Friendships and Trump

Honestly, I’m surprised by how deeply people in the UK get involved in US politics. Don’t we have more than enough issues of our own to deal with, right here on our own streets?

So she holds all these views you don’t agree with, and in some cases you don’t just disagree but think her views are harmful

She is allowed to try to change your mind, but you’re not allowed to post anything that (indirectly) criticises her views

I think this friendship is over. It would be if I were in your shoes. As pp says, she’s effectively in a cult.

YorkshireGoldDrinker what a very odd perception of events you have. You don't think Trump is a massive problem? Never mind. You're about to find out what he is and you can enjoy it along with the rest of us. You'll love it.

In your opinion, yes, and I respect that. You can feel strongly about something, however:

"Shut up with your whataboutery."
"clearly flagging yourself as a daily mail reading racist btw"
"your critical thinking skills really need some work"
"I can see there is no hope for you"
"we were too politely British, but that is no more"

There is nothing of meaning here, just anger and bitterness.

Some of the most generous, open hearted welcoming people I have met are Americans. People who will help you, if needed, without a second thought. Then you find out they also fervently support Pigly. I don't understand how this can be but it frequently is. Imo that one thing cancels out the rest. It defies reason and defies argument. Someone poisoned the water? Madness, collective madness.

Did someone piss in your cereal this morning?

Shut up with your whataboutery. Trump is acting like a maniac and invading sovereign countries for his own financial benefit and expects the world to roll over. The UK government hasn’t been “sticking it” to him, if anything I think we’ve been too sycophantic.
Banging on about small boats (clearly flagging yourself as a daily mail reading racist btw) is entirely irrelevant to the rest of your comment and just designed to stir, if not your critical thinking skills really need some work.

Edut- having read your other comment that you don’t think you should be judged by how you voted I can see there is no hope for you. If you don’t think we should all stand behind and be judged by our vote, I.e. the kind of country we want to have, then I despair for the world. For info people have always judged others by how they vote, just in the past we may not have talked about it as we were too politely British, but that is no more.

I couldn't have someone like that as a friend, no matter how long the history. It's a fundamental difference in principles that you can't just gloss over and carry on. As for Trump, his supporters have a cult mentality. Anyone who opposes their cult can't be trusted. Your friend is trotting out the standard response of cult members, sorry. You shouldn't be blaming yourself.

@YourBrickTiger , please stop grovelling like this is all your fault. She is the one who sent you the message, it is entirely unreasonable to send something that you position as being to start a debate then doing a mike drop and sticking your fingers in your ears and throwing a tantrum when the other person wants to talk about it- it’s what the tangerine moron does and its idiotic petulant and dangerous.
Im sorry if you lose a friend, but tbh she sounds like a nutter so nothing lost really. What happened to Renee Good was murder, and ICE is a secret police force that is trying to oppress the American people through fear and violence- anyone who says otherwise has nefarious motives or is willfully blind/ an idiot. The US president ( not saying his name) is the most dangerous person alive at the moment and I fear what is coming, we are seriously looking a WW3 and I would feel sorry for the US if they hadn’t allowed this to happen.

She sounds bloody awful to be honest, captured by dodgy view points. There’s too much to smooth out to maintain a friendship.

So it sounds like you are tying yourself in knots to try and see your friends viewpoint and she point blank refuses to see yours. You know in you heart that some of her beliefs are wrong but somehow you want to convince yourself that you might be wrong I order to maintain the friendship because she is so lovely? I don't think she sounds lovely she sounds absolutely brainwashed and pig headed and I don't think I could be friends with someone like that who was so polarised from my thinking. You sound utterly devastated by her potential rejection, are you a people pleaser normally?

I have friends who are americans who thought that the UK would riot when Rishi Sunak became prime minister because he’s Indian and something something colonialism meaning that your average brit is actually fundamentally extremely racist. These are very intelligent people and they read the UK completely wrong (they have visited the UK by the way, even have family living in the UK).

After that I kind of just listen when people are talking about their own countries. I wouldn’t say I always agree with them but I tend to think a lot of the time we miss a bunch of stuff when we are talking about other cultures, the politics of other countries etc etc. I would ask questions but never try to school someone on whats going on. Seeing it a lot with Iranians being talked down to right now, happened with the Venezuelans. I think it’s better sometimes to ask probing questions rather than be like “HA! LOOK AT THIS!”.

Can you just say to your friend that you value her friendship and you don’t want to fall out over this.

The delusional whining that you can’t wear a MAGA hat in some areas !

Hats can be take off - bit harder when it’s the colour of your skin that makes you a target for anything from dirty looks to violent abduction.

It’s very hard to respond to this stuff with respect for opposing views when the views are so self-serving and lacking in basic human decency. And so … thin in terms of critical analysts. Why are the right wing so thick? Not the populists, who have animal cunning - the followers.

what you said was very targeted at her personally, her faith and her beliefs, saying you don’t understand how a Christian can ….

a debate is totally different to a personal attack.

Why is it okay for her to post what she wants but not for you to do the same? I wouldn’t care if she wrote off the friendship, in fact I’d do it first. You are being far too hard on yourself here. Is she sitting fretting about the friendship or how you’re feeling? Doubt it.

Sounds like you’re well rid.

There’s a reason why they say never discuss religion or politics, people have strong views about both and it almost never ends well if those views are opposed.

But all the talk of you putting her life in danger and her not feeling safe, she sounds unhinged and I would have distanced anyway.

TBH the response to Charly Kirk was utterly batshit. Even on here and from posters who normally would be totally anti everything he stood for.

The man was a vile individual, but someone put a bullet in him and suddenly he became a Hero, and anyone who dared question all the things he stood for was shot down in flames. Couldn’t get my head round it personally.

As sad as it was that he was shot and as much as the killer should be brought to justice, it didn’t change who he was or what he stood for.

If someone did away with Trump or Putin in the same manner would their previous conduct be swept away in the same way?

Yes I have had someone I thought was a friend cut me off for opposing views although that was on the topic of men thinking they are women.

We had been out of contact for a while and then after getting in contact I sent her a fb friend request which she accepted.

She must have scrolled back through my old posts to see what I had been up to and amongst the bulk of my stuff which is mostly just personal or supporting animal charities there are a few reposts about protecting women's rights on this issue.

I had no idea she had strong opposing views to me. I have plenty of friends whose politics don't align with mine and that's fine. We talk about it or don't talk about but either way we are friends because of what unites us not what divides us.

This person just cut me off and blocked me, apparently decided I am an evil bigot which I found extremely hurtful given she knows me to be the very opposite.

On reflection I felt a little better, realising that if she can't agree to disagree we were never really friends at all.

Sorry OP, but your (now former) friend has been radicalized and you're better off not making further attempt to salvage this particular relationship.

there is a video of Trump back in 2017? Not sure but a while before Covid and he said’ I could shoot someone in the face and my supporters would still stand by me. He also said his supporters were dumb. I’m not saying all are but he was the one who said it

There is a difference between a republican/Tory/ etc and it’s now MAGA. They remind me so much of certain groups of people in history.

there is a clip in the film ‘The Downfall’ where a Nazi said ‘he is the furher’ basically meaning we just support him no matter how wrong or bad stuff he is.
i don’t know how strongly she is MAGA but if you’re questioning it, then you know best.

I do know what you describe isn’t just a different political belief, not anymore.

She sent you a video she must have known is stirring up controversy. I’m afraid she cares more about unpleasant political rows than her friendship with you.

I think Renee Good suffered a particularly stupid manslaughter, made pretty much inevitable by handing guns to lightly trained state officers - walking in front of a running car on an icy street was a particularly Darwinian thing to do - and giving them a quota of arrests to achieve. But I won’t be on the jury if Ross is ever charged, and neither will either of you.

She is no longer thinking ‘who are my friends’ she is thinking ‘who is with me’. And she’s happy to hurt you in pursuit of her tribe. I’m afraid if she was nice, she’s no longer acting in a nice or friendly way. I would tell her you’d be happy to talk when she can think more rationally.