I spoke with a client this morning who is a Trump supporter

[Snake Plissken]

Trump didn't come up until I asked him how his facility is coping with the crisis. I had no illusions of the COVID-19 pandemic changing his support of Trump, but I did expect him to at least acknowledge the fact that Wall St has no confidence in Trump, which turned out not to even be an option since I wasn't able to move the conversation in that direction. When I said we'll probably be working into our 70s now that our 401K have been decimated, it was met with silence.

The most disturbing part of our conversation was the fact that he has absolutely no regard for the healthcare professionals, first responders, and workers in general who are putting their lives in danger to take care of the sick and to keep our lives as normal as possible by keeping the our food supply flowing.

His mindset is consists entirely of Trump handling this entire crisis on his own without any help from anyone.

It truly is a cult, they aren't even allowed to consider giving credit to anyone but their cult leader. I really wanted to lay into him with some cold hard reality, but I can't risk losing this company as a client over a lecture that will fall on deaf ears.

I really don't know what it will take to wake these people up.

It would have been less disturbing if he was your typical low IQ right wing idiot who does nothing but parrot Fox News, but he's really not, however it certainly has lowered my opinion of him significantly.

[NRaleighLiberal]

1. yes, cults - groupthink - does indeed exist. it is shocking when we see direct evidence of it.

[TrishaJ]

13. It's the same mindset that produces

religious zealots who congregate together. It's no coincidence that IMPOTUS's strongest supporters are the evangelicals.

[FM123]

2. I too am baffled this, people who should know better but insist on staying in the cult

It would have been less disturbing if he was your typical low IQ right wing idiot who does nothing but parrot Fox News, but he's really not, however it certainly has lowered my opinion of him significantly.

[babylonsister]

3. As was mentioned last night, about iq45 but

also applies to the cult, it will take one of their loved ones becoming deathly sick or dying for this to hit home. The blinders might slide then.

[Butterflylady]

5. I don't think that would even change them.

Somehow they would blame democrats.

[blm]

12. ✔️

[GeorgeGist]

14. Trump has no loved ones.

[SummerSnow]

4. Just think of Trump re-opening the country for "business"

Some governors, who are apart of this cult will re-open their states, even to the detriment of their civilians. That is the scary part. These people, the ones who are in this cult will go on with business as usual and infect so many people. Their state will suffer so much and Trump will turn their backs on them when they cry for help.

[TwilightZone]

6. I have an acquaintance who is literally a brain surgeon.

He was regurgitating the same "everything is fine" nonsense for the first few days (he's a right-wing Fox News devotee), then did an abrupt 180 and is taking it very seriously. I have to wonder what changed.

[TrunKated]

7. Fox gave them permission to take it seriously.

[TwilightZone]

8. Now that Fox is pushing ending the lockdowns, he's not buying.

So at least there's that.

[dweller]

11. are they calling all medical professionals

to the front lines ?
🤔

✌🏼

[geardaddy]

15. You know Ben Carson?

[Phoenix61]

18. The hospital briefing where he was told this

is an all hands on deck situation. He found out how the hospital was going to be reconfigured to create the number of ICU beds they anticipate needing. He found out he would be making rounds and should expect to not see his family for extended
periods of time.

[dalton99a]

9. It is a common attitude among the cult

They are now blaming Democratic governors and mayors for the panic buying and unemployment

[BSdetect]

10. When you suggest any fact it spins their brain 360 degrees back to where they started.

[geardaddy]

16. The only thing that will wake them up is if they get COVID-19

and have to be hospitalized. Then it will be all about them and only them.

[Cousin Dupree]

30. Truer words were never spoken! They are devoid of empathy.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

49. Clearly it's the person who gets infected who is at fault.

If only they had done everything Fat Donnie had told him to, they would never have gotten the disease. Nor would their children. Nor their parents. Nor their friends, coworkers or anyone else who came into contact with them.

The "Chinese virus" is God's will, and they have been told that Trump is God's chosen one to lead them safely through this crisis.

#CullTheHerd

[griloco]

17. How old is he?

[Snake Plissken]

19. I don't know his exact age but, If I had to guess I'd say 60 plus or minus a couple of years

[TrogL]

20. They're authoritarians. Don't waste your breath

I grew up in an adopted authoritarian family. They cannot think like we do. It’s something genetic.

[cutroot]

21. republicans have been fairly delusional since nixon

It has only become more and more pronounced since then. I have learned my lesson the hard way that doing business with them only costs you in the long run. They will not accept anything that does not fit the fox narrative. The programming is complete.

[Pillow talk]

22. Conditioning works

[Ferrets are Cool]

23. They wont be "woke up". They will die with the malignancy in their hearts. nt

[SayItLoud]

25. I hear and understand your experience all too well, that's why

I have given up expending one iota of energy trying to enlighten anyone in tRUMP's orbit. It's useless, frustrated me and left me depressed and feeling hopeless. I've modified my behavior to point towards the positive of what and who I believe in. Expending my energy supporting people and positions I believe will be good for all Americans and the entire world. Yes, I do "slip" every once in a while and rant via a tweet or so but all in all only pushing forward with positives has helped me deal with the negativity and without doubt cult mentality of the mother fucker tRUMP. (Uh oh, guess that would count as a "slip", sorry).

Onwards and #VoteBlue no matter who, up and down the ticket!

[wryter2000]

26. "No regard"

Total lack of empathy. He won’t care until he’s directly hurt and he has no one else to blame.

[marble falls]

27. You might have pointed out that Trump's winging it on his own is his own choice.

[lunasun]

29. But isn't everyone against trump including most of this country's own media? Maybe he had

no choice but to bravely assemble a team and fight this challenge alone !

[blue cat]

28. I feel your pain

My sister won’t blame Trump and says she doesn’t have room for hate.

[LisaM]

35. I know someone like that.

She keeps posting things about everyone loving each other, choose love, blah blah blah.

[shanti]

43. That's my evangelical aunt now on FB

'Stop the blame game', 'don't be political'. She's a retired RN too.

[Wellstone ruled]

31. Got one of those as a Son In Law.

And he does not see the Train Wreck headed his way.

[DFW]

32. I'm so lucky to work in Europe

There is NO ONE here I work with, from Portugal to Russia, from Norway to Italy, that thinks Trump is anything other than a dangerous, ignorant criminal.

[smirkymonkey]

39. You are so lucky not to have to deal with these people.

They are just as maddening as he is. Why are so many Americans so stupid and sheeplike, while so many Europeans can see him for exactly who he is?

[DFW]

42. Europeans have their blind spots as well

They are just in other areas. There are no greater critics of French politicians, for example, than the French. Most Germans (except the SPD) like Merkel, but they mostly all have no use for one another, and Merkel's party itself is full of resentful men who are furious that a successful woman of both humility and wiliness has managed to outsmart them on the way to the chancellor's office four terms in a row.

It's rare that a nation here unites behind one popular leader with a solid majority. Even the UK only went with BoJo and the Tories because Labor offered up one of the few party leaders who was so unpleasant as to disgust out even Labor. Very few governments here have a solid majority of one party in their parliaments. It's almost always a coalition of several, one or more of whom always demands more influence than their small representation justifies. They often get away with it, too, since they can blackmail the majority with a my-way-or-the-highway threat of blowing up the coalition and sparking new elections.

Many countries have their own Mitch McConnells. It's just that they rarely get the power to do as much evil as Trump and Mitchie have managed to wreak, although Orban in Hungary is coming close. In Turkey, Erdoğan has even surpassed Trump. Erdoğan is smarter and more evil than Trump, but luckily for us, he only rules Turkey, where Trump is more dangerous as an American president who really is a turkey.

[Mister Ed]

33. Yes, it's a cult for certain. The members can't be deprogrammed in the course of a conversation.

So, you're right. There's no use in debating them. I once made an attempt at that with a Moonie cult member who confronted me in a supermarket parking lot about forty years ago.

[Pepsidog]

34. It's astonishing thing to witness. Worshipping an imbecile who knows nothing.

[gab13by13]

36. They will go to their graves

and have, "Coronavirus is a hoax," etched on their tombstones.

[KPN]

37. Sounds like my brother. I know exactly what you mean and also have no idea

how we'll ever "wake these people up".

My brother got to tRump via his cHristian religion ... which in itself boggles my mind. Understanding how and why he found his way to evangelical cHristianity by talking with him about that has, in itself, helped me understand his fealty to tRump. He believes in something that I see as a humanly fabricated explanation of some greater power, dimension and energy that we are simply unable to comprehend in our 4-dimensional construct. That belief is what gives him his security and overall sense of well being. His religion is a cult -- there is no questioning that Jesus is the only way to redemption and "everlasting life".

In listening to his rationalization of belief in Jesus he speaks of truths/facts for which I know of no real basis except somebody long ago said so. He uses classical philosophical arguments to defend his beliefs, (e.g., if it is not this then it is something else, and if that something else is not this which we know because science says this, then it is something else, and so on -- really, a quite in depth and erudite rationalization). He is convinced that his belief is ironclad in its justification, making faith a relatively minor step or no step at all.

One, with that kind of rationalization, how can he not believe and support tRump when tRump is doing everything the evangelical cHristians want; and two, with the powers of rationalization he already possesses.

In a word ... delusional. My greatest fear is how he and all the other right wingers will react when we finally do boot tRump and his GOP goons out of DC. Will they start a civil war? They have the guns and ammo, that's for sure. My second biggest fear is we will continue to placate them when we have power by continuing to compromise on issues that ultimately hurt the middle and lower classes -- just to avoid a civil war. Is "the cure worse than the problem?"

[Grammy23]

38. They are in an echo chamber where they support one another ideologically.

When their dear leader speaks, they repeat his “wisdom” and reinforce it among themselves. As long as they can comfort themselves with OTHER people and places being impacted by the virus they will listen and believe. Let one of them have a family member or close friend get the virus, then you’ll hear the howls and demands to do something! Cries of anguish will cross the land when it is their mother or brother who dies. I suspect even tRump might feel a twinge of pain if his precious Ivanka was a victim. Sadly, his ability to feel anything is severely compromised by his narcissism. We’ve known this all along but this real life health crisis has put a fine point on just how disabled he is.

It still baffles me how the people around tRump are allowing him to run amok with policies that will harm all of us in one way or another. What we need to realize is there are many, many more people who think and act like tRump than we ever dreamed. They endorse him and his cruel ways of governing. They see benefits for themselves and screw the rest of us. They got theirs (and will see to it that they continue to get theirs) and if you are in trouble, too bad. You should have been smart like them. That is how tRump thinks and they follow him for that reason. It is a vicious, dog eat dog way of viewing the world and your place in it. But that is the world we live in.

Thank goodness there are others who are not cruel, not greedy and they are in a battle with tRump and his minions over who will prevail. The virus does not care. It is going to do what viruses do. So let us hope that good will triumph over pure evil. That those of us with compassion for the world will outweigh the crass, greedy bastards that only see this situation in terms of dollars and cents.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

48. Wish narcissitic authoritarian sociopaths

Would just die off already. They exist to create pain chaos and harm via cruelty.

[DarleenMB]

40. The more people rail against Trump,

the more his hard-core supporters are digging in their heels and insisting he is the best (whatever) EVER. It isn't just because ... fox "new" either.

These people know in their hearts they made a huge mistake but there is no way they are ever going to cop to it. I'll bet your client doesn't ever admit to being wrong about anything, not just being a Trump supporter.

Best let sleeping dogs lie.

[Cosmocat]

45. THAT is the conundrum

One of the core ideologies of conservatives is pride, with that thinking where the more wrong they are the more sure of how right they think they are.

You can slam them with facts, reason, common sense and they will only dig in deeper and hate you for it.

Doing or saying nothing gives you a 1 in 1,000,000 chance they figure it out for themselves, a saves you both from the heartburn.

That is the winning scenario ... no bad feelings while 99.99% of them happily wallow in the bullshit.

[UCmeNdc]

41. Stay as far away from Trump supporters. They make no sense and will rationalize everything to

protect Trump. To them it is never Trump's actions that caused a problem.

[bdamomma]

44. This pandemic will

get those cult45 members soon, they are in just utter denial and they will pay with their lives. Sadly.

[Skittles]

46. imagine what he would be thinking if this was President Hillary Clinton

fucking HYPOCRITES

[Demovictory9]

47. morning radio show explained it perfectly. Most people don't see clips of him bumbling about

the nonsense talk, the behavior, ... media needs to get to the point about a topic so they play/show short clips that make it appear that he's competent. and Faux news definitely doesn't show Trump as we see him.