Beth has one hope for the future: “I think sometimes people just get to the point where they say ‘you know what? Let’s just give this a shot to see if it’s any better.’ Maybe this wakes everyone up and we can get back to progress without constantly just opposing and fighting just for the sake of fighting.”
I think the path to this is via leaders that have high moral character and a record of putting principles over party. “Giving a shot” to a leader who has consistently broken the law and prioritized vengeance of his political enemies is not the path.
Yes! I’m tired of being accused of being blinded by hatred or “TDS.” I don’t hate Trump. He is a small man who’s been given more power than he has character to properly wield. Not many of us should be in power because of its tendency to corrupt, and certainly not narcissistic bullies who prey on the weak.
Yes! Positions of power naturally attract those with the biggest egos, so how do we get more people of moral integrity and values to run for office, people who truly want to help citizens and are not interested in self-gain?
Exactly! The financial burden of running, the corruption of bribery, er, I mean lobbying, and the culture's unhinged adoration of billionaires got us here. It makes it impossible for anyone of integrity to run even at local and state levels. Not to mention that you must have integrity while being trashed, publicly and privately, for the rest of your life. It's a heavy burden that favors wealthy sociopaths.
I think that collectively we all need to take a good hard look at our own values, see where we are weak and need to do better, then start supporting only people and actions that support those values. Stop giving anyone the benefit of the doubt because of the human need for gurus and tribes. Then start figuring out a way to overhaul how information is shared and money is used.
Very interesting! Thank you for compiling these viewpoints.
It seems to me that Trump voters generally acknowledge Trump's outrageous behaviors, but quickly sweep those behaviors away in their reasoning. I think it further solidifies that we should be thinking about principles over party.
Principles are those fundamental truths and standards that guides one's behavior and ethical conduct, and it seems Trump voters did not consider these, or didn't consider Trump's principles as "that bad."
I can almost understand dismissing these principles when he was on the ballot in 2016. We didn't know him as well as we do now! Jan 6th showed us exactly who he is.
It's hard to understand how someone could dismiss his words and actions as standing for "liberty and justice for all."
I think what makes me so frustrated is the hypocrisy. Trump supporters often tout the party of family values, and law and order, or are religious. Yet, when Trump and his administration do so many things that go against those values, they sweep it under the rug and downplay it.
Ooh the part that gets me is when people are saying “we need something new, try something different” as a reason to vote Trump vs Harris when Harris has never been president and Trump already has and we saw how he behaved.
I do think Harris not having a response to “what would you do differently than Biden,” was a real nail in the coffin moment for a lot of undecided voters, unfortunately. I get why Harris may have felt herself painted into a corner, but it was a real misstep.
Why? Inflation was down close to the Fed’s target, unemployment was low, GDP was healthy, border crossings were down to Trump first-term levels, infrastructure was finally being addressed, etc. She did try to differentiate herself with a plan for getting more affordable housing built but I think her four biggest problems were not taking a stronger stand against Netanyahu, not being a liar, being a woman and being a person of color.
Because Biden, despite all the good things you listed, was not a popular president. And when you’re trying to get elected, popularity matters. We may not see that as fair from a policy perspective, but it was a legitimate problem for Harris that she was so closely tied to Biden.
Yeah, it’s just ironic that the the whole Trumpesphere is built on blind loyalty as the absolutely most important qualification possible and Harris was probably negatively impacted by her loyalty to the man who picked her to be VP and who she worked closely with for four years.
I agree. It's not fair, but voting rationale rarely is: being forced, by the fact of being the sitting Vice President, to align so closely to an increasingly unpopular incumbent (at a time of both intensely negative right-wing messaging AND a rising anti-incumbent sentiment globally) her very reasonable message of "strength through unity and stability" got read as "more of the same."
I agree - it was going to be hard, but she should have come out with her own policies and stances - particularly on Israel and Ukraine. Also with hindsight, talking about reproductive rights so much during her campaign feels silly now that we are facing an impending recession, watching the federal government get gutted, and an overall threat to democracy. Not that I don’t still care about those rights, but it feels like there probably were so more mass-appealing issues she could have latched onto.
I agree with your takes on Kamala’s biggest issue was being a woman and a person of color, but I think talking about the success of the Biden administration on the economy was a huge mistake and showed a disconnect with working class people. If you tell people who are struggling and can’t afford rent, heat, and food how great the economy is, you aren’t going to get their votes. Trump told people very simply, on campaign signs all over PA, “Kamala, high taxes. Trump, low taxes” or “Kamala, high prices. Trump, low prices”. He took full advantage of people who are hurting and desperate for change. The Harris campaign missed an opportunity to deliver a better message.
Some of us saw how Trump and for a short time his VP pick Vance presented themselves throughout their campaign of lies. We saw how Trump ran a shadow government for 4 years following January 6th, evading justice for treason and planning to overthrow our democracy with Project 2025. We saw him colluding with Netanyahu this past summer during the war in Gaza. We watched how Trump and Vance bullied Zelensky and cozied up to Putin. Now we watch our allies condemn Trump and all of us , while his cronies line their pockets as they sabotage our democracy and constitution and plan to pour out the blood of our soldiers to annex Panama, Greenland, and Canada. So Robn, some of us see what he’s doing. When will you?
Honestly, Robn, I can never quite tell if you're *trying* to be inflammatory or if you really do struggle to appreciate nuance, but this response seems like a whiff on an embarrassingly softball question.
Because I can easily tell you something that I do like about Trump, and Harris, and Walz, and Vance: they all have kids in their lives who love them, and who they very publicly love and dote on in return, and only a deeply cynical person would question the motives of Trump's granddaughter giving him such a lovely tribute at the RNC, so I won't do that. It was sweet and, human to human, I can recognize that as a gift in Trump's life.
I can't work out your claim that you have "never" heard Kamala Harris speak clearly, because I have heard not only her but also - yes - Donald Trump communicate clearly and articulately, and quite persuasively as well.
At the risk of sounding patronizing, I do think it's amusing in an affectionately Grandpa-y way to watch Trump dance to his favorite songs. He clearly loves crowd work, and I can absolutely admit that he is good at it.
I don't want him to be the President, but I would never say that I "can't think of anything I DO like" about him, because I think that would say something bad about my own human empathy.
One more add, I honestly and earnestly tried to listen to understand Kamala many, many times. She would go off on so many tangents I could not follow her at all. It became very concerning, so much so, I questioned her ability to communicate effectively if she were elected President. I just could not get on board with her. I cannot cast a vote for someone that I don’t understand.
So sorry if my response didn’t land the way you might have hoped. I was speaking primarily in terms of Harris and Walz and their run for office. I would hope they both love their families and have some likable qualities personally. It’s OK for someone not to care for someone else. That was the point of my original post.
I’m not surprised you can’t articulate anything positive about Kamala. You’ve made it clear that you think she’s unabashedly unqualified to do anything based on this and other comments.
My question is about Trump, what about him and his actions do you find questionable or unnecessary or harmful?
Upon careful consideration, and after being referred to as inflammatory, disingenuous, uneducated, uninformed, embarrassed and a cult follower (and these are just in this thread alone). I have made the decision to no longer be a paying subscriber to the Preamble. I have left temporarily previously and returned because I truly do find value in much of the information Sharon shares. To all those I have communicated with here who have been kind, I truly thank you. To those with whom I haven’t seen eye to eye to, thank you as well. Both have taught me. While I may not be the person here with the most degrees attached to my name, I am proud to have been the first in my family to attend and graduate college. I hold two undergraduate degrees and a master’s as well. I say this not as a personal flex but with the utmost gratitude to my parents who always told me I could do anything. Throughout my career, I have had the pleasure of working with quite a diverse group of people from all over the world. We are all connected through the home decor and design world. While coming from many different backgrounds and places we have somehow always found common ground in our core values. I am also a painter and mixed media artist with a brand new art studio which I’m in the process of breaking in! In the words of CS Lewis, “the future is something everyone reaches at 60 minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is”. I think my minutes and hours will best be spent being creative and stepping away from social media. ❤️
Some voters in my area were seemingly offended by the idea of principle over party and before the election there were several yard signs I saw that said things like “policy > principle” and “I’m voting for a president, not a boyfriend” which I found particularly frustrating. It can feel like people are dead set on dismissing his behavior.
Wow! I didn't know this particular "campaign slogan" existed! I've never seen a sign like that, but I live in a pretty red area where the "F" Biden flags still wave.
I am having a hard time understanding why someone wouldn't take into account someone's moral standing when voting for them to lead our country. Maybe I need to read Righteous Minds again!
They were homemade signs along the same stretch of road so I guess they inspired each other? It's the road I have to take to do most anything so I think even though it wasn't a lot of signs, seeing them daily for weeks made it feel like more haha.
It is hard to understand. I've asked for insight from Preamble readers on the right a few times, truly in good faith, because I genuinely want to get it but it feels like an unsolvable puzzle. Or maybe there's something I'm just not getting? Regardless, I can't seem to wrap by head around it all.
Reading this article provides valuable intelligence for anyone wanting to have persuasive conversations with Trump voters. The key is identifying rhetorical weak spots where gentle questioning can lead to reflection rather than defensiveness. Here are some ways I think someone might be able to engage effectively based on these insights:
When supporters cite "following through on promises," ask specifically about economic promises. Trump campaigned on ending inflation, lowering prices, and improving retirement savings - yet his tune has now changed, and not for any external factors he isn’t in control of. I know it’s an informal survey, but I wonder if this dynamic holds across all surveys of approval: his economic approval (38%) now lags behind his overall approval (45%). That’s INSANE given how recently he was elected for a presumption of being an economic genius. Try questions like: "Has the implementation matched what was promised during the campaign?" These questions aren't accusatory but invite reflection on the gap between promised and delivered economic outcomes. Make people realize that even the bare minimum credit people give him (“what you see is what you get”) is far from the truth.
For those who compartmentalize Trump's "bedside manner" from his policies, try reframing leadership itself: "Do you think a president's ability to unite Americans is just a personality trait, or is it a core function of the job? If someone can't bring half the country along with them, isn't that itself a significant leadership failure?" This approach challenges the artificial separation between communication style and governance effectiveness.
On immigration, many Trump voters supported targeted deportation of criminals but now face a broader implementation. Ask: "Before the election, what did you understand 'deporting criminals' to mean? Has that definition expanded in ways you didn't anticipate?" Similarly, with comments like those about "taking over Gaza," probe the selective interpretation: "What makes you take some of Trump's statements as literal promises but dismiss others as 'just Trump talking'? How do you determine which statements to take seriously?" Again, what you see is not what you get.
The DOGE initiative creates another opening. When supporters praise cutting government waste, ask: "Why do you think this couldn't be done with transparency and clear metrics? If the waste is so obvious, wouldn't showing Americans exactly what's being cut strengthen public support? Does the chaotic nature of implementation concern you?" This questions the process without challenging the goal. And then follow up with the investigations that show all of the bad math and retracted firings and personal horror stories if the person you’re talking to seems ready for it. And finally, if they really do think DOGE has done excellent work, ask them if they feel like paying taxes is more of a patriotic duty now that it’s been whittled down to the essentials that keep our country great. If they are concerned about the national debt, isn’t it time to worry about the other side of the equation: revenue? Do they support billionaires having to pay the same effective tax rate as the rest of us?
The most effective approach combines genuine curiosity with gentle challenging of inconsistencies. Never attack the voter's identity as a Trump supporter - instead, focus on specific policy implementations and outcomes. By asking questions that highlight contradictions without judgment, you create space for self-reflection rather than defensiveness. Remember that persuasion happens through questioning assumptions, not frontal attacks on deeply-held beliefs.
I like your suggestions for questions to help start a conversation. It's sometimes hard to even think about how to do that when faced with someone who seems (to me) to be oblivious to some obvious things - or willing to 'skip over' any bad things. This part of the original article just made me feel almost hopeless: "If you can remove Jan 6 and the tweets and things like that from his first administration, it wasn’t so bad. But now, it just feels so chaotic, unhinged, and miscalculated." Sure, if you remove the bad things, it wasn't so bad!! But I will never understand how Jan 6th wasn't a deal breaker.
For sure, I also struggle with this. How do you empathize with someone who seems to be singularly focused on their own experience? I'm sure the person quoted there is unaware of how foolish what they said sounds, but to them it makes sense: those things from his first term that were chaotic and dealbreakers are old history now, and so you can dismiss them. But seeing more chaos now: who would have ever expected that?!
But here's the hope: they are actually already aware of the cognitive dissonance they're holding. They haven't confronted it yet, but they know January 6th and "the tweets and things" (aka everything he's ever said) were dealbreakers back then. My guess is that they don't have a community or a media diet that encourages them to put the pieces together. Without an incentive to confront it, the idea of questioning the prevailing politics of their community is pretty scary. However, they might be a few respectful conversations away from being able to read the headlines with some more skepticism. I know, that's infuriatingly slow baby steps, I wish that human nature would allow people to just suddenly wake up, but each interaction we have with people like that person you quoted has the capacity to help. Hang in there!
Thank you. And you offer some timely suggestions as I head off this weekend to celebrate my uncle's 85th birthday...with the Trump-loving side of my family :-)
Oh how fun 😌 even though I am sure the goal will be to enjoy family time, let me know if any of these tools come in handy, I love to hear about real world examples of how conversations go. Shoot me a message anytime. 🙂
I really appreciate your suggestions of open ended questions and looking for feedback rather than accusations that lead to defensive positions automatically. I think this way of questioning and discussion may not lead directly to a thoughtful conversation with folks who we fundamentally disagree with but a question may land on a person who will think about it later and perhaps open their mind a bit to the possibility that their reasons for supporting Trump is not on as solid ground as they thought. When I hold an opinion so close to the heart I ask myself “Am I sure?” and 9 out of 10 times the answer is no if I’m at least honest with myself. Just asking that simple question opens the heart and mind.
Thanks, KD. I agree. And while I bet many people are tempted to walk away from reading this article shaking their heads at the parts that made them mad, I hope they don’t forget about the positive parts where we can see glimpses of hope in some responses that conveyed independent thinking. Our biased assumptions are typically proven wrong, or at least insufficient, once you get past the surface.
Yes agreed. I live in a very conservative area and voting for a democrat is sacrilegious and for me growing up in Chicago in a very progressive household back in the 80s, this period reminds me of when Reagan was elected and republicans revered him and the democrats despised him. I think putting so much hope and stock into an individual rather than the principles they uphold is a very human thing to do. It’s the tribal mindset and if we are to progress as a species and survive what’s coming for all us regardless of party politics we need to learn to hold the tribal instincts more loosely than we do. It’s interesting times for sure.
Well, this seals the deal. It’s hopeless. If these people can’t see that hurting people is not an ok exchange for making THEIR lives better, we’re done for. The amount of selfishness in that piece is nauseating.
Hard to read, wish I could I was surprised by these voters quotes but I’m not. The amount of justification for Trump’s behavior over and over again is mind boggling for me
I completely agree with the article being hard to read. It’s so difficult to navigate wanting to understand where Trump voters are coming from and the anger I feel over what is happening right now. How do we get ourselves back to some moderate form of government when we have half of the electorate who think and feel this way? I believe Trump voters give him way too much of a pass and are swimming in a cesspool of their own confirmation bias.
To me the most glaring omission was downplaying or outright ignoring the illegality of things going on with this admin.
As seems to happen with most T supporters they speak in vague terms of support and gloss over the severity of the details. One interviewee even noted if you “overlook Jan 6”.
This is where I really struggle to understand that perspective — I don’t think anyone would take issue with “securing borders” or “cutting down on waste”. But the way it is carried out Is the crux of the issue — and it seems no one really narrowed in on the way many laws and constitution is currently being flouted (which, regardless of party or preferred policies, is a HUGE issue).
Nothing here surprised me. First, how can any decent person ignore 1/6? Trump knew he lost the election ( not rigged, not stolen) and lied to his supporters. He sent them to the Capitol to stop the certification which included the murder of his Vice President. Please explain how anyone can be OK with that!
As far has his current term, I am most concerned about the shredding of the Constitution- executive orders about matters that are the responsibility of Congress. I am concerned about his attack on law firms. I am concerned that he says it should be a crime for people, journalists... to say bad things about him. I am concerned about his attack on judges who block is wishes. There is a lot to worry about here.
Rumeysa Ozturk is not an "illegal immigrant." She is a Turkish PhD student studying children's media, who co-authored an article A YEAR AGO calling on the Tufts University administration to divest from Israel in the midst of its flagrant targeting of civilians. She is known to be a kind and gentle person, and was walking to a friend's house to break her Ramadan fast when she was taken off the street by plainclothes ICE officers. She has committed no crime and is not a danger to anyone, but she was immediately sent to Louisiana, miles from her friends and support network. She is now deprived of her medications and is reported to have had an asthma attack en route to detention. She is now being held without due process, treated as a criminal just for exercising her first amendment rights.
Rumeysa is not acceptable collateral damage for the things Trump voters approve of. She's not a fair price to pay for more manufacturing jobs. She's not a reasonable deterrent for border crossings. It's not enough to say "well, I don't agree with THAT, but..." No. NO. If you don't regret your vote for Trump, then THIS is what you support. You support a young woman being sent to prison for no reason, alone and sick and scared.
So if you want to be understood, don't worry: We understand EXACTLY who you are.
Thank you for going into the details of Rumeysa Ozturk's story. You are so right, and the whole country should be disturbed by what is happening to her.
She's practically my neighbor, so this really hits home for me. She was taken only about a mile from my house. I think of her constantly and I'm so heartbroken and scared for her. The way Rubio talked about her makes me so furious. SHE WASN'T A DANGER TO ANYONE!!!
THIS! When you vote for the trains to run on time AND to build concentration camps, you are guilty of supporting the concentration camps. I don't care if the trains ever run on time if the price is the dehumanization of certain groups. It's not just a slippery slope argument; you're greasing the hill by ignoring the inconvenient fact that he's attacking law abiding people just because he doesn't like what they say. This is what the FIRST AMENDMENT is supposed to stop. Fascism and dictatorships don't necessarily start with big atrocities. They can start with small ones. Ask Germany how that works
Fox would portray it as "Protests for a terrorist sympathizer" because, unfortunately, I don't think we'll ever avoid an 'alternative facts' spin.
I do think what makes the Tesla protests more accessible and visible is that there are Tesla dealerships all over the country and you don't even need to coordinate with anyone, just show up to your local dealership with a sign (I haven't done this, I'm just speculating as to why it's caught on so quickly).
I agree that there should be protests for her (and there have been here in Massachusetts), but I can't agree about the Tesla Takedown protests, which are wonderfully effective! It's completely reasonable to protest the extreme influence of an unelected billionaire using illegal and insecure means to destroy what our duly-elected representatives have built. With such a long election cycle, it's natural for us to vote with our voices and dollars until we can again vote at the ballot box. I've been to 2 Tesla Takedown protests and I recommend them! No matter what Fox says.
The problem that I’m having is that there’s no room for thoughtful, meaningful discussion with many, if not most, Trump supporters. We can gain insight into their thought process, but then what? I grew up in a very conservative family, in a very conservative area and the second I started questioning anything, they immediately got defensive. Ex: my grandpa was adamant that Obama was a terrorist and going to bring all of his friends to our country, despite zero evidence. I was still in high school and too young to vote but when I questioned that thought process, he doubled down and so did the rest of my family. I had guessed I was just wrong. I was the only one who thought it didn’t make sense.
Then, during the Trump/Clinton election, the cracks grew even wider. Any time I would question Trump’s morality, based on what I thought were shared family values, or shared any differing perspective, I was a “disappointment.” “Just wait until you’re older. You’re just a young liberal. When you grow up you’ll understand”. Well, I’m 33 now and I still don’t “understand.” I am surrounded by Trump supporters; my family, my friends, my employees. It doesn’t matter how meaningful the relationship is, anytime politics comes up, it turns ugly. I was once yelled at by an aunt for AGREEING with one of her points.
I understand their thought process. Trump is doing what they wanted. The problem is, there is just no room for critical thinking or any other point of view.
I think this mindset is due to fear - the moment they let legitimate questions in is the moment so many of the justifications start crumbling. It’s a defense mechanism. But it’s so hard to be on the receiving end of such dismissal.
I have no support or help but just know you’re not alone. My husband and I are the only liberals on both sides of the family. I started questioning things when I was 17, unable to vote in the Trump/Clinton election. My mom and I thought Trump was awful, thought if he won we would move to Canada because his comments were so immoral.
Well, my mom is now a 3-time Trump voter and I am still adamantly opposed to his demeanor, actions, etc.
I’m very tired of constantly hearing about Trump voters thoughts! When Trump wins, when he loses, we constantly have to check in with them. It’s just part of normalizing Trump and his insanity.
agreed it’s so tiring. But unfortunately if we want to save our country we are required to consistently be the adults in the room. At this point it’s not about fairness, like that guy said above. It’s about the slow tiny progress. We also have to provide voters a viable alternative beyond “not Trump.”
Sharon, thank you. This was an informative post, and also somewhat enlightening.
I personally feel that I am now done trying to get inside the mind of, or to understand the motivations of, Trump voters (which it feels like we've been trying to do for the past decade). I don't think we need to spend any more time trying to convince Trump voters that they are wrong (it doesn't usually work). I think our time will be better spent creating a viable alternative to MAGA, whether that is a more moderate Democratic party or a third party, and continuing efforts to oppose the current Trump administration's abuse of power and destruction of our democracy.
Thank you Sharon as always for thoughtfully presenting this article. However I’m still stuck with the thought of: this still makes no sense to me! To admit that the man is a bully and speaks before thinking etc etc and a Trump voter was still ok with that is disappointing to say the least. We on a global stage have lost any credibility and that is sad for our future. America First didn’t work out so great last time and if history repeats itself (as it does) I hope the folks who put us all in this position are proud to tell their grandchildren that they were part of the issue.
Thank you for collecting and sharing all of this! It was a tough one to read, but it did echo a lot of the cognitive dissonance that I've been hearing from the Trump supporters in my life: "I trust him to use tariffs to protect us, but I'm nervous about the direction of the economy." "I'm excited for things to come back to the United States, and look forward to prices coming down." "He's transparent and is doing what he said he would do, but sometimes he just says stuff and we shouldn't take it so seriously." "I wanted him to deport illegal immigrants, but not *those* illegal immigrants." ("I never thought the leopards would eat MY face, etc...")
With grace and kindness toward this person, I do think this quote summed it up: "If you can remove Jan 6 and the tweets and things like that from his first administration, it wasn’t so bad. But now, it just feels so chaotic, unhinged, and miscalculated."
The problem is that, for those who did take the tweets and the law-breaking and January 6th seriously, this is exactly as chaotic, unhinged, and miscalculated as it was expected to be.
Yes, my first thought when reading this was how disconnected the thinking was. In one breath they say that I love how he does what he says, that he's so transparent and then in the next breath they say oh he just says things, he doesn't really mean it. What? How am I ever supposed to trust what he says then?
My not voting for Trump has nothing to do with "putting aside my hate for Trump" and everything to do with his words, his actions, his trustworthiness, his past, how he treats people, how he creates chaos and uncertainty, the illegality of his actions, his trampling of the constitution and I could go on and on. That I might agree with one or two end results of something he did is irrelevant to all the other horrific things he is doing. Policy is irrelevant when character and democracy is on the line.
Sharon, thank you for sharing all of this. I love to engage with people who think differently than me and have in the past with some Trump supporters in real life. Most of the time it doesn't end well as they turn to "what about" a lot or say things like "you just hate Trump". I've always told them I'm happy to have a conversation with you if you want to talk about policy issues, but that's not what you are doing.
Yeah, people claiming "you just don't like anything Trump does because you hate him!" drive me crazy. I dislike Trump BECAUSE of what he's done as a politician - my feelings about him were completely neutral prior to his entrance into politics. On the rare occasion that he surprises me with something that seems decent, I'm suspicious, but happy to give him flowers in the hopes that it's genuinely a good thing. But my feelings about him are completely self-earned by Trump.
Exactly! I hate Trump because of everything he does. I don’t hate everything he does because he’s Trump. I didn’t like him as a person before he entered politics, but I didn’t care enough about him to think more than that. Definitely wouldn’t vote for him. His first term, he did a lot I disagreed with and was embarrassing. But he didn’t ruin the country. Then Covid happened. And January 6. And everything since.
I don’t think people really realize the long term negative impacts that are coming are going to far outweigh any perceived benefits. I’m a medical provider. I seriously fear for our future health, safety, scientific research and educational system. Not to mention… well… everything else.
When he was elected in 2016, I was hopeful he could or would slow down the corruption or at least get the parties to work together for good. What a fantasy! Not only has corruption and dysfunction flourished, we now have citizens and family members hating each other due to toxicity in politics.
I have never seen a more “uninformed” candidate or elected official. “I don’t know about Project 2025, I don’t know what Signal is” - I realize these are not direct quotes, but really? If he truly doesn’t know all the things he says he doesn’t know, why isn’t that a problem? Any private citizen who had a group chat like the plans on Signal, would be fired immediately.
Senate confirmation hearings are a joke. Does anyone tell the truth? The ability to tell one lie after another seems to be a key qualification for a job.
This regime is out of control and I am astounded more people do not see it or care. Imagine if this was the Biden administration. We are watching the destruction of the federal government.
I said this further down, but yes…it’s a conversation killer. If Trump supporters can dismiss a fact or analysis they don’t like because the person sharing it “just” hates Trump in their mind, it effectively inures them from self examination too.
Prior to his entrance into politics I did not care one bit about him. He was just some rich real estate mogul/reality star who would sometimes make headlines for family drama. Didn't affect me one way or another. Then he started the whole birth certificate thing with Obama and hasn't shut up since.
As a long time reader of Sharon, I find these comments very discouraging. There is no mention of our constitution, the rule of law, truth, character, how our government is to work for all of us. I also agree that it feels so uninformed to dismiss someone who didn't vote for Trump simply as someone who hates him. I do not hate Trump. I actually think he is a deeply damaged human being. I hate what he has done & continues to do to our country. The person who dismisses Jan. 6 is a sad representative of so many who don't seem to think that the unprecedented attempt by a president to overturn a free & fair election is not serious & disqualifying. Making excuses for his behavior is something I continually find discouraging. Character matters & it certainly matters to me.
The fact that these are folks who follow Sharon is discouraging. It would indicate that they are getting information from biased sources that confirm their beliefs. I don't know how we move on from this when we are so divided & hear such opposite information.
I 100% agree with you and to be honest, I just can't get on board with anyone who is okay with the way immigrants and refugees are being treated. I can't get on board with firing so many people without looking at it from a more educated and thoughtful approach, I can't accept stopping aid that vaccinates and feeds children that will now die of starvation and disease. I can't get on board with flying immigrants to prisons in Guatanomo which cost taxpayers over 40 million dollars to pay 1000 workers for only 100 detainees.. now that is government waste!! And I can't get on board with ripping immigrants off the street becuase they have a tattoo and shipping them off to El Salvador prisons without due process and with no regard for human decency... And there are so, so many other things, silencing the press, threatening people who disagree with them, taking away Veteran's jobs and benefits, letting Elon Musk, an unelected official, have free reign and access to all of our data. Destroying our relationships with Canada, the EU and Mexico and saying several times out loud that he doesn't care if prices go up and he doesn't care about the rule of law.. and his actions show he doesn't really care about the Constitution. It is truly heartbreaking that this Administration is treating people as if they are disposable, unimportant, and that they don't matter. With all that said, what I struggle with the most, is that these people and so many others are okay with any of it, so no, I can't find common ground with them and honestly, if they are okay with ANY of this, I am sorry, but I don't want to.
So perfectly summed up - when you see it all written out - the cognitive dissonance they have to do to keep their beliefs is just astonishing!
I don’t know what it was about COVID if it was the isolation or the loss of independence to make decisions or just a blooming social media presence, but it made conspiracy theories just blossom and it never really let go for many. I listened to this podcast series called Embedded: Alternate Realities about a father who’s going down the conservative conspiracy theory rabbit hole. He makes a bet with his son that by the end of the year 2024 his ten predictions will come true. He ends up losing the bet and pay 10k to the son, but he still thinks he just got the timeline wrong. If a son can’t logic a father into reality it’s hard to logic a stranger.
I do hate Trump. He instigated the insurrection. He's a convicted felon. He was convicted of sexual assault. He lies, cheats, and bullies. He's destroying our democracy. What's not to hate?
THIS:" ...has everything to do with his words, his actions, his trustworthiness, his past, how he treats people, how he creates chaos and uncertainty, the illegality of his actions, his trampling of the constitution and I could go on and on." Amen. The cognitive dissonance of these people who cannot seem to see the active dismantling of our government and the rule of law, is chilling. That and the attitude of "if it does t affect me, I'm not concerned" is terrible. How anyone living in America today is not deeply, gravely concerned for our future is beyond me.
The part that I never understand is they always say that Trump is transparent, but somehow things like his tweets and Jan 6 are not, they’re complicated, not what he meant, etc, but everything else is? He says he’s going to do xyz which they like and believe but then says he’s going to take over Greenland which they don’t like and thus think isn’t honest. So which is it?
I honestly believe those who do not agree with Trump see him as transparent on all things and that’s why we don’t agree. Which is why things like Jan 6 and his tweets are so concerning.
Transparency.Yeah, like his denial of any knowledge or connection to Project 2025.
Well said, Emily. I also am married to someone with that cognitive dissonance. The way you pulled those things together displayed great writing , critical thinking, and was far kinder than i am at this point (try as i may). Yes, I also find him transparent. As he deploys Weaponized ignorance as an answer to everything he has been challenged by congress and reporters displays clear lack of intention to ever own any misdeed. I recall as a young woman reading about his very cavalier and condescending comments towards the women and his behavior around the beauty pageants he owned. He has very transparently conveyed his opinion about women, Mexico, immigrants, anyone who disagrees with him, the construction companies in New York, that he ripped off, and his megalomania. Yes, he says what he thinks, and I personally feel that he routinely offers up why you should never have even been considered by any political party as someone who will champion ‘in order to form a more perfect union”.
Well put! They seem to be confused by what they don’t like and eager to dismiss it as “Trump being Trump. You can’t take it seriously”. But then to say “he’s transparent and does what he says he’ll do” makes the first statement meaningless. I truly believe many of these people will not see how badly he’s doing until they are severely damaged by his actions and policies. Their identity is wrapped up in being a Trump supporter so to admit they were wrong is a bridge too far. They will shape the facts to align with their identity. No one wants to admit by voting for him they may have hurt the country. It’s a tough thing to live with when you see people getting hurt.
No Germans at the end of WWII wanted to admit that they voted for Adolf Hitler.
Exactly right.
Thanks for laying this out, because it was exactly my takeaway. I would be curious how these people are able to carry these contradictory feelings / beliefs around all of the time, but maybe it's human nature. It did illuminate something very important for me - why his voters won't ever change their support of him: their support solidly comes from a place of BELIEVING that he is correct, strong, and capable, and every bit of evidence that quite clearly does not support those beliefs is filed under "something we should not bother looking too closely at or taking seriously or we should blame on Biden" It's why nothing Trump does or says will sway a person - they have already programmed themselves to automatically file those things away into a "it doesn't mean anything" folder so that it won't upend their original belief, a belief that matters more than the reality playing out.
Thank you for taking the time to type all that out because it is EXACTLY what I wanted to say. 😊 I truly value these perspectives. But I also kept thinking, "Do they not hear themselves contradicting themselves?" And the comment about removing January 6 was a bit 🤯 because, for me, that is the #1 reason he could never earn my vote under any circumstances. It's not something I can remove or would be willing to even consider removing, regardless of how great anything else he does might end up being.
Important as it is to know, the cognitive dissonance in these answers just completely exhausted me.
I wish I could just remove Jan 6 from my memory! It's wild that people think it's just a little blip or mistake and not an attempted overthrow of the government encouraged by the president.
Your comment is so much more eloquent than my thoughts😂 As someone who left a high demand religion, the cognitive dissonance is so apparent to me and surprisingly brought up a lot of uncomfortable feelings. Thank you for sharing.
I agree when people tell me “you just hate Trump because you just believe what the media tells you.” My response is always “why do you hold such fealty to one person no matter whatever egregious thing they do?” I will never forget Jan 6th. That IMO is the most egregious thing any president has ever done. Did Trump really do that well economically like they claim during his first term? I don’t see facts to support that.
I have to add the next egregious thing he has done has been to sidestep Congress and put in an unelected bureaucrat to dismantle our government.
My thoughts exactly. We can’t remove January 6th, it happened. And there are human beings still living the trauma both physically and mentally from it. Then the perpetrators were pardoned. I can’t wrap my head around how these folks can choose to ignore the bad bits… as the bad bits are undermining our democracy and doing so by breaking laws. The short sightedness is terrifying me.
I had a lot of initial reactions to reading this Preamble, but agree that the "if you just remove Jan 6" comment was at the top. How in the world can we discard Jan 6 and all its implications as not integral to a candidate's character when we voted in 2024?
Emily…you said what I wanted to say. So, thank you for sharing so eloquently. And, you did do it with grace and kindness. You and I agree on here the majority of the time. I appreciate your opinions and thoughts. 💕
Every single reason they approve or disapprove of this administration can be debunked very easily. What is really appalling is their lack of information and inability to think critically. And that is the reason why we are here today. A healthy democracy can only function if the electorate is smart, well informed, and able to think. Bottom line is, we get what we deserve.
Yeah, all the things that Trump voters mentioned “surprise” or disappointment on are things that many of us were warning about. Taking Gaza, siding with Putin, stepping over Congressional authority, embracing P2025. It was all so predictable, and it is agonizing to hear people now say, wait, we didn’t expect this!
My mom was moaning to me about the defunding of the ED, the harsh deportation happenings, etc things that she, a Trump voter, was not a fan of. I told her I saw it all coming because of P2025, which I sent to her and the rest of my family prior to the election and suggested they read up on it and expressed my concerns.
She had no idea that everything she thought was happening unexpectedly was laid out in P2025.
Gosh, that’s so frustrating! It just seems like such an unwillingness to be informed.
I think when we hear people say “We didn’t expect this!” It’s our opportunity to encourage them to vote differently next time rather than making them feel bad for what the current administration is doing. Shaming doesn’t get anyone anywhere.
Or at least take the time to truly educate themselves. I’m thinking that anyone who answered these questions has probably been following Sharon? So there was plenty of solid factual information given on a daily basis that anyone could have continued to research if they were interested
You can’t shame the shameless. Harsh, but true. I do think you’re right though. The more mature and persuasive course would to say perhaps you should vote differently next time.
Exactly, Ashley! If they listened to or read various sources they would have heard the warnings.
I think they heard the warnings, but the "fake news" narrative is ingrained at this point. It's what keeps them gaslit.
The economy claims always get me, because the simple fact is that Trump inherited a strong and growing economy that had managed to get control over rising inflation and, in doing so, also avoided a recession. Anything he might do to "fix" things now will just be a repair of damage his administration has caused.
This! I’m starting to think that a lot of those who say the economy was bad before this election are actually bemoaning that they personally can’t take a trip to Hawaii, or buy a new car, or have a fancy house. I know there are many people in our communities truly struggling to provide the basics for their families, I do. But, I have people in my life who spend senselessly and desire more than they can afford and complain about economy. I want to say ‘stop eating at the fancy restaurant once a week, stop buying Mercedes and get the Honda, don’t go to Hawaii do you can’t pay for it!’ I know that’s not eveyone, just an observation from my own world.
I've really been enjoying Kathryn Ann Edwards' work (at https://www.kedits.com/ and her new podcast 'Optimist Economy') because she breaks this stuff down so well, and she has definitely mentioned that people's *feelings* about the economy are often divorced from the reality of the economy because they are so conditioned to specific pain points for that person.
I really didn’t think the American people could be so ignorant on things like politics since it affects their everyday lives, and it seemed to me, growing up, historically many Americans were involved in politics (thinking about war times, etc).
But my eyes were opened this week when my mom, a Trump voter who is now hoping for an impeachment, told me I should pray for it. I told her I would, and that we could always also vote in the midterms for a more favorable Congress, and she was incredibly confused why I said this.
She is almost 60, and I had to tell her that we vote for our Congresspeople.
I’ve lost a lot of faith in the average American now.
Can I tell you how heartened I am that she has been able and willing to change her mind? I understand being upset by how few people care about the political system, though.
Wait. How did she think you got your congress person??
I honestly don’t even think she knows what Congress is
While this is so sad and I feel you, I’m so glad you’ve taken the opportunity to educate her on how she can vote differently next time and maybe help her do that. That’s an amazing step!
Mia, I have two people in my life that I love dearly but are not interested in politics. They don’t even understand how our political system works. I have tried with one of them to explain how our system of government works. I have pointed out where Trump has disregarded the Constitution. She doesn’t try to understand. It’s so frustrating but at least she lets me try explaining. The other one says she doesn’t like politics and won’t talk about it. It’s so incredibly sad. 😢
I appreciate your passion, Mariza. The frustration is real when you see such contradictions in voters' reasoning. I wonder, though - has the electorate ever truly been universally "smart, well-informed, and able to think"? I don't think people have suddenly gotten less intelligent. What's changed dramatically is our media ecosystem, which has evolved faster than our ability to navigate it critically.
People are swimming in a sea of conflicting information where algorithms feed them content that reinforces existing beliefs. Media outlets have discovered that catering to political biases is profitable, regardless of educational value. The result isn't stupidity but confusion and tribalism. But they aren’t necessarily a lost cause.
I've noticed cognitive dissonance isn't unique to one political side - I catch myself making similar logical leaps when confronted with information that challenges our narratives. Perhaps instead of concluding "we get what we deserve," we might consider how to rebuild information systems that prioritize clarity over confirmation bias?
Part of me thinks that we as Americans need to admit that none of us are experts enough to know how to vote in our own interest. It’s a full time job to keep democracy healthy. Perhaps, if we really wanted to fix this problem, we need to think about something bold, like having people with paid full time jobs to inform voters from the perspective of a peer, as opposed to a journalist or politician. Someone who has the time to attend city council meetings and read the text of the bills being passed. Because I don’t think there’s any possible future where voters who work so many hours per week have the time to accurately vote in their own interest. Instead, they only have time for a TikTok hot take or an advertisement, both of which are now targeted specifically to engineer a response based on data that’s been mined from our internet activity. I don’t think an effective solution exists that won’t be seen as extremely bold. I’ll keep thinking about this today.
Thanks for your reply, Timothy. And thanks for your suggested solutions. Although I agree with your points, there are some basic principles that don’t require a lot of reading… As an example, during the 2016 presidential campaign, I knew very little about Mr. Trump. And of course, I followed the entire campaign because I wanted to hear about the candidates’ differing visions for our country. However, Mr. Trump lost me when he made that comment about Megyn Kelly “bleeding from everywhere” because in my view, a candidate for the highest office in the country simply MUST respect ALL the people he is supposed to protect, defend, and represent. Period. Mind you, everything else he said or did after that, only served to prove my point.
I think you've articulated what many Americans feel - that there are certain baseline standards of respect and decorum we expect from our leaders, especially the president, and any attempt to meet Trump with an open mind has been met with one non-starter after another. You're right that the current president has made zero effort to bridge the divide with those who didn't support him. Instead of seeking reconciliation, he's often chosen to deepen and profit from those divisions, which only reinforces the polarization we're experiencing.
As for those voters who continue to support Trump, I think there's a wide spectrum of reasons. Some people may not be following politics closely. Others might approach politics transactionally - focusing exclusively on policies that directly impact their lives while overlooking character concerns. I’ve heard from people who are horrified by his actions but still voted for him because they have specific circumstances they felt put their family at risk under Democrat policies, and they wished they had the safety net to vote their conscience. Many were raised to prioritize certain issues above all others, and many were raised to view politics through a tribal lens.
While we can certainly hold our own judgments about these attitudes toward politics, I've found that proving people wrong about their perception of you (and the political identity you represent) is more effective than proving them wrong about their chosen side.
When Trump supporters are treated as if they're intellectually or morally deficient, it validates the narrative they've been told - that the opposition is elitist and condescending. This makes them more likely to reject not just you personally, but anyone associated with your political perspective.
On the other hand, when we approach political conversations with genuine curiosity and openness, we challenge those stereotypes. We demonstrate that it's possible to disagree fundamentally while still respecting each other's humanity.
This might feel confusing because that’s affording them a lot more respect than we receive from them, but I’m arguing for getting us out of the mess more than fairness. It's easier said than done and takes a lot of patience.
I believe this approach doesn't require compromising our principles, but rather shows confidence in those principles by being willing to examine and discuss them openly. It's telling them: "I arrived at my point of view after examining all the evidence and considering alternate viewpoints, did you?" What are your thoughts on this approach?
I admire you for taking the higher ground. But I have to admit that it’s really hard, because my frustration is not being able to make people see what seems to me to be so outlandishly obvious…
But, believe it or not, the answer is Congress, Congress, Congress, a thousand times! No matter people’s difference of opinions, the Legislative for me is the most important pillar of our democracy. It’s quite simple. I believe we all want the same things—a decent life, with equal opportunities for our kids to have a good education, good jobs, security, etc. Where we all differ in our views is how to get there. We need to overturn Citizens United, we need term limits, end of insider trading, we need Congress to have the same healthcare that we all have, we need laws and government by the people, for the people—to name a few things.
Of course, I wished the media had done a better job educating their audience. In any case, now it’s too late. None of us will be around 250 years from now, to enjoy how (or if) we were able to rebuild our democracy.
I appreciate your kind words about "taking the higher ground," but I want to clarify something - it's not actually about being nice or moral superiority. It's about effective persuasion. When people assume the worst about you, defensiveness or aggression rarely changes minds. It's strategic: the goal is simply getting your point across to someone who might otherwise dismiss you.
You're absolutely right about Congress being the crucial pillar of our democracy. Historically, people did focus too much on the presidency when trying to create change in their lives. The interesting shift we've seen recently is how Republican representatives seem to defer to Trump rather than serve as an independent branch. You’d think Congress is meaningless now, but that's precisely why focusing on Congress is more important than ever - we need to restore its function as a check on presidential power, regardless of who holds office.
Your list of priorities is fantastic - campaign finance reform, term limits, ending insider trading, healthcare reform. Many of these issues, when framed in neutral language that focuses on outcomes rather than partisan talking points, actually have support across the political spectrum. Most Americans want a government that works for ordinary people, even if we disagree on implementation details. That common ground is often where real progress can happen.
I spend a lot of time in these comments (as I know you do too) and people who support Trump are LOCKED IN. They are reading the same Sharon pieces that we are and still choosing erroneous information. I don't think we can appeal to their better angels, because I don't think any of this is about logic or fact. It seems to be about feeling powerful, and feeling superior.
I really like the way your mind works. I have believed for some time, that the media is really a culprit in all this. So is dark money
Thank you, Les! And I agree...to an extent. Blame is a weird concept when you're talking about something so large and abstract as "the media". Can we really say they are a culprit? Because to me that makes it seem like we just have to wait until the system fixes itself, and someday "the media" will learn its lessons and fix itself. It makes it seem like there are just some corrupt individuals making things bad. But just like dark money in elections, it's more like we have built a system that is broken. We keep shaking our fists at traditional media for being biased, but then we select our chosen media outlets based on that bias, baking it in as their revenue structure. Objective, principled journalism is dying except in small, independent organizations that have found niche audiences. And I don't think that the solution is blaming the consumers of the news, either. People have now been conditioned to think that the news should be free of charge.
Perhaps the only way to fix it is for regular people like us to brainstorm ways to correct the root causes and campaign for some reforms, like: make social media companies pay journalists for the content they use to keep their users engage. Repeal Citizens United. Get voters together to make these demands. Easier said than done, but I'm working on something right now that I hope might help people organize these kinds of thoughts into action.
Reforming integrity in information gathering and dispensing is the only way, I think. I honestly don't know how we put that genie back in the bottle, if it ever was in there to begin with. But there has to be some baseline of integrity we create. I don't know how or what that looks like, but it's our only hope.
Yes! "The media" is such a nebulous phrase. It makes me cringe when people say it, especially now in 2025 when there's news media, social media, entertainment media. Anyone can have a podcast, anyone can make a website - there are billions of ways to get information now. Just saying "the media" is so lazy and feels like parroting of Trump's propaganda.
Oh, heck yea. Hypocrisy is not limited to any one political ideology. Biden did so many things I disagreed with. And I found my self agreeing with things he did that were contradictory. Did I love it when I thought about it and realize how myopic I was being? Heck no. It hurts. I was an advanced placement, high performing kid who always wanted to be the smarty pants. I work every single day to overcome that. I think there are two major differences. 1. We do not worship "our" politicians as golden gods. 2. We are willing to call BS. No one who is a true Trump supporter can say those things. I think the one example we might have now is Bernie Sanders. HE runs and rails against the left everyday, so it is an interesting case.
I think that the algorithms and short takes on social media are a huge problem. The human mind seeks easy answers and short, un nuanced videos provide that. I fear that so many humans are not thinking for themselves anymore because it is uncomfortable and they are addicted to the dopamine hits they get that confirm their biases. I know it’s ironic since I am posting on my phone right now but I really need to use my phone as a tool instead of it using me.
Check out the book "How to break up with your Phone" by Catherine Price. ILLUMINATING.
Quit saying that Trump voters, as in "they," lack information and inability to think critically. Every single person I know that voted for Trump, including myself, made the best decision based on the options given. The end. I hold a bachlor's degree in accounting, by the way. I am perfectly capable of thinking critically. And it's comments like these that continue pushing this huge wedge in our country. "They." Enough of it. In the end, I truly do believe we have more in common than not, but we are ALL guilty of getting sucked into echo chambers.
“They” seems like a much more kind way to address the Trump voters compared to the Trump phrase of the “left lunatics…” Do we not think that’s driving a wedge?
When I said “they” I was referring to the people Sharon mentioned in her well written post. I never said that “the other side” knows it all. Quite on the contrary. I ended with “We” get what we deserve. But I want to clarify that expressing opinions that you disagree with is NOT what is dividing us. The GOP is. The President is. The Republicans, unfortunately, see all Democrats as the enemy of the people. And that is what’s dividing America.
As a fellow accountant, I'm genuinely curious on your thoughts about DOGE. I was so disheartened that the Inspectors General - trained forensic accountants - were fired in favor of Musk's mysterious young team that has no apparent training in fraud/forensics. I'm all for locating and rooting out fraud and inefficiencies (it's what accountants do best!), but I don't see Musk's team as doing this right - at all.
Fellow accountant here too and I'm appalled that people think what DOGE is doing is rooting out fraud and inefficiencies. All he is doing is feeding in words into AI software and axing the programs with those words. What he is doing has nothing to do with analyzing for inefficiencies. How can you identify inefficiencies when you don't know what they are doing in the first place or what the goal is? It is complete bullsh*t and people are swallowing it all hook, line and sinker. 🤯
I discussed the gutting of the Dept of Ed with a Trump supporter who said she was glad Musk was making sure "all that money spent doesn't end up in the wrong hands." I pushed back a bit on that by asking how it's possible for him to get it out of the wrong hands when he's just shutting it off altogether? There's just such a disconnect... It drives me crazy.
So interesting that you bring up the Dept of Education. I hear about this a lot too, how Trump is "bringing education back to the states" when curriculum and funding already is directed by individual states. The federal government basically helps with extra funding for low income schools (Title 1), special education funding and student loans and Pell grants. I'm not sure most people realize this.
I think it's important to have conversations about the Dept of Education or any agency for that matter, but we have to start with some shared reality and facts. Slashing the entire agency with no real plan in place seems like a recipe for disaster, as we are seeing with the chaos that's ensuing.
I would encourage you to dig into how American education has fared since the DOE's inception. As someone who has been very involved at my local level since 2020, I have been APPALLED at the very real waste in even our small town with the $ that are spent. Did you know that over 75% of the DOE's budget doesn't even go to students directly? There is so much bureaucratic and administrative waste at the federal level, a lot on salaries of people who either haven't ever been in a classroom OR cannot relate to the small town teacher in Oklahoma or rural teacher in Kansas, etc.
Can you please cite your source for that 75% figure? Per USAFacts, 60% of the budget goes to FAFSA (student loans), so I don’t see how that 75% figure is even possible. https://usafacts.org/explainers/what-does-the-us-government-do/agency/us-department-of-education/
Can you also please give specifics as to what you believe DoEd has done (or not done) to cause the state of America’s education today? With the states being in charge of the large, large majority of funding, curriculum, etc, I’m curious what the Fed has done to cause concern.
I'm in a small rural town and I don't blame the federal government for our issues as we are mostly funded by the state and local governments and that is where I largely have issues. If we didn't have some of the additional funding for special education, I'm not sure what our small district would do. What I'm not saying is that there is no discussion to be had about the Dept of Education.
Also, where I'm from, small, rural districts are basically running on shoestring budgets. There is no "waste" left to cut since we've been largely underfunded for years. Our local referendum failed this past fall, so we had to make some very difficult cuts this year. We've been making cuts for years and one analogy from the school board/district was that the first cuts trimmed the fat, the next cut deeper into the skin and now we are cutting into the bone. They have already told us that even if the referendum passes this fall, we will still have to make more cuts since we are falling behind.
Thank you for being here and sharing, Nikki!
Yes! Another accountant chiming in to say this irks me. Fraud and waste is NOT 'this program that we just don't like for whatever reason.' I am all for having legitimate conversations about what we spend our taxes on. What's our return on investment in a program? (Realizing that this isn't always measured monetarily, so maybe a better metric is 'did our spending achieve the stated goals?') And there were already departments and personnel in place to DO this.
Does anyone remember that the Clinton administration rooted out waste and was able to eliminate some jobs in a strategic manner after studying the problems and coming up with solutions?
That's *exactly* what I would love to see done here. This "burn it all down" thing is despicable. My good friend who works for the federal government said no one hates bad government employees like good government employees, and he would gladly take a scalpel to his team instead of dealing with the ramifications of DOGE's sledgehammer approach. He had to let go of some brilliant people who work the hardest and make the least amount of money.
Yes, Ashley! A beloved family member/accountant recently touted the rooting out of "waste, fraud, and abuse." She works her butt off for her company (far more hours than they pay her for!), making sure everything is exactly as it's meant to be. I guarantee she could not cite a single instance of waste, fraud, or abuse that DOGE is "fixing." She just repeated what she'd heard without looking into it further. She is very smart but also does not pay attention to anything more than very surface headlines.
I can tell you that no one working in my field (Healthcare Compliance) thinks that the government did not care and has not already been *aggressively* prosecuting Fraud, Waste, and Abuse in the federal healthcare programs (which collectively represent almost 30% of the federal budget). My whole job exists BECAUSE they take that mission so seriously.
If you still believe that what is happening now in our country is what you voted for, then you and I have absolutely nothing in common except perhaps the fact that we both subscribe to this substack.
That's a really sad way to go about life thinking that you and 78 million people don't have many of the same interests at heart that probably include wanting what is best for your family. But, to be honest, it tracks. I've been friends with Democrats my entire life. The difference? I never once defriended any of them after the 2020 election.
Maybe you didn’t defriend them because they didn’t support rewriting our history to remove white men from it, sending out masked men to whisk MAGA college students off the streets to put them in far away detention camps, instituting measures to make it more difficult for white people to vote, using government power to go after Fox News and Breitbart for saying things that weren’t nice about them, pardoning any of the convicted criminals who engaged in violence against police during BLM protests, or bringing in George Soros to run a chain saw through the federal government.
I did not lose friendships after 2020 but we can no longer be close because our conversations are now very shallow. Some relatives have told me I am absolutely crazy for thinking that democratic policies such as a social safety net, are good for everyone and strengthens the country. I am crazy because I believe in equality and inclusion.
And this comment RIGHT HERE is such a BIG reason why the DNC is in such shambles. Instead of looking inward and in the mirror to see what could have been done differently in November, it's a continued attack on people who think differently than you. There was PLENTY done by the Biden administration that I took personal affront to but I understand that different people have different priorities. I am not going to continue arguing about this with you or anyone. You are not morally superior because of who you voted for - either way.
By the way...Freudian slip about George Soros?
Well, it's kind of logical, isn't it? I absolutely abhor the things Trump is doing and the lies that have been told to justify it all. Still, it couldn't be done without people like you. If you refuse to "argue" or debate it, how are the poor Democrats ever supposed to figure out why people voted for all of these horrible things? All I did was list all of the things Trump is doing but I did it from the opposite perspective. Your considering it a personal attack says a lot. I would much rather be a member of a highly diverse party with many competing opinions than a member of the monolithic MAGA where even the tiniest amount of dissension is called out and threatened with immediate retaliation. And for your own edification, my mentioning George Soros was in no way, shape or form accidental. Feel free to take a deep dive into The Open Society Foundations to which Soros has contributed $32 billion of his own money, starting in the late 1970s. It's all very transparent and online and you can see exactly where the money has gone to aid OSF's goals in over 120 countries to support civil society groups that promote human rights, justice, education, public health, and independent media. Then compare and contrast this with the activities of Elon Musk, who built his billion dollar businesses with huge infusions of U.S. taxpayer funds, who paid almost a quarter billion dollars to elect Trump, who is arguably the singe largest purveyor of lies, misinformation and disinformation on social media and who stands to make billions more for himself through his myriad contracts and conflicts of interest with the federal government, while he takes a wrecking ball to foreign humanitarian assistance and programs like Social Security and Veterans Affairs that impact so many people here at home. Yeah, I'll take George any day and be proud of it.
A TREMENDOUS portion of the left leaning media is dedicated to calling out what the Democrats are not doing right and why we lost the election. That time between the election and inauguration was almost entirely dedicated to that. We are holding our representatives to task more harshly than we are holding anyone else to task. We are calling for change more than anyone else is. The DNC is in shambles, and it isn't because we aren't trying. It's because the massive amount of money that is allowed into politics means that decent people, with very few exceptions, can't run, or get edged out, or turn corrupt. It's happening in the DNC and it's happening in your party, at the highest level.
Dems have generally been doing a LOT of mirror-looking. It's a constant conversation in the liberal media that I follow. Perhaps you haven't seen it if you're not in those circles?
I think you need to look up what a Freudian slip is.
Her entire comment listed examples flipping what’s been done on the right, to what it would have looked like if the left had done any of those things.
Are you creating a safe space on your fb/social media pages to have constructive conversations with others? Or are you sharing more divisive hatred with no room for conversation/growth with “friends” that vote and think differently than you? Maybe asking yourself “why” friends are removing you is a good place to start, especially if you are asking others to look into the mirror.
I will admit that I have had to mute/take breaks from some of my very loud conservative friends for the very reason that they just want to yell at me, call me names and tell me I’m stupid when I speak up.
Hi Nikki. Agree. I had 7 people in my life “break up” over who I voted for. Ridiculous, hurtful, and really shows the low tolerance they have for people with different opinions.
No, it really doesn’t. It’s not about differing opinions, Amy.
Is it moral superiority then?
I agree that there is much we have in common. I would love some good figures on how the economy was in such trouble from the Biden administration and how the new policies are going to fix it. I keep looking for this answer and have not found it yet.
Me, too.....
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_nicknames_used_by_Donald_Trump Really? Taking the high ground on "othering" people? I think not. "Biden and the Ho". Radical Left Socialist. Blue state crazies. The entire point of the Trump presidency to date is cruelty. So you voted for cruelty.
I was raised right and someone calling me names does not make it OK to call others names, but there is a serious lack of self awareness contained in your comment that makes me scream into the void.
Before this election I thought we might still have things in common. Now I do not. But I do believe that you made this choice actively and I don't believe that you need to be educated or saved or whatever. You liked what Trump said, and you chose that route of sound mind and body. I believe that our choices show that we have polar opposite values, and I'm fine with just accepting that.
Thanks, Nikki. All of us getting caught in echo chambers - that's exactly the media ecosystem problem I was trying to articulate in my own reply.
The reality is that voters on all sides make decisions based on the information they have access to and what matters most in their lives. Nobody’s life is inherently more valuable and nobody’s vote is inherently more legitimate. We're all navigating the same complex information landscape, just from different starting points. Thanks for speaking up.
This is what kills me. You hear how divided the news is and are they seriously not seeing any of the stories being reported by neutral or left sources? Is it really that cut and dry? "Well, I don't like anything else so let's give it a shot." Yeah, we did. And he told people to inject bleach. "Dems can't admit DNC was wrong in their pick" i feel like most of us have been saying this for years that DNC is messing up? I just don't understand this level of ignorance and cognitive dissonance.
Trump did not tell people to inject bleach.
Not bleach specifically, but he floated the suggestion of injecting disinfectants: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52407177
I'm aware of his comments. While one could argue that Trump should not have speculated on live television about treatments he didn't fully understand, it was counterproductive to interpret his remarks in the worst possible way. He clearly did not tell people to inject bleach, yet this claim continues to be repeated as fact.
More broadly, the media has often pushed misleading narratives, frequently assuming the worst possible interpretation of Trump's statements. From the start of his presidency, he was treated as an adversary, which has only deepened distrust in the media among conservatives. Many commenters here dismiss Trump voters as uneducated or misinformed—an inaccurate and oversimplified view—without considering the broader factors that led to this political divide.
I do agree that we shouldn't repeat oversimplified claims! If we repeat them often enough then people stop understanding the nuance or even questioning if the claim is fully accurate (see also: the claim that the White House named Kamala Harris the "border czar").
"From the start of his presidency, he was treated as an adversary, which has only deepened distrust in the media among conservatives."
I think it's a little more complicated than that, and blaming "the media" is a little too easy a cop-out. Donald Trump was pushing the Obama birth certificate conspiracy for years before he ever ran for President, and during his campaign for the presidency gave plenty of reasons for the press to fact-check his claims (as *all* candidates should expect), but by the time he assumed office he was already calling the press "the enemy of the people." Trump has never liked being challenged or disagreed with, and his insistence that he's only treating the media badly because they treated him badly is, with respect, the logic of a childish bully...or an abuser. He ran for and became the President, and he should be able to take that heat without stooping so low.
Trump likes to spin it as though he alone has been uniquely persecuted by the press, but plenty of Presidents before him (George W. Bush and Barack Obama to name two obvious examples) have been absolutely lambasted by the media without resorting to calling the press "the enemy" or using those criticisms to broadly delegitimize any media sources that criticized them. What's unfortunate is that, as you say, many Trump supporters no longer trust any media that is critical of Trump. Whether that makes them "uninformed" I could not tell you, but choosing to isolate in a preferred information ecosphere (either one that says the economy was in dire straits under Biden and that we had a 'wide open' border, or one that says Trump is a Russian asset and Elon Musk stole the election) is certainly not going to result in nuanced takes. We should all be wary of that impulse.
Well said, Emily. People seem to forget that all of this began with HIS words and HIS behavior.
I'm not disputing that Trump has always been antagonistic toward the press. But if you examine network news coverage of him, the bias is undeniable. During his first term, his first 100 days in office received significantly more negative coverage than any of his predecessors. The 2024 election saw the most lopsided media coverage in modern history, with nearly all reporting on Trump being negative while Harris received overwhelmingly positive treatment.
Beyond just the coverage imbalance, the media has actively spread falsehoods. They pushed the claim that Trump told people to inject bleach, misrepresented his travel restrictions as a "Muslim ban," and perpetuated the "fine people" hoax. They falsely reported that tear gas was used to clear Lafayette Park for a Trump photo-op, spun COVID-19 travel bans as racist, and ran with the baseless "suckers and losers" story. Even minor incidents, like Trump’s koi pond feeding in Japan, were distorted to make him look foolish. And your own reference to the "border czar" coverage is misleading. The media initially branded Kamala Harris the "border czar" before walking it back when the border crisis worsened and the Trump campaign drew attention to it.
This isn’t about who lies more—Trump is certainly dishonest. But, like I said, many people here dismiss Trump voters as misinformed without ever acknowledging the complexities of why they distrust mainstream media in the first place. Restoring trust in the media is key to getting Trump voters to acknowledge his wrongdoings. When the press is consistently biased or misleading, it reinforces the belief that Trump is unfairly targeted, making his supporters more likely to dismiss legitimate criticism. A fair and accountable media would make it harder for Trump voters to ignore his faults while also rebuilding credibility with the broader public.
What is "the media" exactly? It's 2025, we have TONS of ways to get information now. Are you specifically referring to major cable news media? And if so, do you really think that everyone pays attention to them?
I can tell you that I have not watched "the news" since I tuned in to see what was happening on Jan 6 2021. Before that, years.
Many of us are capable of interpreting what Trump says without any outside help/opinions.
What other factors do you think have contributed to this political divide? Because I would agree that SOCIAL media has, but I have a feeling you did not mean that when you were referring to the media.
Thank you. I bet if anyone put out a poll about where most of us get our information, very little of it would be from those cable networks. I haven't watched "The News" since we cancelled our plan in 2012. Before that, my parents were always very good about watching a bit from every news program, so I was always conditioned to know that relying too heavily on one source is not the best approach.
You’re right, I was referring to the major news networks. I agree with your point that viewership has shifted significantly from 2016 to today. I’d argue that this shift is partly due to the growing distrust in the media over that period. I’d also agree that social media has played a major role in shaping public perception, often in detrimental ways.
Yes! I am dismayed that people who follow Sharon are still this uninformed
Appalled is the word I would use. I am absolutely appalled by what I've read yesterday and today.
Perfectly said!
What I find so maddening is the love for Trump’s “unconventional” methods to change our country. I see his EO’s and bullying as dangerous red flags for authoritarianism, because they represent a significant breach of the checks and balances of power. What makes it even more glaring is the GOP has the WH, Senate, and House of Rep, so it didn’t have to be done this way. Trump could’ve followed the constitution and used Congress just like Bill Clinton did in the 90’s when he restructured the federal government in a legal way. Sharon’s message of power yielded in your favor now could be used against you in the future is ringing in my ears. I don’t hate what Trump is doing because it’s Trump. I hate what Trump is doing, because I believe it is wrong.
THIS! I don’t like the cuts and all that, but if he went through the legal, constitutional methods to pass them then I’d accept it and move on. The purposeful subversion of the constitution makes it feel like they are knowingly committing illegal acts and know they wouldn’t actually have the support of congress (and therefore the constituents of the country). Very contradictory to the party of “law and order”. Furthermore, every time one of these illegal EO’s gets walked back by a judge, the US taxpayers foot the bill for lawsuits etc. Hardly “efficient” in my mind. Do things the right way and stop forcing the taxpayers to pay for all this back and forth litigation.
Yes, I don't think they are including all the taxpayer money spent on litigation offsetting their so-called "savings" which I'm not sure is accurate anyway. Definitely NOT efficient.
Another disconnect, like you said, "do things the right way". I hear that all the time regarding immigrants and immigration, but here is our President hardly doing things the right way.
Thank you. Unconventional is one thing. Unconstitutional is another issue entirely, and some of these folks don't seem to understand, or care, about that distinction.
Yeah. Being critical of how public health experts dealt with a public health CRISIS because you don't like wearing a mask and you prefer not to trust science. Ugh. Let's react by destroying the constitution!
Yes, someone in the post said they support DOGE tactics because they couldn’t see cuts getting done any other way - but they could literally use their majority! I get that they may have to involve SOME Dems, but there are clearly Dems ready and willing to vote with Repubs on issues they like.
Yes! Going that route though would remove the shock and awe which I believe Trump the bully loves to inflict. It speaks to his sociopathy. Bullies traditionally aren’t good at compromise or collaboration, so they use force. It’s still so hard to accept that many Americans (some of whom I thought were good people) are OK with his behavior. They see it as benefiting them or justified for a cause, but I just see the harm.
I would be interested in Sharon doing a comparative piece between the reshaping of the Fed Government that Trump/Musk are currently doing and the restructuring Clinton/Gore did in the 90’s. It seems like Gore was much more meticulous (and elected, also a plus) but maybe it was also a chaotic time?
From what I read Gore formed a commission that reviewed the Fed govt for 6 months looking for ways to create efficiencies. They took their recommendations to Congress. It was voted on by both parties. Appears some acts were passed in response. It appears they used a scalpel instead of a chainsaw.
Here’s the Wikipedia about it, but there’s lots of articles from various news organizations if you google key words. It’s not a Sharon stamped review though which I would love to see as well!
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Partnership_for_Reinventing_Government
Oooo, what did you read? I’d love to hear more or be pointed to your sources if you have some time to share them. Thanks for the response!
While I appreciate their comments, I think they played down many of the issues - primarily the fact that he’s gambling with our democracy. Period.
That's the sticky wicket. Harris voters do tend to think of Trump's voters as blindly loyal, and that's not the case at all. Trump voters also tend to think that Harris voters don't understand or won't acknowledge the flaws in the Democratic party, and boy is that also not the case.
It's just that for most of us, because we are voting for the next leader of a democracy, in the 'Pros/Cons' columns for each candidate "Subverting Democracy" is simply the cardinal sin...and Trump did that. It's an automatic disqualification. He not only undermined valid election results, he attempted to overturn them, and NOTHING else tops that. Little else even comes close.
Yes, your last sentence hit the nail on the head, Emily. 👏🏼👏🏼
My husband voted for Trump twice, but after watching Jan 6 live on television, he was Done—with a capital D. Now he tells anyone who brings it up what a horrible person Trump is and that he shouldn’t be anywhere near the White House.
Gambling? He’s H bent on destroying it via “something he knows nothing about”, Project 2025.
I’ll respond to Taylor and Beth since they spoke to “us” and asked something of us.
Taylor says she wishes more Americans “could put aside their hate for Trump and admit that while they don’t agree with every single thing he does, he has done good for our country so far. I wish the same Americans could simply admit that Kamala Harris was not the best choice for the Democratic Party, and it was their own party who failed them.”
Hate is not what drives my problems with Trump. It’s my values. Love for our constitution. Love for the rule of law. Love for those suffering and marginalized. Principles over party. Leaders must have character. He does not share my values. Kamala did. No leader is perfect or worth our unexamined loyalty. But to me, values and character will always win my vote over policy.
Beth has one hope for the future: “I think sometimes people just get to the point where they say ‘you know what? Let’s just give this a shot to see if it’s any better.’ Maybe this wakes everyone up and we can get back to progress without constantly just opposing and fighting just for the sake of fighting.”
I think the path to this is via leaders that have high moral character and a record of putting principles over party. “Giving a shot” to a leader who has consistently broken the law and prioritized vengeance of his political enemies is not the path.
Yes! I’m tired of being accused of being blinded by hatred or “TDS.” I don’t hate Trump. He is a small man who’s been given more power than he has character to properly wield. Not many of us should be in power because of its tendency to corrupt, and certainly not narcissistic bullies who prey on the weak.
Yes! Positions of power naturally attract those with the biggest egos, so how do we get more people of moral integrity and values to run for office, people who truly want to help citizens and are not interested in self-gain?
Campaign finance reform!!!
Exactly! The financial burden of running, the corruption of bribery, er, I mean lobbying, and the culture's unhinged adoration of billionaires got us here. It makes it impossible for anyone of integrity to run even at local and state levels. Not to mention that you must have integrity while being trashed, publicly and privately, for the rest of your life. It's a heavy burden that favors wealthy sociopaths.
I think that collectively we all need to take a good hard look at our own values, see where we are weak and need to do better, then start supporting only people and actions that support those values. Stop giving anyone the benefit of the doubt because of the human need for gurus and tribes. Then start figuring out a way to overhaul how information is shared and money is used.
Thank you for articulating how I felt reading her comments
Very interesting! Thank you for compiling these viewpoints.
It seems to me that Trump voters generally acknowledge Trump's outrageous behaviors, but quickly sweep those behaviors away in their reasoning. I think it further solidifies that we should be thinking about principles over party.
Principles are those fundamental truths and standards that guides one's behavior and ethical conduct, and it seems Trump voters did not consider these, or didn't consider Trump's principles as "that bad."
I can almost understand dismissing these principles when he was on the ballot in 2016. We didn't know him as well as we do now! Jan 6th showed us exactly who he is.
It's hard to understand how someone could dismiss his words and actions as standing for "liberty and justice for all."
I think what makes me so frustrated is the hypocrisy. Trump supporters often tout the party of family values, and law and order, or are religious. Yet, when Trump and his administration do so many things that go against those values, they sweep it under the rug and downplay it.
"oh, that's just how he is! Blowing smoke!" - they have grace in the weirdest and most inconsistent situations.
Ooh the part that gets me is when people are saying “we need something new, try something different” as a reason to vote Trump vs Harris when Harris has never been president and Trump already has and we saw how he behaved.
I do think Harris not having a response to “what would you do differently than Biden,” was a real nail in the coffin moment for a lot of undecided voters, unfortunately. I get why Harris may have felt herself painted into a corner, but it was a real misstep.
Why? Inflation was down close to the Fed’s target, unemployment was low, GDP was healthy, border crossings were down to Trump first-term levels, infrastructure was finally being addressed, etc. She did try to differentiate herself with a plan for getting more affordable housing built but I think her four biggest problems were not taking a stronger stand against Netanyahu, not being a liar, being a woman and being a person of color.
Because Biden, despite all the good things you listed, was not a popular president. And when you’re trying to get elected, popularity matters. We may not see that as fair from a policy perspective, but it was a legitimate problem for Harris that she was so closely tied to Biden.
Yeah, it’s just ironic that the the whole Trumpesphere is built on blind loyalty as the absolutely most important qualification possible and Harris was probably negatively impacted by her loyalty to the man who picked her to be VP and who she worked closely with for four years.
I agree. It's not fair, but voting rationale rarely is: being forced, by the fact of being the sitting Vice President, to align so closely to an increasingly unpopular incumbent (at a time of both intensely negative right-wing messaging AND a rising anti-incumbent sentiment globally) her very reasonable message of "strength through unity and stability" got read as "more of the same."
I agree - it was going to be hard, but she should have come out with her own policies and stances - particularly on Israel and Ukraine. Also with hindsight, talking about reproductive rights so much during her campaign feels silly now that we are facing an impending recession, watching the federal government get gutted, and an overall threat to democracy. Not that I don’t still care about those rights, but it feels like there probably were so more mass-appealing issues she could have latched onto.
I agree with your takes on Kamala’s biggest issue was being a woman and a person of color, but I think talking about the success of the Biden administration on the economy was a huge mistake and showed a disconnect with working class people. If you tell people who are struggling and can’t afford rent, heat, and food how great the economy is, you aren’t going to get their votes. Trump told people very simply, on campaign signs all over PA, “Kamala, high taxes. Trump, low taxes” or “Kamala, high prices. Trump, low prices”. He took full advantage of people who are hurting and desperate for change. The Harris campaign missed an opportunity to deliver a better message.
It’s all so tragic and painful.
When those signs started popping up (fellow Pennsylvanian here) I started to feel the doom.
Well...she isn't qualified.
*giant eye roll*
And for some of us, we saw how Harris and her VP pick presented during their brief campaign and that was enough to not vote for them!
Some of us saw how Trump and for a short time his VP pick Vance presented themselves throughout their campaign of lies. We saw how Trump ran a shadow government for 4 years following January 6th, evading justice for treason and planning to overthrow our democracy with Project 2025. We saw him colluding with Netanyahu this past summer during the war in Gaza. We watched how Trump and Vance bullied Zelensky and cozied up to Putin. Now we watch our allies condemn Trump and all of us , while his cronies line their pockets as they sabotage our democracy and constitution and plan to pour out the blood of our soldiers to annex Panama, Greenland, and Canada. So Robn, some of us see what he’s doing. When will you?
Anything in particular you didn’t like about Harris/Walz? I’ve tried to ask my mom this but she hasn’t answered.
Cannot think of anything I DO like about either of them. Except this one, I like that they aren’t our Pres/VP.
Honestly, Robn, I can never quite tell if you're *trying* to be inflammatory or if you really do struggle to appreciate nuance, but this response seems like a whiff on an embarrassingly softball question.
Because I can easily tell you something that I do like about Trump, and Harris, and Walz, and Vance: they all have kids in their lives who love them, and who they very publicly love and dote on in return, and only a deeply cynical person would question the motives of Trump's granddaughter giving him such a lovely tribute at the RNC, so I won't do that. It was sweet and, human to human, I can recognize that as a gift in Trump's life.
I can't work out your claim that you have "never" heard Kamala Harris speak clearly, because I have heard not only her but also - yes - Donald Trump communicate clearly and articulately, and quite persuasively as well.
At the risk of sounding patronizing, I do think it's amusing in an affectionately Grandpa-y way to watch Trump dance to his favorite songs. He clearly loves crowd work, and I can absolutely admit that he is good at it.
I don't want him to be the President, but I would never say that I "can't think of anything I DO like" about him, because I think that would say something bad about my own human empathy.
One more add, I honestly and earnestly tried to listen to understand Kamala many, many times. She would go off on so many tangents I could not follow her at all. It became very concerning, so much so, I questioned her ability to communicate effectively if she were elected President. I just could not get on board with her. I cannot cast a vote for someone that I don’t understand.
So sorry if my response didn’t land the way you might have hoped. I was speaking primarily in terms of Harris and Walz and their run for office. I would hope they both love their families and have some likable qualities personally. It’s OK for someone not to care for someone else. That was the point of my original post.
Really helpful, courageous fleshing out of your reasons for voting for a horrible person like Donald Trump.
I was responding to the commenter on what I do/dont like about Harris/Vance. I hope that clears it up for ya.
I’m not surprised you can’t articulate anything positive about Kamala. You’ve made it clear that you think she’s unabashedly unqualified to do anything based on this and other comments.
My question is about Trump, what about him and his actions do you find questionable or unnecessary or harmful?
Nice dodge of the question. You are a really disingenuous person.
Upon careful consideration, and after being referred to as inflammatory, disingenuous, uneducated, uninformed, embarrassed and a cult follower (and these are just in this thread alone). I have made the decision to no longer be a paying subscriber to the Preamble. I have left temporarily previously and returned because I truly do find value in much of the information Sharon shares. To all those I have communicated with here who have been kind, I truly thank you. To those with whom I haven’t seen eye to eye to, thank you as well. Both have taught me. While I may not be the person here with the most degrees attached to my name, I am proud to have been the first in my family to attend and graduate college. I hold two undergraduate degrees and a master’s as well. I say this not as a personal flex but with the utmost gratitude to my parents who always told me I could do anything. Throughout my career, I have had the pleasure of working with quite a diverse group of people from all over the world. We are all connected through the home decor and design world. While coming from many different backgrounds and places we have somehow always found common ground in our core values. I am also a painter and mixed media artist with a brand new art studio which I’m in the process of breaking in! In the words of CS Lewis, “the future is something everyone reaches at 60 minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is”. I think my minutes and hours will best be spent being creative and stepping away from social media. ❤️
TYVM! Glad you noticed!
Great, then it should be perfectly easy for you to tell me what you didn’t like. Please share what you didn’t like specifically.
See reply above
Some voters in my area were seemingly offended by the idea of principle over party and before the election there were several yard signs I saw that said things like “policy > principle” and “I’m voting for a president, not a boyfriend” which I found particularly frustrating. It can feel like people are dead set on dismissing his behavior.
Wow! I didn't know this particular "campaign slogan" existed! I've never seen a sign like that, but I live in a pretty red area where the "F" Biden flags still wave.
I am having a hard time understanding why someone wouldn't take into account someone's moral standing when voting for them to lead our country. Maybe I need to read Righteous Minds again!
They were homemade signs along the same stretch of road so I guess they inspired each other? It's the road I have to take to do most anything so I think even though it wasn't a lot of signs, seeing them daily for weeks made it feel like more haha.
It is hard to understand. I've asked for insight from Preamble readers on the right a few times, truly in good faith, because I genuinely want to get it but it feels like an unsolvable puzzle. Or maybe there's something I'm just not getting? Regardless, I can't seem to wrap by head around it all.
Reading this article provides valuable intelligence for anyone wanting to have persuasive conversations with Trump voters. The key is identifying rhetorical weak spots where gentle questioning can lead to reflection rather than defensiveness. Here are some ways I think someone might be able to engage effectively based on these insights:
When supporters cite "following through on promises," ask specifically about economic promises. Trump campaigned on ending inflation, lowering prices, and improving retirement savings - yet his tune has now changed, and not for any external factors he isn’t in control of. I know it’s an informal survey, but I wonder if this dynamic holds across all surveys of approval: his economic approval (38%) now lags behind his overall approval (45%). That’s INSANE given how recently he was elected for a presumption of being an economic genius. Try questions like: "Has the implementation matched what was promised during the campaign?" These questions aren't accusatory but invite reflection on the gap between promised and delivered economic outcomes. Make people realize that even the bare minimum credit people give him (“what you see is what you get”) is far from the truth.
For those who compartmentalize Trump's "bedside manner" from his policies, try reframing leadership itself: "Do you think a president's ability to unite Americans is just a personality trait, or is it a core function of the job? If someone can't bring half the country along with them, isn't that itself a significant leadership failure?" This approach challenges the artificial separation between communication style and governance effectiveness.
On immigration, many Trump voters supported targeted deportation of criminals but now face a broader implementation. Ask: "Before the election, what did you understand 'deporting criminals' to mean? Has that definition expanded in ways you didn't anticipate?" Similarly, with comments like those about "taking over Gaza," probe the selective interpretation: "What makes you take some of Trump's statements as literal promises but dismiss others as 'just Trump talking'? How do you determine which statements to take seriously?" Again, what you see is not what you get.
The DOGE initiative creates another opening. When supporters praise cutting government waste, ask: "Why do you think this couldn't be done with transparency and clear metrics? If the waste is so obvious, wouldn't showing Americans exactly what's being cut strengthen public support? Does the chaotic nature of implementation concern you?" This questions the process without challenging the goal. And then follow up with the investigations that show all of the bad math and retracted firings and personal horror stories if the person you’re talking to seems ready for it. And finally, if they really do think DOGE has done excellent work, ask them if they feel like paying taxes is more of a patriotic duty now that it’s been whittled down to the essentials that keep our country great. If they are concerned about the national debt, isn’t it time to worry about the other side of the equation: revenue? Do they support billionaires having to pay the same effective tax rate as the rest of us?
The most effective approach combines genuine curiosity with gentle challenging of inconsistencies. Never attack the voter's identity as a Trump supporter - instead, focus on specific policy implementations and outcomes. By asking questions that highlight contradictions without judgment, you create space for self-reflection rather than defensiveness. Remember that persuasion happens through questioning assumptions, not frontal attacks on deeply-held beliefs.
I like your suggestions for questions to help start a conversation. It's sometimes hard to even think about how to do that when faced with someone who seems (to me) to be oblivious to some obvious things - or willing to 'skip over' any bad things. This part of the original article just made me feel almost hopeless: "If you can remove Jan 6 and the tweets and things like that from his first administration, it wasn’t so bad. But now, it just feels so chaotic, unhinged, and miscalculated." Sure, if you remove the bad things, it wasn't so bad!! But I will never understand how Jan 6th wasn't a deal breaker.
For sure, I also struggle with this. How do you empathize with someone who seems to be singularly focused on their own experience? I'm sure the person quoted there is unaware of how foolish what they said sounds, but to them it makes sense: those things from his first term that were chaotic and dealbreakers are old history now, and so you can dismiss them. But seeing more chaos now: who would have ever expected that?!
But here's the hope: they are actually already aware of the cognitive dissonance they're holding. They haven't confronted it yet, but they know January 6th and "the tweets and things" (aka everything he's ever said) were dealbreakers back then. My guess is that they don't have a community or a media diet that encourages them to put the pieces together. Without an incentive to confront it, the idea of questioning the prevailing politics of their community is pretty scary. However, they might be a few respectful conversations away from being able to read the headlines with some more skepticism. I know, that's infuriatingly slow baby steps, I wish that human nature would allow people to just suddenly wake up, but each interaction we have with people like that person you quoted has the capacity to help. Hang in there!
Thank you. And you offer some timely suggestions as I head off this weekend to celebrate my uncle's 85th birthday...with the Trump-loving side of my family :-)
Oh how fun 😌 even though I am sure the goal will be to enjoy family time, let me know if any of these tools come in handy, I love to hear about real world examples of how conversations go. Shoot me a message anytime. 🙂
I really appreciate your suggestions of open ended questions and looking for feedback rather than accusations that lead to defensive positions automatically. I think this way of questioning and discussion may not lead directly to a thoughtful conversation with folks who we fundamentally disagree with but a question may land on a person who will think about it later and perhaps open their mind a bit to the possibility that their reasons for supporting Trump is not on as solid ground as they thought. When I hold an opinion so close to the heart I ask myself “Am I sure?” and 9 out of 10 times the answer is no if I’m at least honest with myself. Just asking that simple question opens the heart and mind.
Thanks, KD. I agree. And while I bet many people are tempted to walk away from reading this article shaking their heads at the parts that made them mad, I hope they don’t forget about the positive parts where we can see glimpses of hope in some responses that conveyed independent thinking. Our biased assumptions are typically proven wrong, or at least insufficient, once you get past the surface.
Yes agreed. I live in a very conservative area and voting for a democrat is sacrilegious and for me growing up in Chicago in a very progressive household back in the 80s, this period reminds me of when Reagan was elected and republicans revered him and the democrats despised him. I think putting so much hope and stock into an individual rather than the principles they uphold is a very human thing to do. It’s the tribal mindset and if we are to progress as a species and survive what’s coming for all us regardless of party politics we need to learn to hold the tribal instincts more loosely than we do. It’s interesting times for sure.
Timothy, Thank you for your honest, respectful and thought provoking comments. They are appreciated!
Well, this seals the deal. It’s hopeless. If these people can’t see that hurting people is not an ok exchange for making THEIR lives better, we’re done for. The amount of selfishness in that piece is nauseating.
Hard to read, wish I could I was surprised by these voters quotes but I’m not. The amount of justification for Trump’s behavior over and over again is mind boggling for me
I completely agree with the article being hard to read. It’s so difficult to navigate wanting to understand where Trump voters are coming from and the anger I feel over what is happening right now. How do we get ourselves back to some moderate form of government when we have half of the electorate who think and feel this way? I believe Trump voters give him way too much of a pass and are swimming in a cesspool of their own confirmation bias.
So appreciate you providing this insight Sharon.
To me the most glaring omission was downplaying or outright ignoring the illegality of things going on with this admin.
As seems to happen with most T supporters they speak in vague terms of support and gloss over the severity of the details. One interviewee even noted if you “overlook Jan 6”.
This is where I really struggle to understand that perspective — I don’t think anyone would take issue with “securing borders” or “cutting down on waste”. But the way it is carried out Is the crux of the issue — and it seems no one really narrowed in on the way many laws and constitution is currently being flouted (which, regardless of party or preferred policies, is a HUGE issue).
Nothing here surprised me. First, how can any decent person ignore 1/6? Trump knew he lost the election ( not rigged, not stolen) and lied to his supporters. He sent them to the Capitol to stop the certification which included the murder of his Vice President. Please explain how anyone can be OK with that!
As far has his current term, I am most concerned about the shredding of the Constitution- executive orders about matters that are the responsibility of Congress. I am concerned about his attack on law firms. I am concerned that he says it should be a crime for people, journalists... to say bad things about him. I am concerned about his attack on judges who block is wishes. There is a lot to worry about here.
Rumeysa Ozturk is not an "illegal immigrant." She is a Turkish PhD student studying children's media, who co-authored an article A YEAR AGO calling on the Tufts University administration to divest from Israel in the midst of its flagrant targeting of civilians. She is known to be a kind and gentle person, and was walking to a friend's house to break her Ramadan fast when she was taken off the street by plainclothes ICE officers. She has committed no crime and is not a danger to anyone, but she was immediately sent to Louisiana, miles from her friends and support network. She is now deprived of her medications and is reported to have had an asthma attack en route to detention. She is now being held without due process, treated as a criminal just for exercising her first amendment rights.
Rumeysa is not acceptable collateral damage for the things Trump voters approve of. She's not a fair price to pay for more manufacturing jobs. She's not a reasonable deterrent for border crossings. It's not enough to say "well, I don't agree with THAT, but..." No. NO. If you don't regret your vote for Trump, then THIS is what you support. You support a young woman being sent to prison for no reason, alone and sick and scared.
So if you want to be understood, don't worry: We understand EXACTLY who you are.
Thank you for going into the details of Rumeysa Ozturk's story. You are so right, and the whole country should be disturbed by what is happening to her.
She's practically my neighbor, so this really hits home for me. She was taken only about a mile from my house. I think of her constantly and I'm so heartbroken and scared for her. The way Rubio talked about her makes me so furious. SHE WASN'T A DANGER TO ANYONE!!!
THIS! When you vote for the trains to run on time AND to build concentration camps, you are guilty of supporting the concentration camps. I don't care if the trains ever run on time if the price is the dehumanization of certain groups. It's not just a slippery slope argument; you're greasing the hill by ignoring the inconvenient fact that he's attacking law abiding people just because he doesn't like what they say. This is what the FIRST AMENDMENT is supposed to stop. Fascism and dictatorships don't necessarily start with big atrocities. They can start with small ones. Ask Germany how that works
Alllll of THIS. Thank you for speaking about Rumeysa.
She should be the rallying cry instead of protesting outside Tesla which just feeds into the fox news narrative.
Why is there no protests for Rumeysa. How would Fox news spin this negatively.
Fox would portray it as "Protests for a terrorist sympathizer" because, unfortunately, I don't think we'll ever avoid an 'alternative facts' spin.
I do think what makes the Tesla protests more accessible and visible is that there are Tesla dealerships all over the country and you don't even need to coordinate with anyone, just show up to your local dealership with a sign (I haven't done this, I'm just speculating as to why it's caught on so quickly).
I agree that there should be protests for her (and there have been here in Massachusetts), but I can't agree about the Tesla Takedown protests, which are wonderfully effective! It's completely reasonable to protest the extreme influence of an unelected billionaire using illegal and insecure means to destroy what our duly-elected representatives have built. With such a long election cycle, it's natural for us to vote with our voices and dollars until we can again vote at the ballot box. I've been to 2 Tesla Takedown protests and I recommend them! No matter what Fox says.
The problem that I’m having is that there’s no room for thoughtful, meaningful discussion with many, if not most, Trump supporters. We can gain insight into their thought process, but then what? I grew up in a very conservative family, in a very conservative area and the second I started questioning anything, they immediately got defensive. Ex: my grandpa was adamant that Obama was a terrorist and going to bring all of his friends to our country, despite zero evidence. I was still in high school and too young to vote but when I questioned that thought process, he doubled down and so did the rest of my family. I had guessed I was just wrong. I was the only one who thought it didn’t make sense.
Then, during the Trump/Clinton election, the cracks grew even wider. Any time I would question Trump’s morality, based on what I thought were shared family values, or shared any differing perspective, I was a “disappointment.” “Just wait until you’re older. You’re just a young liberal. When you grow up you’ll understand”. Well, I’m 33 now and I still don’t “understand.” I am surrounded by Trump supporters; my family, my friends, my employees. It doesn’t matter how meaningful the relationship is, anytime politics comes up, it turns ugly. I was once yelled at by an aunt for AGREEING with one of her points.
I understand their thought process. Trump is doing what they wanted. The problem is, there is just no room for critical thinking or any other point of view.
I think this mindset is due to fear - the moment they let legitimate questions in is the moment so many of the justifications start crumbling. It’s a defense mechanism. But it’s so hard to be on the receiving end of such dismissal.
I agree. It’s 100% fear based. I just don’t know how to have a conversation and break through that barrier.
I have no support or help but just know you’re not alone. My husband and I are the only liberals on both sides of the family. I started questioning things when I was 17, unable to vote in the Trump/Clinton election. My mom and I thought Trump was awful, thought if he won we would move to Canada because his comments were so immoral.
Well, my mom is now a 3-time Trump voter and I am still adamantly opposed to his demeanor, actions, etc.
You’re not alone, even if it feels that way.
I’m very tired of constantly hearing about Trump voters thoughts! When Trump wins, when he loses, we constantly have to check in with them. It’s just part of normalizing Trump and his insanity.
THIS. The whole country is supposed to revolve around the most selfish and misinformed people and I'm just OVER IT.
I appreciate this article but all it does is confirm to me that any attempt to convince or cooperate with Trump voters will be ultimately fruitless.
agreed it’s so tiring. But unfortunately if we want to save our country we are required to consistently be the adults in the room. At this point it’s not about fairness, like that guy said above. It’s about the slow tiny progress. We also have to provide voters a viable alternative beyond “not Trump.”
Sharon, thank you. This was an informative post, and also somewhat enlightening.
I personally feel that I am now done trying to get inside the mind of, or to understand the motivations of, Trump voters (which it feels like we've been trying to do for the past decade). I don't think we need to spend any more time trying to convince Trump voters that they are wrong (it doesn't usually work). I think our time will be better spent creating a viable alternative to MAGA, whether that is a more moderate Democratic party or a third party, and continuing efforts to oppose the current Trump administration's abuse of power and destruction of our democracy.
Yes 💯 Allison!!
Thank you Sharon as always for thoughtfully presenting this article. However I’m still stuck with the thought of: this still makes no sense to me! To admit that the man is a bully and speaks before thinking etc etc and a Trump voter was still ok with that is disappointing to say the least. We on a global stage have lost any credibility and that is sad for our future. America First didn’t work out so great last time and if history repeats itself (as it does) I hope the folks who put us all in this position are proud to tell their grandchildren that they were part of the issue.