Donald Trump: Political Intolerance

[broncofan]

I know there are a lot of threads about Donald Trump but I want to ask a specific question that relates to him.

At what point is it acceptable to not want to associate with other people because of their political beliefs?

The reason I ask is because I have friends on both the left and right side of the political spectrum. It should not be a surprise that in person when I encounter someone with different political beliefs I am not as vitriolic or candid about those beliefs as I can be here. A good friend of mine for instance has a special interest not just in the second amendment but in every imaginable kind of gun, is obsessed with the military and with America maintaining military supremacy. This difference has never strained our friendship and never even prevented us from having in depth political conversations that are less like debates than collaborations (we find some common ground).

But I don't think I could find common ground with someone who supported Trump at this point or who, in their good judgment thinks Trump is fit for the presidency. It is not just the fact that he has made appalling statements about Muslims and Mexican Americans, but that he has condoned violence at his rallies and threats of it on the internet in a nauseating and horrendously dishonest way. When a man was punched at one of his rallies after flipping people off, he seemed to blame this man for his own assault. In my view nobody who does that is fit for office, and anybody who supports such a person has seriously questionable judgment. So my question is:

If you are friends with a Trump supporter, is your friendship unaffected, strained, or irreparably damaged by their support for this man?

[fred41]

If you are going to shy away from Trump supporters, then you are going to shy away from slightly less than half the voting public at this point...according to guesstimates by present polling. There are basically only two choices left and people sometimes choose one over the other for the slightest of reasons. I can see trying to stay away from a rabid supporter (well...of any political view really)...but..

I assume that I am friends with many Trump supporters...but that doesn't mean we have a big discussion over it beyond perhaps a sentence or two. Obviously not every voter thinks their choice is the end all of the universe....lol.
...and sometimes people just hold their noses and pick the person they disdain the least.

So...color me mostly unaffected then.

[fred41]

...As an after thought - I guess it all comes down to your definition of a supporter too.
or rather how strongly the support given.

[broncofan]

I didn't give an answer either. It's true it's only slightly less than half the voting public, but I am not sure how many people I know who are voting for him (many do not disclose their support and it's probably a very small percentage of people I interact with regularly). I have a family member who is a Trump supporter and it won't affect that relationship.

I think I would think less of someone who is voting for him (you're right that it matters at what point they became a supporter). If it was someone I was good friends with I would avoid political subjects altogether and the friendship would unfortunately not be as close....I would not say that in person to anyone because it seems self-righteous but I just shake my head at the fact anyone could support him.

[broncofan]

...As an after thought - I guess it all comes down to your definition of a supporter too.
or rather how strongly the support given.

Yeah, that's a good point. Are they someone who thinks he's the only person who has the answers and viciously attacks anyone who disagrees with him or is it a registered Republican who cannot support Hillary because they disagree with democrats on everything and think most of Donald's rhetoric is just for show?

[fred41]

Yeah, that's a good point. Are they someone who thinks he's the only person who has the answers and viciously attacks anyone who disagrees with him or is it a registered Republican who cannot support Hillary because they disagree with democrats on everything and think most of Donald's rhetoric is just for show?

or...a registered Democrat who doesn't like Hillary. I bet there's a lot of people like that also (or as Flabby posted - the people that are going to secretly vote for Trump).

[broncofan]

or...a registered Democrat who doesn't like Hillary. I bet there's a lot of people like that also (or as Flabby posted - the people that are going to secretly vote for Trump).

Yeah I guess I should clarify that I probably mean someone who thinks Trump is going to "make America great again" and has thought that for some time rather than someone who will vote for him as a compromise. When I say strained friendship I probably mean that if I thought the person was great and wise and then I heard them talk about how refreshing Trump is I would re-evaluate it. I really don't mean it's worth dissociating from them.

I guess a broader question is whether anyone here has ever felt that way about a political viewpoint or movement that has garnered mainstream support?....that though politics is generally not personal it can be.???

[Untitled.]

Trumps beliefs are so objectively wrong that I have no problem personally distancing (not being rude to, of course, just distancing) myself from those who support him and his ideas. Politics ispersonal, and if I absolutely disagree with those politics, I have every right to disassociate myself for those who support such hatred in modern society. It's not about the physical act of supporting Trump; but what he stands for, and that specific mindset/view of the world, and of people, he/they represent(s). Peace!

[trish]

When my next door neighbors put up Bush signs, McCain signs and Romney signs I merely shrugged. I live in the rural midwest - just about everybody here is Republican. I haven’t seen any Trump signs yet, neither in my neighborhood nor my town. But I was shocked when Trump won the Republican primary here. It was a creepy feeling walking down the street, knowing a portion of these people passing me on the sidewalk voted for that bloated, self-absorbed and ignorant bigot. It’s not Trump that bother’s me so much (although he is absolutely unfit and unqualified to be president) as the fact that this reality tv celeb is capable of conjuring up so many unthinking, fist waving, zombie followers. Those crowds chanting in “A Wall” and “Mexico” in antiphony are too reminiscent, too close in geography and time to the lynch mobs we’ve seen in the US just last century; too close to the fascist mobs the rallied against Jews in Europe.

I haven’t ostracized any friends yet (though I’ve had a few people ‘unfriend’ me in the past because of my anti-carry views). My mother told me that when the push was on to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment she just couldn’t abide ‘friends’ who argued against it. She said she was deeply insulted by their position and that she could be friends with them no longer.

[broncofan]

My mother told me that when the push was on to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment she just couldn’t abide ‘friends’ who argued against it. She said she was deeply insulted by their position and that she could be friends with them no longer.

Wonderful post. That's a very understandable sentiment.

Politics aren't personal until they are. I just wanted to know where everyone's red line is. Honestly, Trump about reached it for me when he responded to the guy getting sucker punched by saying he wanted to pay for the assailant's legal fees and that the guy who got punched really did a nasty nasty thing or whatever superlative he used. It just represented everything I despise. The people who are in my life are going to stay, but it creates a bit of distance and apprehension.