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Nov 25, 2020Liked by Michelangelo Signorile

I haven't spoken with my father for about two years now. For someone who I never thought he had a racist bone in his body, he would constantly repost horrible right-wing memes on Facebook that were pretty much blatantly racist and usually easily disproven with two minutes of Internet research. He knows that my brother and I are staunch liberals, yet he'll repost things calling all Democrats church bombers and baby killers. In fact I think he knows the memes he reposts are full of lies, but he just doesn't care as long as they can "own the libs" or whatever. He always seemed accepting of me being gay so that's not the problem. But decades of watching Fox News and following right-wing media has turned him to despise and vilify Hillary Clinton, Obama and all Democrats. My brother occasionally still talks to him and as long as they don't get into politics, it's fine. I just can't go there yet. I'm too disappointed in my father for that, though he is getting older and I would like to patch things up.

Sadly for most Trump supporters, I don't see them ever facing reality again. And I can't think of a solution either. As much as we'd like to, we can't just turn off right-wing media. We can't force them to start telling the truth. It really is a cult, and how do you rescue millions of people who don't want to be rescued? When they think scientists, experts, higher education and even main stream media are part of the "liberal elite", that only leaves lowbrow news opinion shows, crackpots and fringe Internet websites as their only source of information. How can this decades-old shift away from education, facts and truth be turned around? No idea.

One last thought: there are conservative think-tanks that for decades have done long-term planning which has enacted gerrymandering, voter suppression tactics and more. Do we have any liberal think-tanks out there who can do some long-term strategizing? It seems that right-wing media always sets the tone and language of the debate, and we're always left defending ourselves and playing catch-up. It's about time we took the offensive for a change.

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Nov 25, 2020Liked by Michelangelo Signorile

Alot of my friends who voted for trump in 2016 indicated to me that they were not voting for him in 2020 , but the damage was done because I warned them about what kind of person he was in 2015. The few that voted for him the 2nd time I have a real problem with and do not socialize with them anymore. Luckily my family votes democratic. Still very dejected that 73 million people voted for 45.

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Nov 25, 2020Liked by Michelangelo Signorile

I refuse to associate with Trump supporters. My oath to the Constitution didn't end after my time in the military (protect the country from enemies, both foreign and domestic). Trump is an enemy of the state, and so are his supporters. I fully expect to be disowned by relatives who still support him. No loss to me, though.

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Nov 25, 2020Liked by Michelangelo Signorile

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you! Let's rejoice and be thankful that we have Biden and the amazing cabinet he is creating to look forward to. Also we will have someone in office who cares about human beings and will correctly respond to the pandemic. My heart aches for those with trump family members. I have it with my own brother. We have always been so close and he likes to bait me telling me that he is listening to Tucker on Fox. And my husband's side of the family is lost to me forever. I have told my children I will never ask them to fly and visit them again and they have my total permission to disengage as the rhetoric is not in line with what we support. The past 4 years and pandemic have led me conclude I can let some of these people go. Having said that with your spouse or child that is sooo complicated. Love to all of you beautiful souls this Thanksgiving!

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Nov 27, 2020Liked by Michelangelo Signorile

My first post was lost? Anyway, I live in Sioux County, IA. I am from Seattle but have lived here for 16 years. Social media has brought to light that I am a Democrat in a sea of red. I work for a medical clinic as a housekeeper. I've come to find out the 20 doctors I work for are all Trump supporters. One gave me the Trump pitch/anti-Socialism pitch the other night. "Don't watch CNN or MSNBC." "Basement Joe" and the whole script they all follow. I am so upset now. I will never walk in the door and interact the same way with these people. He said 1 dr. is a Democrat. I have no idea who it is. No sense walking away from my job, because it's the same everywhere in this area. This area carried Obama twice. I feel that social media hit an intensity level that I never paid attention to before.

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Nov 27, 2020Liked by Michelangelo Signorile

In a sense, I'm thankful for Covid in that I don't feel guilty about not seeing my Trump supporting relatives in Nebraska. My mother and I had a nuclear bomb of a fight over the phone on Father's Day and we haven't spoken a word to each other since then. My wife wants to reach out to my mom, but I still haven't gotten over our last exchange. She has been repeatedly warned to not bring up politics by my sisters, but like an alcoholic she can't help herself. She really knows how to press my buttons. Don't know when I'll ever get the nerve to talk to her again. She's 91.

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Nov 26, 2020Liked by Michelangelo Signorile

Be very thankful this year if you have immediate family members who despise this super spreader-in-chief.

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Nov 26, 2020Liked by Michelangelo Signorile

Kerry, sadly sometimes we need to set healthy boundaries. I had narcissistic personality disorder rellie much like the Donald, not as horrid. After scratching my head and a bothered mind for 20 years, I learned about boundaries and set them. Narcissists are classic boundary crashers because they only care about themselves. Therefore, I quit all comm’ s with him about 5 years. It just wasn’t worth the hassle. Eventually, mostly so one of us wouldn’t die while not speaking at all, and he was older by 15, I allowed annual bday card and Christmas card, no real phone conversations, too hazardous for him sliding in and arm twisting to get me to agree with him in self-deceit and lies. I’m not interested in supporting other people’s lies so they can be innocent victims, accept ZERO responsibility and comfortable in their own skin. Either be real, be honest, or I’m moving on in my own circle sans them. Now, to your last paragraph, AMEN !!! You’ve said a LOT, we most definitely need more progressive offense, not defense and DECADES of long-term plans and goals. R’s are not inherently individual thinkers who like to question everything. They generally prefer an authoritarian leader and follow, or be one for control, power. Hence many go very deep into a religion often. (Funny meme, "I didn’t know so many sheep fit in a rabbit hole". LOL). So it seems R’s are more natural at following a leader and not questioning, just have faith, just vote R only. D’s being more independent and often more artsy, creative, working in the other side of the brain, D’s seem a little more like herding cats and that is the challenge for long term goals, etc. Keeping us all in line. I suppose Donald was quite good at getting us to remain focused on getting rid of him, I hope we sustain. Stacy Abrams leads the way, is shining example for all other states to emulate.

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Nov 25, 2020Liked by Michelangelo Signorile

It feels like we have had to resort to Scientologist practices of disconnection because of Trumpers in families, or long time friends, but I really can’t see myself being civil to the radicalized over the top Trumpers

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Nov 25, 2020Liked by Michelangelo Signorile

In addition to the pain and suffering he has caused from COVID-19, kids in cages, white nationalism, and on and on, his lasting legacy will be the horrible pain he has inflicted on people divided by his cult. I have one remaining friend who is a cultist and we have set boundaries where we never discuss anything other than families, weather, etc. and even then it is hard because I have found the cultists seem addicted as you mentioned in one of your other recent newsletters, My husband has lost two brothers to the cult and hasn’t spoken to them in years. And today I read in ProPublica all the last minute destruction he’s trying to inflict before leaving. Truly sad and why we have to keep up the good work. Thanks for offering a safe forum for people like Joanne and all the others. It will get better.

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Nov 26, 2020Liked by Michelangelo Signorile

MN and TGiving noon time, I biked around lake and noted few people out and about and few homes with extra cars parked. It appears right here, we are being safer minded in COVID. Thankful for that !

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Nov 26, 2020Liked by Michelangelo Signorile

I have an older sister in AZ who is a Trump supporter.

I assumed initially it was because she is very pro-life. I am not even FB friends with her because I post very liberal political items and do not want anyone shaming me for my views.

I cringed when she posted a painting of Donald and Melanie as a couple recently and today I noticed she had posted that she is now listening to right winger Charlie Kirk. (She does not lock down her FB page to private so it’s very visible).

It is very sad for me to see this as she was once a free spirit who moved out west for college to work with Native Americans but ended up going to college in UT.

Anyway, we went through the period where we couldn’t even talk about politics anymore and we have a very minimal relationship now due to our opposite political ideology.

My parents are deceased but I had a father who was an FDR Democrat and a mother who was an Eisenhower Republican. Obviously I was influenced by my father. It did not bother me when my sister voted for Bush or Reagan but Trump is just too much for me.

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Nov 26, 2020Liked by Michelangelo Signorile

I was listening to the show today and the caller Kurt reminded me of a friend I have in Michigan. He claims to be a Christian and is always trying to bring up religion as an excuse to vote for Republicans. He is even tried to convert me to his religion, but I have declined. He called me Wednesday after the election, and claimed the real reason he doesn't like Biden is because he is a Catholic. My friend then started talking about some bible verse about trump related to Kings. I had already tuned him out at this point.

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Nov 25, 2020Liked by Michelangelo Signorile

Thx for sharing the story and continuing to provide a forum for those of us who for one reason or another are dealing with the Trump colt on the regular. Very grateful for you Michelangelo.

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Hello everyone, its Joanne from Michigan and I have to start off by saying THANK SOMEONES GOD for MICHELANGELO SIGNORILE and his SHOW and that JOE BIDEN WON!!! I feel like for the first time in 4 years that I feel peace and relief, I feel good about the future. Although I am surrounded by trump cult members here in Lapeer County, MI, where restaurant owners are refusing to follow our Governors rules to shutdown and where the cult still has their flags, banners and signs up in their yards and on their stupid pick-up trucks, and refuse to wear masks at the grocery store. When I see these fools, all I can do is shake my head and wear a big ass grin under my mask.

Like the article said, I live with 2 trump voters, my 24 yr old son is very political, just like his Mama, he was so excited to vote in his first election back in 2012 when he voted for Obama and got in trouble with me for taking Romney signs from neighbors. Now my son has trump flags and shirts and is all the way deep in the cult. My husband, a UAW worker, has been a lifelong Democrat, until 2020 when he broke my heart and voted a straight republican ticket, something he told me he did after we voted. A lot of the guys at the auto plant love trump (one friend actually believes the world is flat!) and they broke through to my husband with the poor angry white man bullshit, like they have been done so wrong in life, that and he reads some crazy shit, most of the stuff he reads and shows me I debunk after I do a fact check. He may not believe my fact checking, but in time, I am always proven right.

Now, my husband is not into politics at all, he hates, hates, hates everything about it, whereas its my passion, I was raised in a very political Union/Teamsters household, where we were not allowed to say "shut up" or call each other "stupid or dumb" that the worst word is the "n" word, and we were told to always treat everyone how you want to be treated. I thought everyone was raised that way, sadly, they are not. My husband is of the mindset that all politicians are the same and are all corrupt and nothing will ever change that, except for maybe trump. For the last 25 years my husband and I have watched the UAW get more and more corrupt and the workers lose benefit after benefit as the Union leadership and CEO's get big bonuses time and time again and no raises for the workers, no extra nothing. When the workers don't get to elect the UAW president and management does, people become corrupt and UAW leaders forget they are there to represent the workers. I tell my husband to get involved, but he just was not raised to be that way, he was raised to keep his mouth shut, go to work and make a buck and only look out for your own, which is so opposite of my beliefs and how I was raised.

My son on the other hand is just like me, very passionate about politics, how he went from a Progressive Dem to a trump cult member is beyond me, but it is devastating. I do think my husbands parents (who we have not seen in almost a year, because of Covid, and they live 30 mins away 6 months out of the year), BIG trumpers, had a big effect on my son, and whatever shitty podcasts he listens too, and they must be some doozies because the crap that comes out of his mouth is stunning! My son thinks that the Dems cheated and stole the election from his cult leader, 100% believes it. He says the mail in ballots were a hoax, even though he knows I voted mail in/absentee ballot, that I hand delivered to my Clerks office. He thinks the people counting ballots in Detroit cheated and wouldn't let any poll watchers in, which we all know is not true. He wears a mask when he goes out, but thinks the Gov has no right telling people they have to wear one, but I bet had trump told him to wear a mask he would be fine with that. These days he walks in the room and says to me "stop the steal", he thinks it annoys me, when in actuallity it makes me laugh, none of that bothers me anymore because WE are the champions and those guys are losers, my friends....

I am almost glad we are not having all of the family here at our house this Thanksgiving (due to Covid), I choose to not be around any trumpers, except my son because he still lives at home. I have cut so many people/trump cult members out, people who have shown their true colors with their support of trump, which is most every one of the bratty entitled people I grew up with in Oakland County, MI in a well off area. I hear enough bat shit crazy rhetoric from my son, who won't bet me that Biden will be sworn in on Jan 20, 2021, yet wants to tell me trump will be president for the next 4 years. I say, hopefully trump will be president of his cell block in prison, which is a whole other issue that we all must stay on top of the Democrats to do, that and fight for new Dem leadership, the current leadership is out of touch and can't see the direction our party is trying to drag them. I recall Pelosi saying a few years ago that she would be Speaker for the 1st trump term, then would pass the torch, of course she isn't going anywhere until we push her out. Term limits sure would fix a lot in our broken system, it would force the politicians to finally work for the people and not spend all their time trying to raise money and rub elbows with corporate America. But, first we have to get through inaguration, then we get tough on our party! I wish Covid was done so I could go to the inaguration with my Mom and siblings, but my Mom just finished 8 months of chemo, radiation and more chemo, so we won't take any chances, hoping we can go see President Kamala Harris sworn in on Jan. 20, 2024!!

Have a great holiday season everyone, be smart and stay safe, we can see our families next Thanksgiving and many more after that, missing out on 1 year to have many more is ok by me. And thank you Michelangelo for bringing us all together here and for writing this article, you saved my heart and soul these last 4 years, seriously.

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My mother voted for Obama 2x but now voted for Trump twice. She brings up the bullshit socialism argument all the time. Never once acknowledged the fascist regime that the Trump administration was.

My father on the other hand a lifelong Republican who never voted for a Democrat said he just couldn’t bring himself to vote again for a man that ignored the pandemic and allowed all these people to die. Unfortunately he didn’t vote at all but at least he didn’t vote for any republicans

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