It’s Time to Stop Giving Trump Supporters a Voice

An intelligent educator I’ve been acquainted with for years recently posted on Facebook that she was willing to hear arguments from her Trump supporter connections. Channeling her inner Frasier, she said, “I’m listening.” I wasted little time commenting concisely and emphatically that “I’m done listening!”

I don’t need Trump supporters to challenge my thinking. I’m not listening to them. I routinely unfriend them, block them, and delete their inane comments from my social channels. I have zero interest in their justification for supporting the most hateful and simple-minded leader the world has ever seen.

Closed-minded, you think? Damned right! That’s sort of the point of this.

If you’re in the Trump cult, feel free to stop reading. If you’re anyone else, please pay careful attention to this important message: We must stop giving Trump supporters a voice.

I used to relish the arguments. For nearly four years, I debated with my conservative friends and acquaintances. I shared articles about Trump’s political shortcomings and the failings of his policies. When they pushed back with the inevitable, “Yeah, but Obama …,” I was quick to supply a mountain of evidence, illustrating the many accomplishments of Trump’s predecessor.

While it may have taken years (admittedly, with some things, I’m a slow learner), I finally decided to distance myself from the Trump cult — religious fanatics, nationalists, NRA devotees, and idiots who believe that COVID-19 is a hoax — and other right wingers, unwilling to accept any alternative to the Hitler clone currently inhabiting the Oval Office.

Silencing hate and insanity

After years of participating in the online equivalent of shouting matches with lunatics and hate-mongers, I realized that not only was winning these arguments impossible, I was giving the haters and zealots a voice.

when intelligent people amplify the lunatic fringe, it only serves to add fuel to their fire.

The COVID-19 pandemic gave me one good thing — more time to read. While I’ve spent some of 2020 indulging in a few I-just-need-to-escape-the-craziness novels, I’ve also read many powerful nonfiction works that have taught me how to be a more productive person, who shuts out the distracting and demoralizing noise.

Hat tip to Celeste Headlee (We Need to Talk), Michelle Obama (Becoming), Simon Sinek (Start with Why), James Sturtevant (Teaching in Magenta), and Gary Keller (The One Thing), among others, for teaching me to focus more on family, personal growth, passion projects, the simple things, and perhaps most important, to steer clear of people who only want to proliferate ignorance and hate and to stop giving them airtime.

Some likeminded friends and acquaintances have abandoned social media, altogether. Others have tried to remain open-minded. Some continue to scream into the echo chamber. The problem with this is when intelligent people amplify the lunatic fringe, it only serves to add fuel to their fire. For my part, I’ve stopped listening, reacting, and giving Trump supporters a voice.

You absolutely can’t support Trump and claim to be a tolerant, accepting, anti-racist person.

I’ve turned away from those who hide behind misguided faith in a God they believe supports a man dedicated to the complete elimination of a woman’s right to choose.

I’ve stopped conversing with fanatics who claim to be pro life but don’t seem to care about babies born into poverty, or immigrant children ignored or abused by the Trump administration.

I’ve stopped arguing with my god-fearing friends who claim that Jesus loves all, while they hate the LGBTQ community, the indigent, and people of color.

I’m ignoring people who say, “I am not a racist” but are fine with supporting an overtly racist “president,” who has called white supremacists “good people” and ignores the murders of black men and women, who died by the guns or knees of police officers. (No, I don’t dislike cops, but I hate seeing murderers go unpunished, just because Trump only seems to care about Americans who look like him.)

You absolutely can’t support Trump and claim to be a tolerant, accepting, anti-racist person. A vote for this “president” is, at minimum, an endorsement of a man who hates a large population of Americans, and I refuse to hear the insincere, inaccurate, inarticulate arguments that he is not a racist.

I’m actively unfriending and walking away from every person, claiming that Donald Trump is “the greatest president ever.” I can very easily supply an endless stream of evidence to the contrary from the most reliable sources on the planet, but I now fully understand that the cult members don’t care about facts. They respond only with some QAnon psychobabble that no rational person cares about. They can peddle that lunacy elsewhere, because I’m still NOT listening, and I refuse to give them a voice.

Trump supporters are the worst kind of human being…

I’m not even half listening to a woman or a person of color who says, “I’m voting for Trump because ….” If you’re ignorant enough to support a “president” who hates your entire gender and race, it’s unlikely you can construct a cogent sentence, and I’m only giving a voice to people who make sense.

I’m done with people who say that the COVID-19 pandemic is not real, or that masks don’t work, or that more people die in car accidents and swimming pools (this includes you, “doctor ” Phil — not that I was ever listening to you). If you honestly believe the virus isn’t real, you are not smarter than a fifth grader. Go back to school, read a book, and stay off my Facebook page, because, wait for it … I am NOT listening. I will delete your comments and block you, because I’m not amplifying the voice of simpletons, who believe Trump over the smartest scientists in the world.

I’m not all bad

You may dismiss this as the ramblings of a disgruntled curmudgeon (I’ve certainly been called worse). You may think I’m rude or disrespectful. I get that.

I’m not all bad, though. I’ve voted for presidents on both sides of the aisle; I campaigned for Republican governor George Voinovich. I’ve donated to charity, sang in church, volunteered, and taught my kids to be respectful, open-minded, courteous and to accept all people, no matter their race, gender, social class, or sexual orientation. Oh, and I’ve paid more than my fair share of taxes, and we know who can’t say that.

You want to debate universal healthcare, defense spending, education, the environment, campaign finance, gerrymandering, or other political or social issues, I’m always up for intelligent discourse. We can disagree on these issues and still be friends or happy acquaintances. You see, I’m not all bad.

You want to tell me why you support Trump? By this time, I’m sure you won’t be surprised to learn that I’m not listening.

Stop giving them a voice

As tempted as you may be to engage with Trump supporters, I implore you to stop. Let’s shut them out and shut them down.

They are the worst kind of human being — racists, misogynists, haters, and idiots. They do not deserve a platform from intelligent, tolerant, loving Americans — especially those with a big audience.

Until the disgusting, evil man is removed from office, we must flood social media with nothing but reasons to embrace what’s best about America and stop giving Trump supporters a voice.