Engaging With Trump's Die-Hard Supporters Isn't Productive

[Dr. Jack]

Nonetheless, ordinary people worn out by the dramas and lies of the past four years have a right to refuse to take Trump’s most enthusiastic supporters seriously. To reject further debate with people whose views are completely incoherent is not only understandable, but sensible.

...

Instead, I am talking about the people who are giving Trump their full-throated support to the very end, even as he mulls a military coup; the people who buy weird paintings of Trump crossing the Delaware, or who believe that Trump is an agent of Jesus Christ, or who think that Trump is fighting a blood-drinking ring of pedophiles. These supporters have gone far beyond political loyalty and have succumbed to a kind of mass delusion. It is not possible to engage them. Indeed, to argue with them is to legitimize their beliefs, which itself is unhealthy for our democracy.

...

Ordinary people should tune out the noise. No one needs to think one more minute about why a woman from New York would speed along in her car while ranting into her phone about stolen elections when she ought to have been watching the road. And the media have a particular obligation to end their fascination with these Trump voters. We don’t need yet another pilgrimage to diners and gas stations to hear from people whose only sources of information are cable-news hosts plumping fantasies about Venezuelan voting machines. We need not ruminate on the evangelical writer who thinks we must pray for the crackpot lawyer Sidney Powell. And journalists should stop providing media oxygen to would-be heroes such as the Texas mayor who said that if Trump called on him to take up arms, he’d engage in civil war.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/12/we-no-longer-need-to-engage-with-trumps-die-hard-supporters/617449/

[True Dough]

1. I will confess

that I've spent too many hours on sports discussion boards trying to reason with Trumpanzees in the "general" sections of the forum, which is rife with political talk. It's been futile, unfortunately. Rarely is there an individual who will budge an inch. I have even offered to give a little ground in hopes that they will reciprocate but it doesn't happen. Not with with diehards. SAD!

[Cosmocat]

7. Been there, done that on the sports boards I post on

Going back to the Bush II years.

I am a pretty even minded person and thought I could reason with them.

Ended up losing my patience and being overtly honest with them, before moving on.

Then a few years later tried it again, same result, and one more go mid 2010s, same result.

Have stopped engaging them now past one offs, because I end up being my lesser self. I can't do it because it makes me a worse person.

End of the day, there is no honest discussion with these people because they can't even be honest with themselves.

The have been brainwashed to the point where their grey matter knows only one thing - Cons good, Libs bad.

So, therefor, to them, anything they think, say or do is 100% justified in their epic war against the evil liberal boogyman.

As you noted, they won't budge an inch, no matter how much you try to reason or be cool about it, and again, for me, I end up being brutally honest, which is a bit cathartic to me, but does not nothing other than have that validate how mean us libs are, and faced with the facts, further distance them from reality to deny them.

[mr_lebowski]

9. Same for me ... these people are constitutional incapable of admitting they may be mistaken about

anything, esp. not to a Libtard like me.

One phrase I continually ended up using, typically as walked out of frustrating discussions "you have no intellectual integrity".

They will say anything, however ridiculous, constantly move the goalposts, lie about what they previously said, and finally just insult you. And never, ever give an inch or admit they're wrong.

It's like a sickness of the intellect they have. They simply have no use for facts or reality or science.

[Cosmocat]

12. When I write a book about conservatives

I am going to include a list of universal characteristics, one of which is going to be:

* The more wrong they are the more sure they become of how right they are.

[True Dough]

10. Well, I'm glad to have this discussion with you here, Cosmocat

Just two level-headed individuals, capable of critical thinking.

When you say "before moving on" do you mean to other topics or other forums? I have left no fewer than four sports forums over the past decade because I have been drowning in "Hater-ade". It happened in my first forum during Obama's first term. By the time I migrated to the second forum, I made a promise to myself to just stick to the sports threads and stay away from the politics. I failed, miserably. Did it again and again.

Just this morning, after hearing much of the Bill Barr press conference on TV and his admitting that there's no need to appoint a special counsel into Hunter Biden and that there's no legitimate reason to seize the voting machines, I was soooo tempted to head over to my current sports forum and create a thread in the "general" section boasting of those things and how the Trumpers have been misled once again. But I actually showed restraint. I know it would result in many of them taking potshots at me and disavowing Bill Barr. I'm badly outnumbered over there.

I created a thread a few weeks ago listing all of the former members of Trump's inner circle who have been critical of him since parting ways. The Trumpettes just shredded each one of them for one reason or another. I also listed all kinds of longtime Republican pundits who want no part of Trump and the forum members condemned all of them as well.

You just can't win. It's astounding (and disturbing) how much of a cult following Trump has. Some of his believers think he walks on water. I guess they're so connected to a vile individual who espouses the racism, misogyny and selfishness that they too possess, and they'll never let him go.

[onethatcares]

11. the hard part is

not going to rub their faces in it. I've even found myself saying to myself, "don't do it, not worth it", and other selected words and sometimes I last a day before giving in to the urge to present facts.

But they don't care. They can watch the same videos, read the same articles and turn the entire process 180 degrees.

your last paragraph sums up my thoughts.

[True Dough]

13. Yup.

They're a bunch of denialists.

[Cosmocat]

14. They have off topic forums

I still subscribe at a college site, which has really good recruiting and other information, well worth the subscription, and there is a site for my favorite NFL team.

Really got obsessed and mean spirited on the one for my favorite NFL team during Ws tenture, that was my first experience of crossing a line I don't like about myself.

Wondered over to the off topic board at the college site early in BHO's tenure, thought I could just go back and forth but it sucked me down the mud, too.

I have to admit I wonder over to it out of morbid curiosity from time to time, but don't post cause I know how it will go. I referrred to it as the "Ceasepool" and the name stuck with everyone other than the righties who do their circle jerk there. One example I saw recently was this one very enthusiastic loon "libs started this (Trump trying to flip electoral college electors) when Nixon did it to Kennedy. Guess its OK when they do it." I am assuming the nitwit heard Hannity or some other flackie twist that up while getting his daily dose of brain washing, and I SO, SO, SO wanted to make a sarcastic remark about him being under the impression that Nixon was a democrat and Kennedy a republican, but knew he would be completely oblivious to the embarrassment of being a dumb ass.

The publisher of the site shut it down earlier in the year, but they have so little impulse control they could not control not starting up with their lunacy on the sports boards, and he ended up opening it again, which has cleaned up the sports boards. Honestly, it is quarenteeing in the stupid there.

Funny thing is, with it open most of them don't even post sports anymore, just get off on their little fact free zone. There are some lefties who somehow aren't bothered by them and go there mostly to sort of fuck with them.

[The Snitch]

15. eventually they just give up and go negative personal attacks.

they don't respond well to having their world view shattered

[Johnny2X2X]

2. Trump supporters don't want to engage

There are two kinds of Trump posters, the true believers, and the trolls. The rolls know it's a;; BS and they just want to sow disorder and anger. The true believers are not reachable, don't let them ruin your day.

[The Wizard]

3. It's better to

piss into the wind.

[Rorey]

4. Excellent article!

I'm finding it a lot easier to refrain from engaging now that we won the presidency. Prior to that, it was difficult to restrain myself because I was SCARED TO DEATH! I mean, I can't even express how terrified I was.

Thanks for posting this.

[grantcart]

5. Yesterday I had a sales call and the first words were "Do you think the election was stolen?"

I told him that I don't talk politics but explained that he was accusing tens of thousands of volunteers, both Democrats and Republicans, ordinary people of a vast conspiracy.

Went back and forth and then I suggested that the next election he volunteer to work at the polls to see how it's done.

"I am not ever going to vote again".

"I am not talking about voting but volunteering and see first hand what goes on, isn't that worth a couple of hours of your time?"

First time I saw a Trumpster actually stunned into silence.

[leftyladyfrommo]

6. I never engage with them. I just kill them with kindness.

It's difficult to be bad to someone who is kind to you.

[llashram]

8. they made their choice(s)

to hell with them. I despise them. They threaten me or mine by being ignorant and stupid, I come down on them hard in shaming them for their troglodyte behaviour in following their neanderthal leaders. They don't like it? I watch their hands. Move wrong, I go to war, first.

[Skittles]

16. I will NEVER forgive them

NEVER

[mr_lebowski]

18. SAME!!!

[David__77]

17. "Die-hard" is key here.

As for those who aren’t, I think some friendship and at some gentle sharing of perspective is fine.

[highplainsdem]

19. K&R