Have you lost a friendship because of Trump?

[DonCoquixote]

I have a lot of Republicans in my family, but as passionate as we were, we always mended fences. Now, when i see people, even hard GOP, who can actually favor Trump, I look at them as if all the Holiday meals I ever ate with them were perhaps made with the bodies of dead babies and unicorns.

Have you lost a friend, or even a relative, because you simply cannot trust, or even lost all respect for them?

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

1. Nope.

Although four years ago when a friend (old high school classmate) on FB indicated support of Romney, I almost unfriended her, but decided instead to simply pretend that hadn't happened.

[NanceGreggs]

9. I found an old friend on FB years ago.

We were very close in HS, being classmates as well as down-the-street neighbours. We'd lost touch around 1975.

I was thrilled to finally find her after so long. We sent the initial "catch-up" messages - marriages, kids, different places we'd lived.

But when we "friended" each other on FB, I saw her "Favourite TV Show" was FOX-News and her FB page was full of RW bullshit.

I "unfriended" her immediately, and never contacted her again. It wasn't that she was a Republican - it was that I figured I had absolutely nothing in common with anyone who was dumb enough to watch FOX-News, so there was no point in continuing to communicate.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

13. Your re-found high school friend was much more extreme than mine.

Although after a recent (50TH) high school reunion, I accepted several friend request from people I'd been out of touch with for a half century. One immediately showed up with RW crap, and I immediately unfriended him. Sigh. Isn't it sad to re-discover old friends only to learn they are lost in the heart of darkness?

[chillfactor]

2. I have lost a friend...

I thought I could work through anything with her....she being a rethug and me being a staunch Democrat....but when she said she hoped someone would shoot Hillary, that is when I drew the line...and the friendship ended. Oh, yes she says she is a Christian...HA!!!!!!

[NanceGreggs]

3. Happy to say ...

... I don't know any Trump supporters.

I have one sister (of five) who is a Republican. But we have steered clear of discussing politics for years. We live far apart, and only communicate via email - so it's easy to keep the conversation restricted to family chit-chat.

I can't imagine what it' like for people like yourself, who have Trump-supporting relatives who you have social contact with, e.g. holiday get-togethers.

It's got to be tough.

[DonCoquixote]

5. it IS

especially as part of me wants to scream and say "Dammit, you do realize social security is what keeps us from Meat Loaf to dog food."

[NanceGreggs]

11. I can imagine.

The relatives on both sides of my family (mother's family, dad's family) were always staunch Democrats. So I never heard any arguing about politics at a family event.

It must be a nightmare for those who aren't so lucky.

[grossproffit]

4. We're lucky. Trump's David Duke no comment comment moved nearly all our F&F* to HRC early on.

A few of them took a little longer but not that much longer. All were pretty much on board by late July.

*Friends and family.

[Missn-Hitch]

17. Awesome. I was hoping the same would happen with my family

when the Orange Menace mocked McCain. *sigh* It did not happen.

Cheers to you and yours!

[Jamaal510]

6. I don't know any

Trumpanzees in RL, but I was "friended" by a few on FB. One sent me a request on an A's fan page, while I presume another found me on Talking Points Memo (why a Trump supporter would go there, I have no idea). After seeing some of their posts berating BLM and Hillary Clinton appear on my feed and seeing them like his page, I unfollowed them.

[budkin]

7. It's been tense, that's for sure

But no.

[MirrorAshes]

8. No, but a few over Bernie.

Last edited Tue Oct 4, 2016, 02:19 AM - Edit history (2)

My social circles were all very much hardcore Bernie folks, most have come around but some have gone the "or bust" route. I supported HRC from the start and had a few people really go after me for not being a "real" progressive. One friend in particular whom I truly admired before this election decided to really go hard after me and make me a pariah in that particular circle.

It's a shame. I'm still glad I stuck to my principles, though.

[grossproffit]

14. Wow. That's awful. I'm so sorry that you were treated so badly.

[Doreen]

10. Nope

I have friends and family both educated and not educated and they are all for Hillary except 2 people who I think are for Johnson but nobody is for Trump. I even have a Christian fundamentalist friend who is voting for Hillary. Hey, even my small farm town in the very back 40 friend isn't voting for Trump I do not know who he will vote for but I know it will not be Trump. So far I am lucky.

[Daemonaquila]

12. Yes.

I have punted several people out of my life in the past couple weeks. I'm done. You can be a Rethug and my friend, though we might fight like cats and dogs. But if you truly support Trump because you LIKE him, and you spew your racist, sexist crap all over, you can't be my friend. There is a line, there. If you're all for jailing/deporting Muslims, support Orange Hitler's coked up potty rants about women, support wholesale lies because you desperately need them to validate your racism, sexism, or other prejudice, I can not say you're ok. Not to trust, and not even to hang out with occasionally for a beer.

[BigBearJohn]

21. Wish I said that!

[Hortensis]

29. An ex- advisor to Bush Sr. just said that people

who support Trump are making an intellectual and moral mistake of massive proportions. This has gone way too far, with the right almost all falling in behind Trump. At first I thought it was important to maintain relationships with conservatives, and I still do actually if we are to repair our country, but I agree with you.

Those Americans who can really need to draw a firm line, not just for ourselves but for our nation.

[Binkie The Clown]

15. I got all bent out of shape when a relative said she was voting for Trump, but then...

I realized that Oregon (where we both live) is going so strongly for Clinton that I could just smile and tell her that fortunately her vote won't count for a thing because Hillary was going to win Oregon regardless. Now I can ignore her provocations in peace.

[clutterbox1830]

16. I learned to avoid the topic as much as possible or divert to a new topic quickly.

I lost a few friends over multiple elections and in the end I'm not sure if it was worth the argument.

Most of those friends were good people, but they get corrupted by their preferred media sources and clouds their judgement.

[Cosmocat]

36. yep!

I know a LOT of Rs and it generally is not worth losing friends or acquantaces over it ...

[Agnosticsherbet]

18. It has put stress on some relationships, but I haven't lost any.

[3catwoman3]

19. Not directly but I could see it happening.

There is a woman with whom I was close friends from 3rd grade thru high school. I went off to college. She did not. She married early and badly. I joined the Air Force nurse corps and went to Texas and then to Japan. She still lives in our hometown. She became a fundamentalist Christian. I am a Unitarian Universalist.

We have seen each other at a few high school reunions, the last of which was in 2009. Since then, she has regularly posted comments about "libtards" on her FB page, and several other classmates have chimed in, echoing her remarks and sentiments. I'm guessing she has no idea she is talking about me, and I wonder what she would think if she did know. Woould she feel any regret, or woud she dismiss me as having lost my mind?

I have some very strong negative feelings about those we refer to here as RWNJs and assorted other unflattering descriptions. I permit myself to do it here, because it is a safe private place for people of relatively like minds. I would never go on a public such as FB and make broad condemnatory statements about someone's religion or politics. I never do it face-to-face either unless someone has made known where they stand on these sensitive issues.

My friend (is she still?) illustrates my belief that rightwingers never stop to consider that someone they know might, just might, think differently than they do. I never assume anyone I know agrees with me about anything I think or believe.

The next reunion will be in 2019. I know I will look at this woman differently next time I see her.

[Missn-Hitch]

20. Love the topic and reading everyone's posts.

I deserted the midwest for the blue state west. I had been planning this migration since 2001. I arrived in 2009. I come from a large family of Orange Menace supporters. Damn. It's so effing terrible.

For them, it's all about Pence and the platform - not the Orange Menace. Dead babies and the "the gays". All else does not matter. Jesus is coming soon.

The next time we hear States talk about secession, I suggest we consider negotiations for a civil "civil" war.

SO EFFING SAD.

[jiminvegas]

22. I haven't lost a friend, but

I no longer go to 2 businesses I have went to for years because of comments by the owners.

[pnwmom]

23. An acquaintance, a neighbor of my dad I didn't want to alienate. But it was really

because of this man's Hillary-hate. Just mind boggling. He's bought every conspiracy theory in the world and thinks the FBI is corrupt. I finally had to hang up on him.

The weird part is that he started out as a big Bernie fan, so we could talk then. I thought we were basically on the same wave length. And then he switched to Trump. Unbelievable.

But we've seen so many JPR people make the same switch. Ugh.

Like I said, I think it boils down to Hillary-hate.

[retrowire]

39. I too, am disturbed by JPR

I cannot fathom how many of my Bernie compatriots could even think for a moment that Trump is a feasible option.

It should have been Bernie or Bust, NOT Bernie or Trump. I can respect any decision, but not Trump.

I'm with Bernie and Her.

[Adrahil]

41. It's completely nuts.

Some of the Jackass Radicals have really drunk duty deeply of the nuttiest of nutty Hillary hate. I'm sure some of those folks over there are right-wing trolls trying to peel off a few votes here and there.

I do have one friend who was a Bernie-bro and was a BoB dude for a bit. He says he'll vote Clinton now, but he STILL believes a bunch of complete bullshit about her, even though some of it has been exposed as right-wing nutjobbery. I don;t even know how to argue with that.

[retrowire]

43. please dont say Jackass Radicals.

Jackpine Radical was a real person, a good person on DU for a long time. He passed away and before he died, MaryM and him were planning on building a progressive website for Bernie Sanders.

I hate it when people disrespect his memory just because they disagree with a website that has likely (as you said) been infiltrated by right wingers.

You can talk smack about the site, buy don't disrespect a good mans name.

[Adrahil]

44. I know he was, and it's sad they co-opted his name for this crap.

I think the use of his name by them disrespects him, which is why I refuse to use it in connection with them.

[retrowire]

45. wrong.

The original intent of the site was noble. It sucks what it's becoming but that doesn't mean they took his name for that purpose. As far as I can see, the ends were unintentional.

It was originally meant to be a good place. I promise you that.

[Quantess]

24. No, because none of them have glowing adoration for him. They are pretty candid that

they are holding their noses and picking one, who in their minds, is the least terrible.

[Retired George]

25. No

I have never befriended the type of fool who would even consider supporting the likes of Trump. (My cousin Peter and Aunt Rita don't count, as they are relatives.)

[book_worm]

26. No.

[SaschaHM]

27. Just a few facebook stragglers from high school. nt

[apcalc]

28. Yes, Facebookers from high school.

It's ok though, the way life is.

[yardwork]

30. Same here.

[Kashkakat v.2.0]

31. Parent & sibs - gonna skip xmas this yr. Not that its the end of anything - just do not wish to

be around members of a cult with extremist cult beliefs and intolerance for any views but their own.

Since Im old not a young kid and since they all live 1000 mi away, its not like I havent missed Xmas before but this is the first time its because of politics

[joeybee12]

32. not a friend, but I am ignoring certain acquaintances. nt

[rurallib]

33. The Bush years pretty well cleaned up my acquaintances

so none that I know of.

Got a couple of Mrs. Lib's relatives that I am not sure of, but in the past our political discussions usually end quickly with a few well researched comments from me.

[Ligyron]

34. Yes.

Fox news has destroyed more families and friendships in the US than the Black Plague did in Europe centuries ago.

Ironically, their worldviews are pretty much from the Middle Ages as well.

Some people just refuse to believe in evolution of any kind.

[randome]

35. No, I actually gained a friend (in a small way).

I think demonstrating low-key confidence in the face of adversity can do more than any argument. A co-worker was wildly pro-Trump but I maintained calmly that he doesn't appear to have much in the way of rational decision-making abilities.

After Trump's constant shooting himself in the foot, my co-worker doesn't say anything about him any longer and, in fact, offered me a decal for my laptop that he made on his own. (He knows I like to personalize things.)

None of that is proof that he changed his mind or that I had anything to do with it, but I suspect he's having second thoughts and I think it important to stay even-tempered no matter what, and many will come to the conclusion on their own that they may have chosen the wrong horse in this race.

Calm confidence is the Obama way, and I love him for that.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]Birds are territorial creatures.
The lyrics to the songbird's melodious trill go something like this:
"Stay out of my territory or I'll PECK YOUR GODDAMNED EYES OUT!"[/center][/font][hr]

[Ilsa]

37. Close but no. We are being careful

in how we talk about the candidates.

[Paladin]

38. No, oddly enough.

I've removed a couple of distant acquaintances from "Friend" status on Facebook because of their non-stop Trump worship. But as far as old friends who are Republicans, I remain on good terms with them---because none of them has much enthusiasm for Trump.

[retrowire]

40. I think I've lost a few, I might have even lost a job over it.

Many Bernie supporters were very torn when Bernie did not get the nomination. I myself am still torn and I am not happy and I doubt I'll ever truly accept it.

But I will accept that it happened. And that my choices are Hillary or Trump.

I respected the Bernie supporters who went Bernie or Bust. But I will never respect those who chose Bernie or Trump. They're out of their minds. Bernie or Jill? Okay that's fine. Bernie or Johnson? You're dumb but alright.

But when the fallout happened and everyone was shattered, looking for a new camp to stand in, some told me they still respected me for following Bernie to Hillary. Others CAPS LOCK SCREAMED AT ME.

And these were people that were like family at one time.

But this being my first political rodeo, I should have known that I'd experience this somehow.

I might have lost a job over it because I was a part of a selective layoff. And, though I'd been there longer than most employees in my group and had plenty of tenure and experience, I always wondered why I ended up in that board room with employees that had only been there for about a month.

I thought back to when me and another Democratic employee were discussing the primaries. We had a new boss and well, it turned out he was a well read conservative type. He said he was likely going with Cruz but then again, "Trump tells it like it is."

My coworker and I were shocked and asked him, "what exactly does he say that comes off like that?" He just smiled and shook his head to politely push the conversation away.

I had Bernie bumper stickers and my boss had actually struck up conversation with me about that from time to time. He always had this "smiling at you because I think you're dumb" demeanor when talking to me. We'd get close to playful sparring and end in minute frustration.

You might say, "don't have political discussions with your boss" but we'll, he always started it and I was young and passionate about my candidate.

But yeah. Here's where I am. I don't know what friends I have left here. But I'm scared of what they've become elsewhere. Sigh

[Dem2]

42. Yes, if "childhood friends" count

There are people that I grew up with who are dedicated Republicans. Whatever, doesn't bother me much. The smarter one's are not supporting Trump this cycle. The one's who seem to be racists or snots are also the low-brow one's who never really contributed anything of substance to my feed anyway - those are being unfollowed here and there. I won't miss them even though some were childhood chums of mine. I can't be friends with a person who would vote for Trump.

[dawg]

46. No. I already knew most of my friends were assholes.