General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsHave you lost any friends or family over their support of Trump/GOP?
I had a friend who loves Scott Walker and Bill O'Reilly. I tolerated it even though his wife, get this, is a teacher! When they claimed people and the media weren't giving Trump a chance last Spring, I had enough and dropped all contact with them.
While it sucks to lose a friend, I just decided I did not need people like that in my life.
democratisphere
(17,235 posts)suffering from drumpfsteritis and they know not to broach the topic around me lest I explode in a tiraid.
Frustratedlady
(16,254 posts)of Pence. She is a Christian, but has gone off the deep end on this administration. I think a lot of it is she lets her husband think for her and he is a Drudge and NRA nut. I think that split us more than anything. She always had an excuse for all these shootings. She went out of her way to try to prove she isn't racist, which only cemented my opinion that she was...why go overboard trying to convince me she isn't? Same with religion. If you believe you are a Christian and practice it, you don't have to keep telling people. I finally threw up my hands and ignored her.
She posts crap on FB about every week about how she misses her friends, so I guess I wasn't the only one.
blue cat
(2,415 posts)You're talking about my sister.
Jarqui
(10,126 posts)but we got him straightened out
AllaN01Bear
(18,261 posts)LisaL
(44,973 posts)MaryMagdaline
(6,855 posts)Some are wondering why I didn't have them for Thanksgiving last year and never see them socially. We got our only Republican brother back in the fold. 7 surviving siblings of 8 and we all hate Trump. Thank God. Unfriended RW brother-in-law but he still has my sister to keep him in check. Unfriended dozens of RW cousins and got to know some of their lefty children via Facebook.
Kept one of my closest friends cuz she was grandfathered in and she and her husband gave excellent medical care to my husband before he died. Plus she expressed buyer's remorse. Otherwise we cannot talk about it.
Definitely have avoided groups of white people my age. For at least a year I would see a random white person, especially female, and would feel rage. I am white and not very proud these days.
Kittycow
(2,396 posts)I bought the book Killing Lincoln by Bill O'Reilly. It was so good that I couldn't put it down.
Then I bought it in hardcover for my sort-of RWNJ dad for his birthday; he was very pleased and said "it was a good choice".
To address the topic at hand, I was really shocked that my GOP family voted for trump even though they condemned him. My brother pretended to console me on election night but when I looked at his Facebook page, it was full of anti-Hillary memes.
I don't look at him the same anymore. I do get in my digs about trump whenever possible, though, to my whole family. They're strangely silent these days.
orleans
(34,060 posts)years ago my daughter gave me a bill o'reilly book as a joke for christmas
(it was a hardcover)
and while i appreciated her sense of humor i pointed out that it only helped the asshole with sales.
i colored and marked up the dustcover, drew on his face so he looked like a the demented devil he is, and rewrote sentences, added & crossed out words in the book, and defiled it as much as possible until i grew bored with the whole thing.
Kittycow
(2,396 posts)the last few battles of the Civil War and then traced the steps and people involved in Lincoln's assassination. I didn't notice any opinion in it but I wasn't looking for that. I have to agree with the book blurb that it was written as a thriller.
Before I started paying attention to politics, I read an O'Reilly book that I grabbed at the thrift store during a vacation. It was maligning Hillary Clinton and I was so uninformed that I believed every word
Thank goodness I woke up! But that's a perfect example of how people get so mislead.
Rorey
(8,445 posts)It's still a possibility. I'm a very patient person and am waiting this out to see if what comes out of Mueller's investigation has any effect on husband's brain. We don't talk about it much anymore, which is very difficult. As far as the other idiots that were in my life, yes, I've lost them. My adult kids all feel the same way I do, and none of us interact with their aunts, uncles and cousins who weren't against trump. I rarely talk to my brother, and that's probably the way it'll stay from now on.
Even if the trump/gop supporters come around in their thinking, I don't think I'll ever be able to get past the fact that they voted that way. Too much damage has already been done, and some of it is irreparable.
(Just want to add, my husband is 66 and is showing signs of cognitive decline and possible dementia. I can't see myself walking out on that, as difficult as it is.)
Bibluca
(63 posts)I remember reading some years ago a collection of interviews done with people whose families had left Germany either during Hitler's time or just after, that focused on the response of their own families to the rise of Nazism. It was terrible to hear them talk about siblings or parents or friends getting sucked into Hitler's madness and how nothing would change their minds about him. Some of the interviewees made peace with them after the war, for the sake of happiness, but many could never forgive these people for helping cause so much damage, and never saw them or spoke with them again.
I don't see it as holding a grudge, but rather it's like learning something about a person that you never saw before. Something bad.
I guess that's the risk of having any family or friends, that one day you'll see something in them you really don't like.
All five of my immediate family members are Pro-Trump.
You're not alone in this boat. We're with you.
Rorey
(8,445 posts)"I don't see it as holding a grudge, but rather it's like learning something about a person that you never saw before. Something bad. "
Spot on.
mountain grammy
(26,624 posts)Sorry. For 8 years I heard, "Obama's a Muslim" and the snide anitsemitism and racism. They know I'm of Jewish heritage and my neice has adopted a black child. The "love" me and their granddaughter, so they say, but they're still bigots and as Christian as they come. Go out to dinner, pray before the meal. Nope, no Texas hypocrits for me.. told my husband I'd buy him a plane ticket.
JimGinPA
(14,811 posts)I completely cut a couple of my longtime friends out of my life because of the last presidential election. During the both 2008 and 2012 elections we had light-hearted Facebook back-and-forth discussions and friendly arguments, but last year the racism became obvious and the stupidity became too much to tolerate any longer.
TheCowsCameHome
(40,168 posts)It makes for awkward times.
Break time
(195 posts)I was on FB for a bit where I found cousins and friends that are t-rump supporters, lost a lot of respect for them and dropped facebook membership, have not talked to my oldest boy for several years now but that goes back to Obama and bush..realized that one of my oldest friends is a racist and dropped that relationship...Anymore I try to avoid political discussions so I won't find out about these things...
Kilgore
(1,733 posts)Politicians and politics come and they go but I have only one family and sometimes we just need to agree to disagree and let it go. The same applies to close friends.
Not close friends and passing acquaintances are a different matter.
Bettie
(16,110 posts)relatives who are trumpsters.
When I have to be at functions with them, I tend to take my kindle and read rather than converse.
barbtries
(28,799 posts)we still love each other, but i haven't talked to my brother for over a year. i'm worried he'll say something that will set me off and then we really will lose each other.
i've been unfollowed by several people on FB. had to block the son of a very good friend. so, yes.
Paladin
(28,264 posts)Some were people I'd known since elementary school. I feel much better for not having exposure to these people any longer.
denvine
(802 posts)At this point in my life, I see how different we are and how differently we think about how the world should be. They seem oblivious but then again, they voted for Trump! When I think about how anxiety ridden this last year has been, I think about the fact that they did this to our country.
Frustratedlady
(16,254 posts)I have also dumped them, for now, because they basically voted for Trump. I tried to point out that voting for Trump or a third party candidate were much the same and that now, the Democrats would have to clean up the mess...put this country back on the right track.
I hate intentional stupid!
louis c
(8,652 posts)I'm a white male 65 years old. I am the heart of the Trump demographic. I don't go a day without arguing with a friend or relative. As it turns out, we avoid each other.
I think my friends have been reduced from 18 to about 6.
jrthin
(4,836 posts)the same with his two boyhood friends. And although I had no close friends who supported him, those casual acquaintances who did, I said not one word to them after the election. I just walked past them and they now know that I will ignore them if they say one word to me.
HAB911
(8,904 posts)I've known for 20+ years
LittleGirl
(8,287 posts)brother and that's mostly on email or fb and have dropped my sister completely. There have been several classmates and posted on FB Obama hate or trump love so they were unfriended. I don't need that toxic shit in my life.
Thor_MN
(11,843 posts)I started easing rabid conservatives out of my life when George the Lesser was installed. Looking back, he seems quite tame in comparison to Dolt45.
Anyway, the only winning that I am seeing is not having toxic personalities in my life.
Perseus
(4,341 posts)and it got to the point that to save the friendship we decided we would not talk about politics, and we have not since. We are still good friends, and I know that he will come around on his own because he is not an idiot, he got into reading the wrong stuff and like many, he believed it.
It happens in a lot of places, where they believe someone who offers change, they are fed up with the status quo, they want to see change, are desperate for change, then comes along someone like Trump and they believe some of it.
My friend is not a racist. He, like many others, thought that Trump's racism chants were just hot air.
Anyway, if you value a friendship then, IMHO, you leave politics out and hope that they will come around. Let us not forget that we all hate to admit we were wrong, and politics seems to enhance that feeling.
40RatRod
(532 posts)A very good friend I served with in the military at multiple location over 20 years kept sending me stuff critical to Dems or praising Trump. I even called him and asked him politely not to send me political stuff. He kept it up so I send him one critical of Trump. Within five minutes, I received an email back telling me he had remove me from his address book because I was just a sorry liberal.
NoMoreRepugs
(9,435 posts)Voted the second time for Bush.... started to shake my head constantly when the voted for McCain, kept shaking it thru Romney, BUT drew the line in the sand with his Orangeness. It's been a far more peaceful year for me in having put some distance between us.
Glorfindel
(9,730 posts)let me know that she supported tRump. That's the last I've heard from her or expect to. I have family members whom I suspect are on the wrong side, but we never, ever discuss politics, so that's cool.
Politicub
(12,165 posts)Like the cousin who posts on Facebook drawings of Jesus standing behind Trump as he signs a bill. Shes among several other family members who wallow in their fundamentalist religion hypocrisy, and life is too short to argue with them.
Botany
(70,516 posts)A long time friend who is Dr. and very right wing ... I just couldn't take his ignorance
and racism anymore after the election. He called Barack Obama, Ooo-Boomey.
LP2K12
(885 posts)I've been avoiding my mother and father for months. This became difficult after my father was diagnosed with cancer and began treatments.
He's always been a Republican who votes party over country. The only exception being Bill Clinton... still to this day he loves Bill.
My mom on the other hand threw the curve ball. She's voted Republican a few times, but mainly dem throughout my childhood. Up to and including voting for Obama twice. Then she went and voted for Trump.
Rewind to last week where they traveled to stay with us for my sister's wedding. My mom is still in full Trump supporter mode. My dad, the hard-line Republican, now admits that Trump is dangerous. I took him out for lunch and he told me how he fears for the future of the country and his grandchildren because Trump has zero-clue how to be Presidential or run the White House.
Because he's sick and fighting cancer I held back from reminding him that all the signs were there before he voted for Trump. I can only hope that others are like him and will vote against Trump in the next election.
MrScorpio
(73,631 posts)I'm feel that I'm really lucky in this regard.
Hayduke Bomgarte
(1,965 posts)Once they made their support of drumpf, et.al. known, and refused to consider logic and reason, I cut all ties with those "friends" and family members. No regrets.
I couldn't even get them to see that they voted against their own interests, and by extension mine, thereby making them my enemy. So my life is now free of THAT bit of stress.
Joe Nation
(963 posts)He is a huge Trump supporter. He had never voted until Trump. He is as dumb as a rock but a nice guy until you start bringing up anything that Trump actually stands for. Now he knows everything about politics. He always did. He is white, working class, in his 40's, and angry all the time. I suppose living as rural as he does, it was an eventuality. It isn't that I stopped talking to him, he just refuses to talk to me. I'd love to listen to him defend Trump but he can't and only gets angry now. I think that he is the typical Trumpy.
Le Gaucher
(1,547 posts)Her shilling for trump actually took me by Surprise..because she seemed normal otherwise... When her rant against Hillary became increasingly unbearable..I blocked her on FB
carterbob251
(33 posts)To see people you have been friends for ages completely brain-washed by the Fox Entertainment/Rush/Breibart propaganda machine. And it's the only place they get info from. Intelligent, but easily persuaded and want to blame their issues and insecurities on "somebody".
I have found they are so far in the abyss that they cannot be pulled out. And I can't stand to associate with them. There are folks who up until the past few years were your typical Conservative GOP members (as was I), which is not really far from Moderates today.
The right wing media has taken some good folks from us and I don't believe they will ever come back.
mrsv
(209 posts)Of 52 years. We stood by each other's side at our weddings. We were present at the birth of each other 's children and consoled one another when we lost our parents. We haven't spoke since July of last year.
Ninga
(8,275 posts)A majority of this group voted 3rd party and encouraged their family to vote 3rd party too.
I silently thank them for Gorsuch.
Proud Liberal Dem
(24,414 posts)after she bragged about voting for Trump and being relieved that Hillary didn't win. And, mind you, she was supposedly a progressive who supported Bernie in the primaries. I was mad at her for supporting Trump because of what I knew what was coming down the pipe for me as a member of the LGBTQ community under Trump (not incorrectly as I we have seen so far). It was somebody I previously knew from DU and didn't have really strong ties with, so it was pretty easy to let go of her as a Facebook friend but I still was mystified/mortified about her support of Trump/GOP over Hillary, especially after having supported Bernie. I dropped another Facebook friend and former DUer, not because she supported Trump/GOP per se but still hated Hillary (maybe voted third party?) and continued to (and probably still does) post anti-Hillary/anti-Democratic Party screeds.