
I had 12 people unfollow me over posting Rest In Peace Charlie Kirk. 12 people who I have never previously had a problem with 12 people who I went to church with, went to concerts with, watched movies with, had sleepovers as kids with 4 of those 12 people who I called my sorority sisters and raised money for children’s hospitals and foster homes with 3 of those 12 people I lived with for almost two years until they moved
I don’t think you can deny the existence of “owning the libs” culture on the Republican side, and I think that’s why a lot of people don’t wanna be friends with Republicans. Republicans will see a fucking toddler with brain cancer get deported and be like “HELL YEAH BROTHER, THAT’S WHAT I VOTED FOR!!! CRY HARDER LIBS” and wonder why the libs don’t wanna be besties for the resties with them.
Like, even a lot of the more moderate but conservative-leaning people I know can’t stand the MAGA cult people because they’re just fuckin dicks man. You can’t build your entire political movement around being fuckin dicks, coalesce around a president who’s entire thing is being a fuckin dick, and then act shocked when people are like “idk man, I think you might be a fuckin dick”
Democrats sat down because that was deplorable political theater that shouldn’t be encouraged. Any president can give a sick kid the spotlight for a moment and many have, but trump is the one president who is cutting funding for cancer research and other medical research at unprecedented levels. Kids will die and have already died from preventable deaths because of his decision to do that. He was using that kid as a pawn, it’s disrespectful to everyone involved
I mean, my old college roommate was a Republican, but not one who was super plugged in about politics, and he wasn’t an asshole. Him and I could sit and have a reasoned conversation about politics and both come away from it with a better understanding of the other person’s position. In my experience, he was an exception, not the rule. I’d also never call him a bigot or any synonym for it because he made it clear to me that social issues were where his biggest issues with his party lie.
Was I a little mad at him for a couple days after the election, knowing he’d voted for the guy I thought was the Worst Case Scenario for our country? Yeah, I was. We’re still friends, it wasn’t really personal. Now, if you voted for Trump SPECIFICALLY ON SOCIAL ISSUES, or as someone who’s actually highly informed about politics, then yeah I think that makes you an asshole. My non-asshole Republicans I know don’t meet those criteria.
A political stunt is more like a politician riding a city bus to a debate, like mamdani just did. Sure it’s flashy and focused on attracting press but mamdani supports public transit and made a point to highlight something he supports. Trump does not support children with terminal illnesses but acted like he did for a few minutes while the cameras were on him. It’s the hypocrisy that’s the issue here