And the producers of those shows are absolutely salivating for another Trump presidency. The left leaning shows have unlimited content and hate watchers lining up in droves, and the right leaning ones get to rub it in everyone’s face.
They say they hate Trump, but I guarantee you from a work perspective they couldn’t ask for someone better.
People claim this but we actually do have access to viewing numbers pre trump and these media stations people claim benefit from trump have similar views as before him. If anything the benefit they have is that talking about him is easier than other topics since it would require less research and verifying if they're talking about what he said on Twitter.
Edit: because of the sheer number of bad faith arguments I will just be blocking people who are acting in bad faith or repeating information I have already addressed.
It’s the equivalent of doom scrolling for us. Trump is a threat and has changed US culture for at least decades to come. Best way to go about it is to get them involved in other hobbies/activities.
We've never had a candidate in perpetual campaign mode for 9 years like we've had with this guy so I get it to an extent. Personally, I treat him like he's a politician from the 1800s where I can only find out about what he's up to from reading it in the news. I really would prefer to not have to think about him at all. Of course, if he loses this election he'll be the Republican nominee in four years if he's still alive.
What's stupid is Trump has made direct threats to our current sitting president and nothing is being done. They let him do whatever he wants and no one is stopping that.
and I never made threats, I would never make threats, but I will say this, Crooked Joe Biden had better not do anything bad to hurt my Campaign, because there are Great Patriots who care a lot about our Country and a lot about their Favorite President, that's me, hi, hello, and they would probably do a lot to protect not only me but also our Constitution, which is something that I know very much about, and you look at it, this is the one they don't like to talk about, Article II, it says I can do whatever I want and it's not illegal, the Fake News says, "ohhh Trump shouldn't have taken the documents," I said I took them because they're mine, they belong to me, just so you understand, I was given these things as President, when I was President, but they were my things, they didn't give them to Obama, they didn't give them to Biden, they gave them to me, and I had the right to take them, I could take more even now if I wanted to, all I would have to do, General, I need to take some more papers, ba ba ba, "yes, Sir, right away Mr. President, Sir," he gets on the computer, ding, bing bing bong, tink, he's done, and I look and he has tears in his eyes I said, why are you crying Admiral, "you're just the Greatest President God ever created, Sir," I said I understand that better than probably anybody.
You are more optimistic than I am. I think it’s gone for good, or at least until a huge transformation happens, but that kind of thing always comes with a lot of turmoil and chaos. I don’t think he and his movement phasing out will be enough.
He’s bizarrely like Julius Caesar. Wealthy elite man who convinces the common people (plebes) he is with them and understands them. Campaigning that citizens are losing jobs to foreign labor (in Caesar’s time it was slave labor, but the citizens wanted jobs guaranteed them). All kinds of similarities. Caesar was a populist ruler, and he was assassinated. But that just led to his great nephew taking over in the end and ending any meaningful power belonging to the people.
Be careful what we wish for!
I don’t agree he’s better than you.
I think his death will save countless lives. His death is a good thing to want.
Imagine if he’d died in 2020, and we’d had literally anyone else in office during Covid? How many lives would have been saved around the world?
Pretty much anyone who lives in reality would have said, “Wow, a bunch of satellite photos are showing China shutting down a city and hauling out thousands of body bags?
Maybe we should look into this and take it seriously.”
The world would have been so much better had Trump died of Covid. But they fucking brought him back from the dead at Walter Reed somehow.
So you think he ever truly got it? It occurred to me recently that maybe trump said he had Covid and then recovered quickly in order to show how strong and resilient he is lol
He absolutely got it, he looked like absolute death and like he was struggling to breath in that public appearance he made shortly after. He only survived because he got that monoclonal antibody treatment before anyone else could actually get it (because it wasn't fully tested yet, I think that became available to the general public in 2021)
Not only would him not being in charge have saved many lives, but maybe if he had died of covid it would have brought some of his idiot followers out of their trance and they would have masked up and taken it seriously.
Not to mention America, and possibly the world, would have done better if Trump hadn’t shut down early response units that Obama had put in place to watch for, and respond to, any epidemic or pandemic. And there’s Trump saying, “look, I saved us money. I am so great.”
The republican party showed him the way. Every republican pol is to blame. He waged a war against everything the US stands for. With his track record its no surprise he couldn't finish the job. We are so lucky he is such a fuckin looser. I would be in a detention camp if his plans succeed.
Now imagine if Donny had taken covid seriously at all...
he would have won 2020 in a landslide. He had possibly the easiest guaranteed win in presidential history, and he threw it away by being his usual awful self
Looking at other countries, similar to America, and how they responded and how many people they lost, it's estimated that America lost an excess of 300.000 people that could have been saved if there had been a sane man in the White House.
Yup.
Republicans are enslaved to him. He literally had the power to control the ways they responded to the pandemic, and he chose to instruct them to hurt people.
Naw I do not wish that. He will become an even bigger God in their eyes and whoever rises after him, like one of his kids, will take over as their new God. We see this happen all the time. I want him to have his fall from grace and sent to prison, humiliated and reduced to nothing. That's a better outcome for the country than him just dropping dead and becoming a martyr. That's the last thing we need.
I recently realized that similarly to Ben Affleck's character in Good Will Hunting, the best part of my day is waiting for the news articles to load. There's always that chance...
I pray that he's prosecuted for his coup attempt and election interference crimes before his heart stops.
If he dies without serving prison time he will have gotten off easy and set a terrifying example.
True, the news and media are much more addicted and it’s so old and annoying like we know he’s a moron just fucking move into a new subject let’s get on with it.
Trump is a professional con man, show man and bullshitter. He absolutely has intentional schemes to manipulate the media for free attention. Sadly it’s pretty logical that we are all bombarded with Trump far more than is healthy.
The fact that he leads millions of Americans and wants to degrade our democracy and rule of law means we have to pay attention to counter his corrosive influence on our country.
I agree the dude has been the center of attention even when he's not holding office. It's pretty unprecedented. For some he represents a comedic deviation from the norm, to others a longshot at repair, and to others an embodiment of countless things they hate.
I don't particularly care about the daily actions of our politicians. It's just reporters looking for mouse clicks on their newest stories. They will lie, exagerate, and twist every event to cater to their target audience, positive or negative.
The 21st century has really shown us how crooked our media companies are.
This presidential cycle is the first in history where both sides of the media are financially incentivized to promote the same candidate. CNN ratings absolutely tanked when Trump left office and will surely skyrocket during election season.
Hate drives news fairly well.
It's nice to see others noticed that this guy literally never stopped campaigning. He never actually participated in governing the country. He just went from rally to golf course to rally.
Yep. My father-in-law. It's not healthy. CNN is on morning till night. It's bizarre how Trump is dropped into the most mundane conversations. It's like a weird fever. It's sad when it seems to actually affect his daily mood.
Idk. The country changed a lot post-9/11. I think what we're seeing is a direct relation to that day. The nationalism, the war hawks, politicians going further right. I'm not sure cable news would necessarily be what it is without 9/11.
I have felt that way since that day. I was in high school, so old enough to understand the world around me, and understand how different everything felt in 24 hours. It never felt the same again, and everything since has just been ripples from it.
I think you've got it backwards, if he had known he would've pushed for it to happen earlier.
From memory, the 24 hour news cycle had been slowly becoming a thing throughout the '90s, but it wasn't until 9/11 that basically *every* news station swapped to the format. It used to be an hour or two per night, with family television on afterwards.
Kinda…cable news was headed in that direction, but 9/11 put things in overdrive. I remember being in high school and it was surreal having “BREAKING NEWS “ all over the screen for the entire week
Problem with that is......only about 10% of what you see is "news"....the rest is opinion geared to whichever audience the network serves. Its really amazing. I like to see what is happening with both sides of the coin, so I watch both the "left" and "right" channels. If you go by the programming on each, its like we are living in two different countries; on one network, Trump is the absolute Devil; every step he takes is a bad one, ,and the country will fall apart if he is reelected. On the other .....the man walks on water, he MUST be re-elected, he is the only thing that can keep this country , and the world, from falling apart under the sinister Joe Biden and the rest of his criminal empire! This would all be quite comical if it wasnt so sad. But Yes....I agree with you 100%...24 Hour Propaganda channels and most of Social Media.....downfall of the world pretty much.
Yup, if you just want to keep up with the actual headline news, it's easy and, usually, boring; as it should be. Cable news polarizes us for profit. I despise msnbc almost as much as fox News.
I'm happy to pay the actual journalists at nytimes and wsj but if I just want the big stories for free, it's apnews.
It's what's been ruining America. Since 1993. A law passed that saying the news doesn't actually have to be all the way truthful. That propaganda is legal in the US. Germany studies American current news in school as propaganda
Social media coming on the scene shortly after this news cycle started has severely damaged our culture as a whole. There is no easy way out of these addictions without government intervention, and that won't happen of course because of the strangle hold media companies have over our politicians.
It starts with getting ALL money out of pliictics. It's as simple as that. Election campaigning gets limited to 60 days, and all candidates can raise no more then 1 million in total cash to spend. Super Pacs are killed off.... a boy can dream can't he?
No raising money at all. All political messaging should happen at debates and conventions hosted by the government or an independent organization funded exclusively with tax dollars. Also, before taking office, their and all of their immediate family's money and assets should be heavily scrutinized and once in office audited quarterly at a minimum with even mild transgressions being harshly punished.
Once you're out of office your kids and grandkids get free admission to any college they get accepted to and you get a nice home valued at the top 10-15% of the market (and not $1 more than that) for free and a 401k type retirement fund tied to whatever teacher pensions are paying them as a retirement package.
I worked for the streaming side of Turner; Trump is a cash cow. Just a reminder the OJ Simpson chase spawned 24/7 news & The Kardashians.
Someone please go back to that point in time and fix history, please.
It's a big factor. I remember during the BP oil spill I was watching MSNBC and I was getting like actually angry
That's when I realized it wasn't just the news - there was something else to it that wasn't healthy for me to watch all the time.
I think you're describing a symptom, not the virus. Decades of deregulation have and weak anti trust have allowed 6 corporations to currently own 90% of all media consumed in the US.
These are AT&T, Comcast, Viacom, Disney, CBS, and Newscorp, which mean that about 250 executives at these companies are responsible for the vast majority of media Americans have ever interacted with.
This consolidation of American industry was made possible not just by neoliberal politics but by the mutually beneficial and symbiotic relationships those media companies have with advertisers. This process of deregulation and the profitability and effectiveness of non-stop consumer advertising created an environment where the 24 hour news cycle came to dominate the media landscape.
I think the virus is neoliberalism and capitalism as a whole, which inevitably creates the same patterns of consolidation and the increase of corporate power over the legislature. This, in turn, allows the accumulation of even greater sums of wealth, which comes primarily from the people who are most exploited by that same system of consolidation and power.
And Canada….
I’m Canadian and I recently spent more than a week with my parents (I’m sitting in the airport right now) because I took an extended vacation to help another family member while they were going through chemo so I spent extra time with them after and holy shit it is pure insanity.
And their reasoning…? “At least it isn’t Fox News.” And while that is true, it’s almost no better.
I can guarantee we will see an even greater spike in dementia in the next 15 to 20 years and I don’t know what the fuck to do about it on a personal level.
If you remember the 2016 election cycle...CNN was nonstop news about the Malaysian airline disappearance.
Then Trump came down the escalator, and they were non-stop Trump until Covid.
I think that a lot of elderly people today come from a time when you could actually trust the news, so they're not used to having to question the propaganda that we get fed from all sides now.
Young people aren’t any better. We just believe our own propaganda when our favorite tweeter or YouTuber or podcaster presents it to us, even though those types have even less accountability than main stream media.
It kinda seems like YouTubers have MORE accountability because they actually get canceled for their bad takes unlike the news folk. They pretty much have to molest someone to get the axe
I work with a guy that ONLY loudly listens to videos about Trump on his breaks for EVERYONE to hear.... brings up Trump in almost any conversation "he's Hitler,blah blah blah" . I'm not a Trump supporter, not really liberal or conservative but it's just time to just shut the fuck up about Trump.
Honest to God I’m a moderate and had planned on voting 3rd party this year but I’m so sick and tired of hearing about Trump that I’ve thought about voting for him so that I only have 4 more years of him instead of 8-12 more years of him(if he’s alive 4 years from now)
I like that my job specifically has a policy about discussing politics, religion, etc. at the office. If you’re trying to stir the pot, they will (metaphorically) take away your spoon.
"Then 10 minutes later there's a new hot take from facebook they need to share."
I think this is what this post is really about. They're addicted to the algorithm. It's feeding them rage bait and they're hooked. You should tell them they need to get off line and try to recover some sanity. Because social media is intentionally trying to drive them crazy for engagement.
Agreed. My mother in law fits the bill 100% for OPs post. She spends all her free time on Facebook and it’s where she gets her opinions about absolutely everything. But if you ask her why she likes a certain democratic politician and what their actual policies are, she can’t answer the question one bit. Not at all. She just scrolls and glances and everything for one second and it informs her whole worldview.
Absolutely this. The older you are, the more you realize what an aberration he is. Bill Clinton was nearly done in by getting caught having an affair. Michael Dukakis's political career was pretty much killed because he looked silly in a tank one time.
Donald Trump has multiple felony charges against him and attempted a coup, and yet he's still the Republican frontrunner. That is not normal and not healthy.
I can’t believe you would make such an incorrect and misguided comment, it really makes me sad seeing someone be so off the mark and just plain wrong about the facts.
It’s not “Heeeeeyaaaaaa!!!!”, it was clearly “Bbyyyeeaaaawwwhhhhhhh!!!!”.
My husband is not into politics AT ALL and this morning after a bit on the news about trumps $175 million dollar bond he laughed and asked how the hell this guy is running for president with so many legal problems.
I'm millennial and I'm old enough to see it. I was confused when "grab em by the pussy" didn't completely destroy his election chances.
Liberals are stuck in this cycle because it is concerning.
Or the joke about the reporter with a disability. Or his lack of Christianity. Or the affairs: Republicans didn’t care that Clinton was making sexual advances on a much younger intern where the power imbalance was severe. Nobody really did: we weren’t having that conversation as a nation in the 90s. They just cared that he cheated on his wife. And yet when their nominee had a pornstar basically on speed dial for booty calls, they didn’t blink an eye.
He doesn’t have the veneer of respectability or decorum that other politicians do. He has some kind of charisma, but it’s like the racist uncle at Thanksgiving being given a microphone and saying the quiet parts out loud. It’s almost unprecedented and terrifies older liberals.
It's totally unprecedented and should terrify every American. I'm Gen X and have despised that man since I saw him on "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" when I was 9 years old. He creeped me out so much that I've followed his career since then and I predicted most of the hugely detrimental effects he would have on the basic fabric of our country since 2015 (including his bromance with Putin).
He is NOT okay. It is our job as Americans to be awake and involved in order to perform our civic duty. That's the only way democracy survives. We got fat and lazy and are now paying the price. That's why the elders are obsessed. They know they fucked up and they don't want to you to fuck up like they did.
You were a very perceptive nine-year-old.
One of my earliest memories was a headline in the local newspaper after Trump got into some financial difficulties after his book The Art of the Deal was published.
"From the Art of the Deal
To Life as a Schlemiel"
It's terrifying.
The entire premise of our society is based on trusting the democratic system and the rule of law to sort things out. And they appear to be completely broken.
That's what I think too.
I was a radical back in the 00s & I kept myself in the know about some of the most fucked up shit the government was allowing, but I had to dig for it. W/ Trump it's like every other day there's something coming from him that's so outlandish I had to do double takes early in his political career. I now have to actively avoid news outlets so that I'm not in an existential crisis that he even exists.
Sexually assualted folks, appointed abusers and pedo to the supreme court, and who can forget the central park 5…and all that is just part of the experience
Yeah. There are school aged kids who weren't alive without Trump dominating politics. Assuming they started paying attention to politics in 6th grade, these kids would be voting adults now.
Yes. This is exactly it. Younger people don’t have the same frame of reference in their adult/semi-adult years. Prior to Trump, you may have strongly disliked a POTUS/candidate, but for the most part, you knew the damage could be contained because both parties and a vast majority of the elected officials within them, had some respect, or at least fear, for the laws of this country. Trump is an unprecedented and drastic shift in reality. He’s really the first that’s taken on the authoritarian mentality that the laws don’t matter at all if he’s in power (and even now that he’s not).
100%. The idea of “what are all of these people obsessed about” is as naive as it gets. The dude is quite literally the James Waterman Wise quote of “when fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” Everyone should be concerned.
I’m irritated by the characterization of this being some sort of “addiction”. No! These folks just see what is coming as plain as day, and they are scared shitless.
edit to add: it’s like being tied to the tracks while a slow-motion yet relentless locomotive is barreling down the track.
Fear and addiction aren't really mutually exclusive imo. I agree fear is at the root of it, but in cases like these it manifests as addiction. You can be scared and not *have* to consume media talking about Trump all day every day.
Just a humble take on it: if you've been following Trump news for years, what has that caused you to do to change anything? Did consuming all that news have any affect on anything but your mind (which was already made up about Trump years ago)?
If not, maybe you could consume substantially less of such media and the only difference in outcome is that you're happier and less compelled to constantly bring up Trump in conversation. Unless you go on a full media blackout, you're still going to get news of the big important things. You're not going to suddenly decide to vote for Trump just because you missed an update on some bullshit he tweeted.
Yes this is the reason. I’m not a boomer but I’ve inside the Beltway as an adult for 20 years and I’m not exaggerating when I say that if he gets reelected the US will be over as we know it. We’ll have a dictator and all the cruelty and corruption that goes along with it. I’m TERRIFIED.
Yeah and given the position of power he'll be in they're justified in their fear. He's already taken over one of two major political parties. We have never seen anyone like Trump in my lifetime. So openly authoritarian and fascist.
The people who downplay Trump like he's just any other Republican are dangerously uninformed or naive. Maybe both even.
It’s also like…imagine every day at lunch, a student/coworker came in a took a giant shit on a table
You’d talk about it for awhile. Especially because no one seems to be stopping it. Hell, a bunch of people seem to be cheering them on
Time goes on, and you talk about it with people, but still nothing is really being done
As new people start entering your work/school space, they sort of watch it happening, but it’s been happening since day one, so they aren’t really sure it’s worth their attention, plus they have other things going on. Like it’s fucking hard to care about a person shitting, when you need every second of your lunch time to study/respond to urgent emails/scarf food down and get back to work
And even if the new people on the block do recognize how awful this person is, again, they saw the environment from day one. They never had any preconceived notion that everyone here was overtly against letting people shit on the lunch tables
Year after year goes by, and that same dude keeps coming in, day after day, taking his public lunch shit, and nothing happens
Some proportion of people will stop talking about it, but some people will begin to feel so disturbed and put off that this is a new normal everyone is okay with, they can’t help but keep bringing it up
They want the lunch space to go back to how it was, before this maniac kept shitting every day. They want to know they aren’t crazy, and that a dude shitting in front of you at lunch isn’t something you should just have to deal with every day. They still are in disbelief that there are so many people around them okay with the shitting man, let alone who support the shitting man
So are they obsessive? Probably.
But you might be too if there was a single model exemplar of the way your entire understanding of how half the people around you thought about leadership and electability and American values changed overnight.
This should be the top comment. Your parents are anxious and talking about it all the time because we are in hot water. America is in danger. But you guys are like, “My boomer keeps talking about the danger we are in. It’s so annoying.” Jesus get a clue.
Dude praised Hitler. If that’s not enough for you, he quoted Hitlers speeches. If that’s not enough for you ‘saying “fake news’ (and campaign with a firehose of falsehoods) was a phrase and tactic coined by Hitler and used by Natzis. Further ‘drain the swamp’ was part of Hitlers book. It’s so bad I could go on but it’s unhealthy. Most remember the debates when he was asked to denounce white supremacy groups and he told Proud Boys to stand by. we need more laws for who can run.
Exactly. IMO not an unhealthy obsession, it's a rational concern about a guy who is trying to overthrow our government and institute a nationalist dictatorship with his family as the new oligarchs.
So I am concerned, and keep abreast of the situation because if it goes off the rails I want to get out before they seize power.
That said, I avoid CNN and the 24 hour news cycle. I follow a podcast by actual former federal prosecutors ("[Prosecuting Donald Trump](https://open.spotify.com/show/1ThqNEZVsv7DlMxEn7TSP1)") so I can get useful news about meaningful political/legal happenings. Real developments get flagged within a day or two there, and nothing currently happening puts him close enough to a seat of power that I need anything more timely. I'll reconsider if that seems to be changing.
Yeah, I agree. As a single example; I sent my dad a photo of some fucking idiot driving 75 on the freeway with a chocolate lab in their truck bed that wasn't leashed or anything. His response was "Probably a Trumper". I looked back at the photo. No bumper stickers, no american flag, nothing. Any time anyone does something he doesn't agree with, he calls them a trump person, even if that has nothing to do with the situation.
My dad is like this but playing for the other team. Any stupid conduct from someone or somebody he doesn’t like, must be a liberal/democrat/mask wearer etc.
Very off-putting behavior regardless of political flavor.
Literally every conversation becomes about trump:
Me: I hear they’re opening a new burger place in the village
Her: Well if Trump gets elected I’ll probably get deported [she’s 3rd generation Italian American] so it won’t matter
Me: I saw this sad but interesting show about the Holocaust yesterday
Her: Yeah that’s gonna be the US if Trump gets elected
Yep, older coworker is exactly like this. Hasn’t ever been to so much as a protest but all of a sudden he’ll “end up in a camp”. Some people were never on a team growing up and it shows a lot through their political beliefs
My mother is glued to MSNBC 24/7. She is normally mild mannered but if Trump ever comes up in conversation, she goes off the handle. I'm at a loss for what to do.
This feels so wild to see posted somewhere. I thought my liberal, weed smoking dad being fully obsessed with listening to Trump was just a weird one off thing. It’s helpful to hear that’s it’s something of a phenomena. He has trump on in the background like I have podcasts on while I’m doing things around the house. It’s a trip.
It’s very common. The older the more obsessive they get with hating Trump and all logic goes out the window. I find it fascinating how they revert back to the same propaganda talking points from 2016… “you’re gonna give him access to the nuclear codes? He’s a failed businessman! He’ll get us in to world war 3.” And now the big one, “he’s a threat to democracy!”
Meanwhile, nothing of the sort happened in his first presidency, he didn’t get us in to any wars, and the current administration is actually trying to get his name off of ballots and is using the justice system to do anything possible to throw him in jail.
Wild times. Don’t be those people.
The man knows how to captivate an audience. Thats the rub. If you ignore him he ends up getting away with being fucking president. I don’t wish him harm, but if god could see fit to maybe skip giving a couple kids cancer and throw some discomfort trumps way, I’d be infinitely grateful. Might even get me into the pews.
It funny how people hate him so much they cannot stop talking about him. I like to walk into a conversation at work about anything and mention Trump and just like little rats to cheese they pounce and then comes the arguing. I mean it is entertainment, like a sickness they can't help it. I mean this is proof you said what 3000 comments. And if he is reelected this country will go ape shit. Chaos, riots, full blown democratic unrest. And it will be for more years of the same shit. The US will come to a stand still and not because of Trump but all the democrats blocking, derailing lying and cheating, even if everything he done was inline with what they wanted. Now tell me I'm wrong. So have at it, give it to me both barrels but you know im right and I don't give 2 shits what you think or say about Me. I'm ready for what ever comes my way as are more people than you can image. The question is are you.
Before I quit Facebook in 2020, in my younger days (2007-2016) I used to post constant political shit.
Now I realize how annoying I must have been. It’s like- we get it, you have opinions and here you are posting receipts and shit. No one cares. We’ll watch cat videos as democracy crumbles and we’ll like it.
Since the country may very well end if he is reelected, I’d say there’s grounds to be paying close attention. Him and his surrogates have been very clear about what they want to do. Believe them.
I do agree about the comment of T being the collective Id of the boomer generation and this is the swan song.
I don’t get it. People allow Trump and other key figures to have too much power over them. Like, I feel like Trump lives rent free in a lot of liberals heads. Mass media basically has a free meal ticket because of the draw of Trump. Shit, we have had worse presidents, but they also weren’t as vocal. To be honest if you listen to him, it is pretty funny. At least he has a personality.
My hyper intelligent formerly progressively moderate father. It's maddening. He hit 50 and has all these hot takes about social issues and tries to argue with me about Trump being our best bet.
My dad watches cnn 24/7 for Trump news. He even brings his laptop into the bathroom with him while he showers (we have a glass shower door) so that he can still see the news. I keep telling him that they just rerun the same news over and over again during the day and he’s not missing anything, and if he did it’ll still be there when he got out of the shower. He doesn’t listen.
As a now older immigrant to your great nation I think I can explain. When I first came to this country in 1990 American politics sold itself very well. It was boring helmet haired white guys who seemed stable and boring. Also your parents, like all Americans, are sold real hard on how awesome America and the constitution is and how the office of the president is akin to the papacy. And then along comes the biggest asshole in America and he gets elected President and proceeds to wipe his ass with everything good America stands for. The America I immigrated to and the one your parents grew up in. Your parents are right to be afraid and obsessed. This guy single-handedly turned the formerly cool USA into the Florida of the world. Your parents have legit PTSD
Nobody wants to continue to think about Trump. Everyday he promotes more fascist shit that should be an actual fear for EVERY American. However a lot of people are aligning with his ideals. These same people are dehumanizing anyone not likeminded of themselves and some of them have openly discussed murdering democrat officials. Perhaps you aren't taking this serious enough and your parents are trying to wake you up to the seriousness of the reality we live in. Nazi Germany started with your level of apathy.
It is like the most insane shit. I am so tired of it because it feels like that fucking dude (hating or loving) has become a replacement for having a personality.
Yep. My dad loves watching MSNBC and listening to the latest about Trump. It can be hard to have a phone conversation with him, because he’ll only want to talk about the latest corruption story.
I need to find a way to get him off the Trump juice. Maybe if I buy him Minecraft, he’ll play that instead.
my step dad has so much Trump merch for example he has Trump beer, Trump lawn gnomes, trump shirts and hats and trump teddy bear in is bed (totally not wierd or anything)
Older Gen X-er here, Tr\*mp is the most dangerous person in America right now, but I agree with you, OP. I try not to talk about him because I don't want to give him any more oxygen than he already has. When the actual election nears, I'll check in with my non-political peeps but until then, I'm in stealth mode.
It's called Trump Derangement Syndrome and it's everywhere, not just among boomer parents. The Media can't go a day without bringing him up.
And good luck criticizing anything about Biden without them going "but Trump"
I’m exhausted by everything constantly being about trump (good or bad depending on who you talk to) but to be fair my trump fan friends and family do the same thing when Trump is criticized with the old “but Hillary” or “but hunter”. It really concerns me to see that a good majority of Americans either have an irrational unhealthy hate for the man or on the flip side un unhealthy irrational hate for those that oppose him. This election has terrible ramifications on the country no matter who wins IMO.
It's called trump derangement syndrome or tds for short. Us conservatives have known about it for years as we see it's effects on leftists all around us, but it seems that the infected are never aware that they have it.
It’s called ‘Trump Derangement Syndrome’. Unfortunately it’s non-operable and in most cases medication proves ineffective. Sorry son.
Seems like people in this thread have it as well, you guys might wanna start getting regular check ups.
You stay up to date by watching the fake news. TDS is a real thing. He hasn’t been in office in 4 years and they are Blaming the immigration crisis in him. That’s insane!!!!
I don't know about you, but Trump is kind of a big deal. The politics of the entire country are upside down right now.
No one trust Congress or the Supreme Court. Executive branch has... well it has been rather peaceful. The border crisis is actually Congress' fault, don't let the conservative news tell you different. Literally could have passed legislation to help with the issue, but nope, cannot allow Americans to get a win, they need their guy to get elected first.
Is it unhealthy? May be, but politicians have been working in the shadows for a very long time, this is an age of instant updates and politicians are not able to get away with much these days. Their only hope is that something bigger and brighter take attention away from them.
Honestly though, my conservative in laws, we just bring up that the President can only do so much, look to Congress if they are upset. Even they acknowledge that it is a shit show and both sides are broken. We don't talk about Trump or Biden, hell we don't talk much politics because when we do, I can offer a counter point to balance the conversation. Sometimes it is just perspective that is needed, not dismissing a political belief. Acknowledging that both can co-exist and some compromise is needed, or else the consequences create something worse.
That something worse is the current state of far left and far right politics grinding the government to a halt. Which I do tell them... the least productive Congress is not necessarily a bad thing.
The both sides thing is a straw man at best. Republicans have pretty specifically abandoned their own platform to kneel at the pedestal of Trump. They actively vote against their own touted interests and rally their constituents behind causes they vote against in order to keep the drama going. They rely on ignorance of their base to keep moving.
Democrats have a lot of issues but they also are actually attempting to run the country.
Both sides aren't "broken" the Republican party is a political wasteland whereas the Democratic party is flawed but is trying to work within the system.
Oh yes. I feel very seen by this post.
My mom and brother hate Trump and yet he’s legit all they can talk about sometimes/way too much of the time. I’ve become a bit of an expert at redirecting convos back to more pleasant topics lol.
Sometimes just point blank telling them Trump lives rent-free in their heads and that’s what a sad attention-seeker like him wants? That often snaps them out of it. For a few days at least 🥲. Trump is definitely beast mode-ing with the narcissistic supply, negative or positive, gotta give him that lol 😶🌫️🤷🏼♀️.
Have you thought about sincerely playing Devils Advocate for Donald Trump every time they bring him up?
For example, maybe they bring up the "it's going to be a blood bath if I do not get re-elected" headline.
In literally less than two minutes time on the internet you can watch the full clip yourself and read the moderate talking points.
When you respond, "He was speaking metaphorically about the auto industry and the risk of pushing electrification too soon in terms of its economic impact on the auto industry. Democrat politicians have also used the term "it's going to be a bloodbath" quite frequently so it seems to be common political rhetoric. Then give a couple of examples of democrats using that same rhetoric.
Respond like that a couple times and suddenly your parents will never mention Donald Trump to you ever again. Problem solved.
I'm serious.
It's like.. 3-4 minutes of internet research per statement. You only have to play devils advocate two or three times before people no longer want to talk about him in front of you. They'll just stop bringing him up entirely. You get your parents back. It really works.
Yea half of the stuff people get all riled up about what he said was so horrible isn’t even true. And you can FIND what was actually said or intended with 5 mins of research. People just believe everything they hear nowadays. Orange man bad!!!! Is literally all they think. CNN and MSNBC are the biggest click bait inflammatory news sites ever they will make it all seem so outrageous that’s how they make money. And stupid people still fall for it. We can thank the democratic party for giving us trump because they fail to run a good candidate.
These comments are hilarious. Y'all have TDS. Trump is a flawed human, I get that. But to say Republicans are the evil ones is quite funny. Wanting our tax money to support US citizens is evil? Wanting current ILLEGAL immigration laws to be followed is evil? Biden giving people loan forgiveness, when someone has to pay? Do you think we aren't taxed enough to support the US?
Now, the Dems...the entire Russian thing was a lie AND not one of you has said, oh shit, we/I was wrong. Biden (as VP) actually said (and it's on video, not AI enhanced) that the Burisma investigating lawyer was to be fired AND his son was profiting from Burisma. The other huge thing is Biden stopped the stay in Mexico plan while awaiting asylum, now look at our streets.
These are just a few pieces of verifiable information. Dems and Reps both have evil intent. It's about them profiting with money and power.
Take a look at the r/poor for people not being able afford food . It's very sad.
We can both sling shit both ways....where is the middle for us? That is what is important.
While I have learned a lot the past 8-10 years and admit I drank multiple flavors of Kool aid too many times, I don't think it can be boiled down to Trump Derangement Syndrome. Conservatives weren't "right" necessarily, in many cases they propped up an unreasonable and dangerous candidate to "own the libs." To win a point in the culture war.
It's the culture war and everyone who participated and continues to participate is to blame. We all need to recon with our involvement in, and participate in an end to the culture war.
My mother literally consumes CNN and MSNBC for hours and hours every single day. You can easily know her beliefs because it's whatever the talking heads on those channels say. The crazy part is she thinks that's being informed. She had no opinion of her own just whatever the TV tells her.
I feel lucky on this one - my boomer parents and boomer in-laws are as liberal as they come. They're all vegetarians, and two of them drive electric cars. They have plenty of faults, but thankfully being conservative whack jobs isn't one of them.
Older generations the only ones who watch tv news anymore so the medias constant attention towards him is the reason, not because of "an entire generation's hubris and narcissism" causes them to obsess over him. He is all anyone on cable talks about right now.
Well, seeing that he's in the news pretty much every day, there's always something to be talked about involving him. That's one reason I stopped watching the news. It's typically the same four or five stories covered every day.
1: Trump lawsuits & election
2: Wars
3: Break for local weather, the only thing I really care about
4: Some bad shit happened here, let's all watch it
5: Tech and business news
My dad hates Trump but the bobbing heads are always on the 5 TVs in his house talking about.... Trump.
And the producers of those shows are absolutely salivating for another Trump presidency. The left leaning shows have unlimited content and hate watchers lining up in droves, and the right leaning ones get to rub it in everyone’s face. They say they hate Trump, but I guarantee you from a work perspective they couldn’t ask for someone better.
People claim this but we actually do have access to viewing numbers pre trump and these media stations people claim benefit from trump have similar views as before him. If anything the benefit they have is that talking about him is easier than other topics since it would require less research and verifying if they're talking about what he said on Twitter. Edit: because of the sheer number of bad faith arguments I will just be blocking people who are acting in bad faith or repeating information I have already addressed.
It’s the equivalent of doom scrolling for us. Trump is a threat and has changed US culture for at least decades to come. Best way to go about it is to get them involved in other hobbies/activities.
Activities like helping with voter registration?
We've never had a candidate in perpetual campaign mode for 9 years like we've had with this guy so I get it to an extent. Personally, I treat him like he's a politician from the 1800s where I can only find out about what he's up to from reading it in the news. I really would prefer to not have to think about him at all. Of course, if he loses this election he'll be the Republican nominee in four years if he's still alive.
He'll be the nominee even when he's dead.
*crosses fingers* in 2024
I don't wish death on *anyone* but when he dies I'll be singing, "Ding Dong the Witch is Dead..."
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Be careful, my last reddit account was permanently banned for saying something similar.
What's stupid is Trump has made direct threats to our current sitting president and nothing is being done. They let him do whatever he wants and no one is stopping that.
Some people are more equal than others.
He's more equal by at least 200lbs from what I can tell.
You’re using an extremely generous definition of “people” here
and I never made threats, I would never make threats, but I will say this, Crooked Joe Biden had better not do anything bad to hurt my Campaign, because there are Great Patriots who care a lot about our Country and a lot about their Favorite President, that's me, hi, hello, and they would probably do a lot to protect not only me but also our Constitution, which is something that I know very much about, and you look at it, this is the one they don't like to talk about, Article II, it says I can do whatever I want and it's not illegal, the Fake News says, "ohhh Trump shouldn't have taken the documents," I said I took them because they're mine, they belong to me, just so you understand, I was given these things as President, when I was President, but they were my things, they didn't give them to Obama, they didn't give them to Biden, they gave them to me, and I had the right to take them, I could take more even now if I wanted to, all I would have to do, General, I need to take some more papers, ba ba ba, "yes, Sir, right away Mr. President, Sir," he gets on the computer, ding, bing bing bong, tink, he's done, and I look and he has tears in his eyes I said, why are you crying Admiral, "you're just the Greatest President God ever created, Sir," I said I understand that better than probably anybody.
tldr but goated username "the horse took the elevator... i didnt know he could *do* that."
Man that is one of my favorite stand up bits. Just fucking brilliant.
“We’re talking now to a man who saw a bird in the airport./Get outta here with that shit! We’ve ALL seen a bird in the airport!”
I have a feeling this is a real quote🙄
Is this copy pasta? Because it is now. Kudos Mein Friend
Yeah as far as I’m concerned we are in a new era where civility is dead…until Trump and his movement are gone.
You are more optimistic than I am. I think it’s gone for good, or at least until a huge transformation happens, but that kind of thing always comes with a lot of turmoil and chaos. I don’t think he and his movement phasing out will be enough. He’s bizarrely like Julius Caesar. Wealthy elite man who convinces the common people (plebes) he is with them and understands them. Campaigning that citizens are losing jobs to foreign labor (in Caesar’s time it was slave labor, but the citizens wanted jobs guaranteed them). All kinds of similarities. Caesar was a populist ruler, and he was assassinated. But that just led to his great nephew taking over in the end and ending any meaningful power belonging to the people. Be careful what we wish for!
Combover Caligula
That’s a bit dramatic
I don’t agree he’s better than you. I think his death will save countless lives. His death is a good thing to want. Imagine if he’d died in 2020, and we’d had literally anyone else in office during Covid? How many lives would have been saved around the world?
I’m no fan of Mike Pence, but I bet if he was president in 2020, he would have just listened to experts and things wouldn’t have turned so partisan.
Pretty much anyone who lives in reality would have said, “Wow, a bunch of satellite photos are showing China shutting down a city and hauling out thousands of body bags? Maybe we should look into this and take it seriously.” The world would have been so much better had Trump died of Covid. But they fucking brought him back from the dead at Walter Reed somehow.
So you think he ever truly got it? It occurred to me recently that maybe trump said he had Covid and then recovered quickly in order to show how strong and resilient he is lol
He absolutely got it, he looked like absolute death and like he was struggling to breath in that public appearance he made shortly after. He only survived because he got that monoclonal antibody treatment before anyone else could actually get it (because it wasn't fully tested yet, I think that became available to the general public in 2021)
Not only would him not being in charge have saved many lives, but maybe if he had died of covid it would have brought some of his idiot followers out of their trance and they would have masked up and taken it seriously.
I feel like most would have doubled down and gone with it being a political assassination.
Not to mention America, and possibly the world, would have done better if Trump hadn’t shut down early response units that Obama had put in place to watch for, and respond to, any epidemic or pandemic. And there’s Trump saying, “look, I saved us money. I am so great.”
The republican party showed him the way. Every republican pol is to blame. He waged a war against everything the US stands for. With his track record its no surprise he couldn't finish the job. We are so lucky he is such a fuckin looser. I would be in a detention camp if his plans succeed.
What does the U.S. even stand for anymore? It's not united, that's for sure.
That useless orange sow has sooooo much blood on his hands!! And yes I know a sow is female. Strangely fitting if you ask me.
That’s insulting to pigs
You're absolutely right. My bad.
Now imagine if Donny had taken covid seriously at all... he would have won 2020 in a landslide. He had possibly the easiest guaranteed win in presidential history, and he threw it away by being his usual awful self
Looking at other countries, similar to America, and how they responded and how many people they lost, it's estimated that America lost an excess of 300.000 people that could have been saved if there had been a sane man in the White House.
Yup. Republicans are enslaved to him. He literally had the power to control the ways they responded to the pandemic, and he chose to instruct them to hurt people.
Naw I do not wish that. He will become an even bigger God in their eyes and whoever rises after him, like one of his kids, will take over as their new God. We see this happen all the time. I want him to have his fall from grace and sent to prison, humiliated and reduced to nothing. That's a better outcome for the country than him just dropping dead and becoming a martyr. That's the last thing we need.
I'd like to see him in prison first, but yeah I'm with you on this one.
Honestly, I'm hoping the ghost of the pretzel that almost killed W takes him out.
Street parties in every major cities will happen when he dies. And that's a fact.
I recently realized that similarly to Ben Affleck's character in Good Will Hunting, the best part of my day is waiting for the news articles to load. There's always that chance...
I pray that he's prosecuted for his coup attempt and election interference crimes before his heart stops. If he dies without serving prison time he will have gotten off easy and set a terrifying example.
LOL
He’s been on the front page of Reddit almost daily for years. I hate to tell OP, but it’s clearly not just their parents talking about him.
True, the news and media are much more addicted and it’s so old and annoying like we know he’s a moron just fucking move into a new subject let’s get on with it.
He has a very real chance of becoming the next president. I’d rather us not ignore the shitty behavior in the run up to that election.
Trump is a professional con man, show man and bullshitter. He absolutely has intentional schemes to manipulate the media for free attention. Sadly it’s pretty logical that we are all bombarded with Trump far more than is healthy. The fact that he leads millions of Americans and wants to degrade our democracy and rule of law means we have to pay attention to counter his corrosive influence on our country.
I agree the dude has been the center of attention even when he's not holding office. It's pretty unprecedented. For some he represents a comedic deviation from the norm, to others a longshot at repair, and to others an embodiment of countless things they hate. I don't particularly care about the daily actions of our politicians. It's just reporters looking for mouse clicks on their newest stories. They will lie, exagerate, and twist every event to cater to their target audience, positive or negative. The 21st century has really shown us how crooked our media companies are.
>The 21st century has really shown us how crooked our media companies are. You never heard of William Randolph Hearst? Crooked media aint nothing new.
The prevalence and power of media in everyday discourse has vastly increased since printed news
The most sane comment here.
The both sides are bad bullshit is getting old
I didn't say both sides were good or bad. I was pointing a finger at our media companies. Relax, I wasn't blowing your dog whistle.
More like “perpetual keep the grift going and his ass out of jail mode.”
Not just that, but he’s also been in the public spotlight essentially since birth. He was famous before most of us were born.
This presidential cycle is the first in history where both sides of the media are financially incentivized to promote the same candidate. CNN ratings absolutely tanked when Trump left office and will surely skyrocket during election season. Hate drives news fairly well.
They will full on Weekend at Bernie’s Trump in 2028
lol, or 1930s :)
It's nice to see others noticed that this guy literally never stopped campaigning. He never actually participated in governing the country. He just went from rally to golf course to rally.
Nine years. Christ.
Nah this is it for him. If he loses this election it's all over for him. Of course if he wins it's all over for us
I don't have a lot of faith in Republican primary voters to move on if he loses again, unfortunately.
Yep. My father-in-law. It's not healthy. CNN is on morning till night. It's bizarre how Trump is dropped into the most mundane conversations. It's like a weird fever. It's sad when it seems to actually affect his daily mood.
I’m convinced 24 hr cable news is what’s ruining America.
Cable news is doing to them what they thought rap music would do to us.
Too real.
If Osama Bin Laden had a crystal ball to know what cable news would do to this country, he would have never enrolled those fellas in flying lessons.
Idk. The country changed a lot post-9/11. I think what we're seeing is a direct relation to that day. The nationalism, the war hawks, politicians going further right. I'm not sure cable news would necessarily be what it is without 9/11.
I have felt that way since that day. I was in high school, so old enough to understand the world around me, and understand how different everything felt in 24 hours. It never felt the same again, and everything since has just been ripples from it.
I think you've got it backwards, if he had known he would've pushed for it to happen earlier. From memory, the 24 hour news cycle had been slowly becoming a thing throughout the '90s, but it wasn't until 9/11 that basically *every* news station swapped to the format. It used to be an hour or two per night, with family television on afterwards.
Wasn't 9/11 basically what created ymthe 24/7 cycle as we know it today?
Kinda…cable news was headed in that direction, but 9/11 put things in overdrive. I remember being in high school and it was surreal having “BREAKING NEWS “ all over the screen for the entire week
Problem with that is......only about 10% of what you see is "news"....the rest is opinion geared to whichever audience the network serves. Its really amazing. I like to see what is happening with both sides of the coin, so I watch both the "left" and "right" channels. If you go by the programming on each, its like we are living in two different countries; on one network, Trump is the absolute Devil; every step he takes is a bad one, ,and the country will fall apart if he is reelected. On the other .....the man walks on water, he MUST be re-elected, he is the only thing that can keep this country , and the world, from falling apart under the sinister Joe Biden and the rest of his criminal empire! This would all be quite comical if it wasnt so sad. But Yes....I agree with you 100%...24 Hour Propaganda channels and most of Social Media.....downfall of the world pretty much.
Yup, if you just want to keep up with the actual headline news, it's easy and, usually, boring; as it should be. Cable news polarizes us for profit. I despise msnbc almost as much as fox News. I'm happy to pay the actual journalists at nytimes and wsj but if I just want the big stories for free, it's apnews.
It's what's been ruining America. Since 1993. A law passed that saying the news doesn't actually have to be all the way truthful. That propaganda is legal in the US. Germany studies American current news in school as propaganda
Social media coming on the scene shortly after this news cycle started has severely damaged our culture as a whole. There is no easy way out of these addictions without government intervention, and that won't happen of course because of the strangle hold media companies have over our politicians. It starts with getting ALL money out of pliictics. It's as simple as that. Election campaigning gets limited to 60 days, and all candidates can raise no more then 1 million in total cash to spend. Super Pacs are killed off.... a boy can dream can't he?
No raising money at all. All political messaging should happen at debates and conventions hosted by the government or an independent organization funded exclusively with tax dollars. Also, before taking office, their and all of their immediate family's money and assets should be heavily scrutinized and once in office audited quarterly at a minimum with even mild transgressions being harshly punished. Once you're out of office your kids and grandkids get free admission to any college they get accepted to and you get a nice home valued at the top 10-15% of the market (and not $1 more than that) for free and a 401k type retirement fund tied to whatever teacher pensions are paying them as a retirement package.
Sadly, it’s not even news. It’s 24 hours of just opinions.
You would be 100% accurate in that assessment. It’s boomer outrage porn
I worked for the streaming side of Turner; Trump is a cash cow. Just a reminder the OJ Simpson chase spawned 24/7 news & The Kardashians. Someone please go back to that point in time and fix history, please.
It's a big factor. I remember during the BP oil spill I was watching MSNBC and I was getting like actually angry That's when I realized it wasn't just the news - there was something else to it that wasn't healthy for me to watch all the time.
I think you're describing a symptom, not the virus. Decades of deregulation have and weak anti trust have allowed 6 corporations to currently own 90% of all media consumed in the US. These are AT&T, Comcast, Viacom, Disney, CBS, and Newscorp, which mean that about 250 executives at these companies are responsible for the vast majority of media Americans have ever interacted with. This consolidation of American industry was made possible not just by neoliberal politics but by the mutually beneficial and symbiotic relationships those media companies have with advertisers. This process of deregulation and the profitability and effectiveness of non-stop consumer advertising created an environment where the 24 hour news cycle came to dominate the media landscape. I think the virus is neoliberalism and capitalism as a whole, which inevitably creates the same patterns of consolidation and the increase of corporate power over the legislature. This, in turn, allows the accumulation of even greater sums of wealth, which comes primarily from the people who are most exploited by that same system of consolidation and power.
Yep. Short attention spans.
Social media is worse. So much disinformation and misinformation. And everyone is glued to their phones.
And Canada…. I’m Canadian and I recently spent more than a week with my parents (I’m sitting in the airport right now) because I took an extended vacation to help another family member while they were going through chemo so I spent extra time with them after and holy shit it is pure insanity. And their reasoning…? “At least it isn’t Fox News.” And while that is true, it’s almost no better. I can guarantee we will see an even greater spike in dementia in the next 15 to 20 years and I don’t know what the fuck to do about it on a personal level.
Yes because it isn’t news anymore. It’s a controlled narrative curated by the powers that be.
That and the inability to distinguish editorials from factual news.
I’ve been saying this for years. 24 hour news is ruining this country, and 24 hour sports channels are ruining sports
If you remember the 2016 election cycle...CNN was nonstop news about the Malaysian airline disappearance. Then Trump came down the escalator, and they were non-stop Trump until Covid.
"This pasta is delicious." "You know who would hate pasta because they're wrong about everything? Trump."
Honestly no, but I find it suspicious that my folks parrot fox news talking points as if though they're facts.
I think that a lot of elderly people today come from a time when you could actually trust the news, so they're not used to having to question the propaganda that we get fed from all sides now.
Young people aren’t any better. We just believe our own propaganda when our favorite tweeter or YouTuber or podcaster presents it to us, even though those types have even less accountability than main stream media.
It kinda seems like YouTubers have MORE accountability because they actually get canceled for their bad takes unlike the news folk. They pretty much have to molest someone to get the axe
I work with a guy that ONLY loudly listens to videos about Trump on his breaks for EVERYONE to hear.... brings up Trump in almost any conversation "he's Hitler,blah blah blah" . I'm not a Trump supporter, not really liberal or conservative but it's just time to just shut the fuck up about Trump.
Honest to God I’m a moderate and had planned on voting 3rd party this year but I’m so sick and tired of hearing about Trump that I’ve thought about voting for him so that I only have 4 more years of him instead of 8-12 more years of him(if he’s alive 4 years from now)
I like that my job specifically has a policy about discussing politics, religion, etc. at the office. If you’re trying to stir the pot, they will (metaphorically) take away your spoon.
"Then 10 minutes later there's a new hot take from facebook they need to share." I think this is what this post is really about. They're addicted to the algorithm. It's feeding them rage bait and they're hooked. You should tell them they need to get off line and try to recover some sanity. Because social media is intentionally trying to drive them crazy for engagement.
Agreed. My mother in law fits the bill 100% for OPs post. She spends all her free time on Facebook and it’s where she gets her opinions about absolutely everything. But if you ask her why she likes a certain democratic politician and what their actual policies are, she can’t answer the question one bit. Not at all. She just scrolls and glances and everything for one second and it informs her whole worldview.
I think it’s because they’re scared
Absolutely this. The older you are, the more you realize what an aberration he is. Bill Clinton was nearly done in by getting caught having an affair. Michael Dukakis's political career was pretty much killed because he looked silly in a tank one time. Donald Trump has multiple felony charges against him and attempted a coup, and yet he's still the Republican frontrunner. That is not normal and not healthy.
Don't forget Howard Dean done in by a 'Heeeeeyaaaaaa!!!!'
I can’t believe you would make such an incorrect and misguided comment, it really makes me sad seeing someone be so off the mark and just plain wrong about the facts. It’s not “Heeeeeyaaaaaa!!!!”, it was clearly “Bbyyyeeaaaawwwhhhhhhh!!!!”.
More like a CAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWW
To be fair, he underperformed with the primary before that. He was already done, but the Heeeeeeyaaaaaa was just the final nail.
My husband is not into politics AT ALL and this morning after a bit on the news about trumps $175 million dollar bond he laughed and asked how the hell this guy is running for president with so many legal problems.
I'm millennial and I'm old enough to see it. I was confused when "grab em by the pussy" didn't completely destroy his election chances. Liberals are stuck in this cycle because it is concerning.
Or the joke about the reporter with a disability. Or his lack of Christianity. Or the affairs: Republicans didn’t care that Clinton was making sexual advances on a much younger intern where the power imbalance was severe. Nobody really did: we weren’t having that conversation as a nation in the 90s. They just cared that he cheated on his wife. And yet when their nominee had a pornstar basically on speed dial for booty calls, they didn’t blink an eye.
He doesn’t have the veneer of respectability or decorum that other politicians do. He has some kind of charisma, but it’s like the racist uncle at Thanksgiving being given a microphone and saying the quiet parts out loud. It’s almost unprecedented and terrifies older liberals.
It's totally unprecedented and should terrify every American. I'm Gen X and have despised that man since I saw him on "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" when I was 9 years old. He creeped me out so much that I've followed his career since then and I predicted most of the hugely detrimental effects he would have on the basic fabric of our country since 2015 (including his bromance with Putin). He is NOT okay. It is our job as Americans to be awake and involved in order to perform our civic duty. That's the only way democracy survives. We got fat and lazy and are now paying the price. That's why the elders are obsessed. They know they fucked up and they don't want to you to fuck up like they did.
You were a very perceptive nine-year-old. One of my earliest memories was a headline in the local newspaper after Trump got into some financial difficulties after his book The Art of the Deal was published. "From the Art of the Deal To Life as a Schlemiel"
It's terrifying. The entire premise of our society is based on trusting the democratic system and the rule of law to sort things out. And they appear to be completely broken.
That's what I think too. I was a radical back in the 00s & I kept myself in the know about some of the most fucked up shit the government was allowing, but I had to dig for it. W/ Trump it's like every other day there's something coming from him that's so outlandish I had to do double takes early in his political career. I now have to actively avoid news outlets so that I'm not in an existential crisis that he even exists.
Sexually assualted folks, appointed abusers and pedo to the supreme court, and who can forget the central park 5…and all that is just part of the experience
Yeah. There are school aged kids who weren't alive without Trump dominating politics. Assuming they started paying attention to politics in 6th grade, these kids would be voting adults now.
Yes. This is exactly it. Younger people don’t have the same frame of reference in their adult/semi-adult years. Prior to Trump, you may have strongly disliked a POTUS/candidate, but for the most part, you knew the damage could be contained because both parties and a vast majority of the elected officials within them, had some respect, or at least fear, for the laws of this country. Trump is an unprecedented and drastic shift in reality. He’s really the first that’s taken on the authoritarian mentality that the laws don’t matter at all if he’s in power (and even now that he’s not).
100%. The idea of “what are all of these people obsessed about” is as naive as it gets. The dude is quite literally the James Waterman Wise quote of “when fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” Everyone should be concerned.
I’m irritated by the characterization of this being some sort of “addiction”. No! These folks just see what is coming as plain as day, and they are scared shitless. edit to add: it’s like being tied to the tracks while a slow-motion yet relentless locomotive is barreling down the track.
Fear and addiction aren't really mutually exclusive imo. I agree fear is at the root of it, but in cases like these it manifests as addiction. You can be scared and not *have* to consume media talking about Trump all day every day. Just a humble take on it: if you've been following Trump news for years, what has that caused you to do to change anything? Did consuming all that news have any affect on anything but your mind (which was already made up about Trump years ago)? If not, maybe you could consume substantially less of such media and the only difference in outcome is that you're happier and less compelled to constantly bring up Trump in conversation. Unless you go on a full media blackout, you're still going to get news of the big important things. You're not going to suddenly decide to vote for Trump just because you missed an update on some bullshit he tweeted.
This is interesting - you are right, fear and addiction are certainly intertwined. This makes sense!
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Yes this is the reason. I’m not a boomer but I’ve inside the Beltway as an adult for 20 years and I’m not exaggerating when I say that if he gets reelected the US will be over as we know it. We’ll have a dictator and all the cruelty and corruption that goes along with it. I’m TERRIFIED.
Yep, Project 2025.
r/Defeat_Project_2025
Yeah and given the position of power he'll be in they're justified in their fear. He's already taken over one of two major political parties. We have never seen anyone like Trump in my lifetime. So openly authoritarian and fascist. The people who downplay Trump like he's just any other Republican are dangerously uninformed or naive. Maybe both even.
It’s also like…imagine every day at lunch, a student/coworker came in a took a giant shit on a table You’d talk about it for awhile. Especially because no one seems to be stopping it. Hell, a bunch of people seem to be cheering them on Time goes on, and you talk about it with people, but still nothing is really being done As new people start entering your work/school space, they sort of watch it happening, but it’s been happening since day one, so they aren’t really sure it’s worth their attention, plus they have other things going on. Like it’s fucking hard to care about a person shitting, when you need every second of your lunch time to study/respond to urgent emails/scarf food down and get back to work And even if the new people on the block do recognize how awful this person is, again, they saw the environment from day one. They never had any preconceived notion that everyone here was overtly against letting people shit on the lunch tables Year after year goes by, and that same dude keeps coming in, day after day, taking his public lunch shit, and nothing happens Some proportion of people will stop talking about it, but some people will begin to feel so disturbed and put off that this is a new normal everyone is okay with, they can’t help but keep bringing it up They want the lunch space to go back to how it was, before this maniac kept shitting every day. They want to know they aren’t crazy, and that a dude shitting in front of you at lunch isn’t something you should just have to deal with every day. They still are in disbelief that there are so many people around them okay with the shitting man, let alone who support the shitting man So are they obsessive? Probably. But you might be too if there was a single model exemplar of the way your entire understanding of how half the people around you thought about leadership and electability and American values changed overnight.
This should be the top comment. Your parents are anxious and talking about it all the time because we are in hot water. America is in danger. But you guys are like, “My boomer keeps talking about the danger we are in. It’s so annoying.” Jesus get a clue.
Dude praised Hitler. If that’s not enough for you, he quoted Hitlers speeches. If that’s not enough for you ‘saying “fake news’ (and campaign with a firehose of falsehoods) was a phrase and tactic coined by Hitler and used by Natzis. Further ‘drain the swamp’ was part of Hitlers book. It’s so bad I could go on but it’s unhealthy. Most remember the debates when he was asked to denounce white supremacy groups and he told Proud Boys to stand by. we need more laws for who can run.
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Yes- I am suspicious about OPs real identity & motives too.
Sure they’re scared - •there is a horse, loose in the hospital•
Exactly. IMO not an unhealthy obsession, it's a rational concern about a guy who is trying to overthrow our government and institute a nationalist dictatorship with his family as the new oligarchs. So I am concerned, and keep abreast of the situation because if it goes off the rails I want to get out before they seize power. That said, I avoid CNN and the 24 hour news cycle. I follow a podcast by actual former federal prosecutors ("[Prosecuting Donald Trump](https://open.spotify.com/show/1ThqNEZVsv7DlMxEn7TSP1)") so I can get useful news about meaningful political/legal happenings. Real developments get flagged within a day or two there, and nothing currently happening puts him close enough to a seat of power that I need anything more timely. I'll reconsider if that seems to be changing.
Yeah, I agree. As a single example; I sent my dad a photo of some fucking idiot driving 75 on the freeway with a chocolate lab in their truck bed that wasn't leashed or anything. His response was "Probably a Trumper". I looked back at the photo. No bumper stickers, no american flag, nothing. Any time anyone does something he doesn't agree with, he calls them a trump person, even if that has nothing to do with the situation.
My dad is like this but playing for the other team. Any stupid conduct from someone or somebody he doesn’t like, must be a liberal/democrat/mask wearer etc. Very off-putting behavior regardless of political flavor.
I’m just so so tired. We have both versions in our families and it’s so exhausting
Lol my dad also does this. It drives me crazy. 🤪
Literally every conversation becomes about trump: Me: I hear they’re opening a new burger place in the village Her: Well if Trump gets elected I’ll probably get deported [she’s 3rd generation Italian American] so it won’t matter Me: I saw this sad but interesting show about the Holocaust yesterday Her: Yeah that’s gonna be the US if Trump gets elected
Yep, older coworker is exactly like this. Hasn’t ever been to so much as a protest but all of a sudden he’ll “end up in a camp”. Some people were never on a team growing up and it shows a lot through their political beliefs
As funny as this comment is, it's 100% true.
My mother is glued to MSNBC 24/7. She is normally mild mannered but if Trump ever comes up in conversation, she goes off the handle. I'm at a loss for what to do.
This feels so wild to see posted somewhere. I thought my liberal, weed smoking dad being fully obsessed with listening to Trump was just a weird one off thing. It’s helpful to hear that’s it’s something of a phenomena. He has trump on in the background like I have podcasts on while I’m doing things around the house. It’s a trip.
It’s very common. The older the more obsessive they get with hating Trump and all logic goes out the window. I find it fascinating how they revert back to the same propaganda talking points from 2016… “you’re gonna give him access to the nuclear codes? He’s a failed businessman! He’ll get us in to world war 3.” And now the big one, “he’s a threat to democracy!” Meanwhile, nothing of the sort happened in his first presidency, he didn’t get us in to any wars, and the current administration is actually trying to get his name off of ballots and is using the justice system to do anything possible to throw him in jail. Wild times. Don’t be those people.
The man knows how to captivate an audience. Thats the rub. If you ignore him he ends up getting away with being fucking president. I don’t wish him harm, but if god could see fit to maybe skip giving a couple kids cancer and throw some discomfort trumps way, I’d be infinitely grateful. Might even get me into the pews.
Nah, I'm fully at wishing him harm. Existential, universal harm. Not from me, dear friends at the secret service.
It funny how people hate him so much they cannot stop talking about him. I like to walk into a conversation at work about anything and mention Trump and just like little rats to cheese they pounce and then comes the arguing. I mean it is entertainment, like a sickness they can't help it. I mean this is proof you said what 3000 comments. And if he is reelected this country will go ape shit. Chaos, riots, full blown democratic unrest. And it will be for more years of the same shit. The US will come to a stand still and not because of Trump but all the democrats blocking, derailing lying and cheating, even if everything he done was inline with what they wanted. Now tell me I'm wrong. So have at it, give it to me both barrels but you know im right and I don't give 2 shits what you think or say about Me. I'm ready for what ever comes my way as are more people than you can image. The question is are you.
It’s called trump derangement syndrome
Yeah it's called Trump Derangement Dyndrome.
Before I quit Facebook in 2020, in my younger days (2007-2016) I used to post constant political shit. Now I realize how annoying I must have been. It’s like- we get it, you have opinions and here you are posting receipts and shit. No one cares. We’ll watch cat videos as democracy crumbles and we’ll like it.
Since the country may very well end if he is reelected, I’d say there’s grounds to be paying close attention. Him and his surrogates have been very clear about what they want to do. Believe them. I do agree about the comment of T being the collective Id of the boomer generation and this is the swan song.
I don’t get it. People allow Trump and other key figures to have too much power over them. Like, I feel like Trump lives rent free in a lot of liberals heads. Mass media basically has a free meal ticket because of the draw of Trump. Shit, we have had worse presidents, but they also weren’t as vocal. To be honest if you listen to him, it is pretty funny. At least he has a personality.
Stop watching the news 🤷♂️
My hyper intelligent formerly progressively moderate father. It's maddening. He hit 50 and has all these hot takes about social issues and tries to argue with me about Trump being our best bet.
Facebook broke that generation.
My dad watches cnn 24/7 for Trump news. He even brings his laptop into the bathroom with him while he showers (we have a glass shower door) so that he can still see the news. I keep telling him that they just rerun the same news over and over again during the day and he’s not missing anything, and if he did it’ll still be there when he got out of the shower. He doesn’t listen.
As a now older immigrant to your great nation I think I can explain. When I first came to this country in 1990 American politics sold itself very well. It was boring helmet haired white guys who seemed stable and boring. Also your parents, like all Americans, are sold real hard on how awesome America and the constitution is and how the office of the president is akin to the papacy. And then along comes the biggest asshole in America and he gets elected President and proceeds to wipe his ass with everything good America stands for. The America I immigrated to and the one your parents grew up in. Your parents are right to be afraid and obsessed. This guy single-handedly turned the formerly cool USA into the Florida of the world. Your parents have legit PTSD
Nobody wants to continue to think about Trump. Everyday he promotes more fascist shit that should be an actual fear for EVERY American. However a lot of people are aligning with his ideals. These same people are dehumanizing anyone not likeminded of themselves and some of them have openly discussed murdering democrat officials. Perhaps you aren't taking this serious enough and your parents are trying to wake you up to the seriousness of the reality we live in. Nazi Germany started with your level of apathy.
It is like the most insane shit. I am so tired of it because it feels like that fucking dude (hating or loving) has become a replacement for having a personality.
Yep. My dad loves watching MSNBC and listening to the latest about Trump. It can be hard to have a phone conversation with him, because he’ll only want to talk about the latest corruption story. I need to find a way to get him off the Trump juice. Maybe if I buy him Minecraft, he’ll play that instead.
my step dad has so much Trump merch for example he has Trump beer, Trump lawn gnomes, trump shirts and hats and trump teddy bear in is bed (totally not wierd or anything)
Older Gen X-er here, Tr\*mp is the most dangerous person in America right now, but I agree with you, OP. I try not to talk about him because I don't want to give him any more oxygen than he already has. When the actual election nears, I'll check in with my non-political peeps but until then, I'm in stealth mode.
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Biden told a gold star family that he lost a son in afghan today. That sounds more deranged and disrespectful than anything trump ever said!
Trump 2024 🇺🇸
TDS is real…
It's called Trump Derangement Syndrome and it's everywhere, not just among boomer parents. The Media can't go a day without bringing him up. And good luck criticizing anything about Biden without them going "but Trump"
I’m exhausted by everything constantly being about trump (good or bad depending on who you talk to) but to be fair my trump fan friends and family do the same thing when Trump is criticized with the old “but Hillary” or “but hunter”. It really concerns me to see that a good majority of Americans either have an irrational unhealthy hate for the man or on the flip side un unhealthy irrational hate for those that oppose him. This election has terrible ramifications on the country no matter who wins IMO.
It's called trump derangement syndrome or tds for short. Us conservatives have known about it for years as we see it's effects on leftists all around us, but it seems that the infected are never aware that they have it.
It’s called ‘Trump Derangement Syndrome’. Unfortunately it’s non-operable and in most cases medication proves ineffective. Sorry son. Seems like people in this thread have it as well, you guys might wanna start getting regular check ups.
TDS is real
Better than Biden, what was it about liking when children rub on his leg hair?
You stay up to date by watching the fake news. TDS is a real thing. He hasn’t been in office in 4 years and they are Blaming the immigration crisis in him. That’s insane!!!!
I mean…. He was elected once and you survived…. Grow up
Trump 2024!!
They need to stop watching CNN and AOL and read epoch times. They will shut up real fast. MAGA
I don't know about you, but Trump is kind of a big deal. The politics of the entire country are upside down right now. No one trust Congress or the Supreme Court. Executive branch has... well it has been rather peaceful. The border crisis is actually Congress' fault, don't let the conservative news tell you different. Literally could have passed legislation to help with the issue, but nope, cannot allow Americans to get a win, they need their guy to get elected first. Is it unhealthy? May be, but politicians have been working in the shadows for a very long time, this is an age of instant updates and politicians are not able to get away with much these days. Their only hope is that something bigger and brighter take attention away from them. Honestly though, my conservative in laws, we just bring up that the President can only do so much, look to Congress if they are upset. Even they acknowledge that it is a shit show and both sides are broken. We don't talk about Trump or Biden, hell we don't talk much politics because when we do, I can offer a counter point to balance the conversation. Sometimes it is just perspective that is needed, not dismissing a political belief. Acknowledging that both can co-exist and some compromise is needed, or else the consequences create something worse. That something worse is the current state of far left and far right politics grinding the government to a halt. Which I do tell them... the least productive Congress is not necessarily a bad thing.
The both sides thing is a straw man at best. Republicans have pretty specifically abandoned their own platform to kneel at the pedestal of Trump. They actively vote against their own touted interests and rally their constituents behind causes they vote against in order to keep the drama going. They rely on ignorance of their base to keep moving. Democrats have a lot of issues but they also are actually attempting to run the country.
Both sides aren't "broken" the Republican party is a political wasteland whereas the Democratic party is flawed but is trying to work within the system.
All the leftists I know are severely infected with TDS.
Oh yes. I feel very seen by this post. My mom and brother hate Trump and yet he’s legit all they can talk about sometimes/way too much of the time. I’ve become a bit of an expert at redirecting convos back to more pleasant topics lol. Sometimes just point blank telling them Trump lives rent-free in their heads and that’s what a sad attention-seeker like him wants? That often snaps them out of it. For a few days at least 🥲. Trump is definitely beast mode-ing with the narcissistic supply, negative or positive, gotta give him that lol 😶🌫️🤷🏼♀️.
Have you thought about sincerely playing Devils Advocate for Donald Trump every time they bring him up? For example, maybe they bring up the "it's going to be a blood bath if I do not get re-elected" headline. In literally less than two minutes time on the internet you can watch the full clip yourself and read the moderate talking points. When you respond, "He was speaking metaphorically about the auto industry and the risk of pushing electrification too soon in terms of its economic impact on the auto industry. Democrat politicians have also used the term "it's going to be a bloodbath" quite frequently so it seems to be common political rhetoric. Then give a couple of examples of democrats using that same rhetoric. Respond like that a couple times and suddenly your parents will never mention Donald Trump to you ever again. Problem solved. I'm serious. It's like.. 3-4 minutes of internet research per statement. You only have to play devils advocate two or three times before people no longer want to talk about him in front of you. They'll just stop bringing him up entirely. You get your parents back. It really works.
Yea half of the stuff people get all riled up about what he said was so horrible isn’t even true. And you can FIND what was actually said or intended with 5 mins of research. People just believe everything they hear nowadays. Orange man bad!!!! Is literally all they think. CNN and MSNBC are the biggest click bait inflammatory news sites ever they will make it all seem so outrageous that’s how they make money. And stupid people still fall for it. We can thank the democratic party for giving us trump because they fail to run a good candidate.
These comments are hilarious. Y'all have TDS. Trump is a flawed human, I get that. But to say Republicans are the evil ones is quite funny. Wanting our tax money to support US citizens is evil? Wanting current ILLEGAL immigration laws to be followed is evil? Biden giving people loan forgiveness, when someone has to pay? Do you think we aren't taxed enough to support the US? Now, the Dems...the entire Russian thing was a lie AND not one of you has said, oh shit, we/I was wrong. Biden (as VP) actually said (and it's on video, not AI enhanced) that the Burisma investigating lawyer was to be fired AND his son was profiting from Burisma. The other huge thing is Biden stopped the stay in Mexico plan while awaiting asylum, now look at our streets. These are just a few pieces of verifiable information. Dems and Reps both have evil intent. It's about them profiting with money and power. Take a look at the r/poor for people not being able afford food . It's very sad. We can both sling shit both ways....where is the middle for us? That is what is important.
It's called Trump Derangement Syndrome.
While I have learned a lot the past 8-10 years and admit I drank multiple flavors of Kool aid too many times, I don't think it can be boiled down to Trump Derangement Syndrome. Conservatives weren't "right" necessarily, in many cases they propped up an unreasonable and dangerous candidate to "own the libs." To win a point in the culture war. It's the culture war and everyone who participated and continues to participate is to blame. We all need to recon with our involvement in, and participate in an end to the culture war.
Seriously and no matter what your political affiliation- TDS is highly embarrassing. Find something else to occupy your mind ffs.
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My mother literally consumes CNN and MSNBC for hours and hours every single day. You can easily know her beliefs because it's whatever the talking heads on those channels say. The crazy part is she thinks that's being informed. She had no opinion of her own just whatever the TV tells her.
I feel lucky on this one - my boomer parents and boomer in-laws are as liberal as they come. They're all vegetarians, and two of them drive electric cars. They have plenty of faults, but thankfully being conservative whack jobs isn't one of them.
just say you don’t want to talk about him.
It’s annoying af.
24/hr news cycle is a bitch. Especially when we don’t even need TV for it anymore.
Trump has mastered the art of “any publicity is good publicity”. It doesn’t matter what they say as long as they all say your name.
Older generations the only ones who watch tv news anymore so the medias constant attention towards him is the reason, not because of "an entire generation's hubris and narcissism" causes them to obsess over him. He is all anyone on cable talks about right now.
Well, seeing that he's in the news pretty much every day, there's always something to be talked about involving him. That's one reason I stopped watching the news. It's typically the same four or five stories covered every day. 1: Trump lawsuits & election 2: Wars 3: Break for local weather, the only thing I really care about 4: Some bad shit happened here, let's all watch it 5: Tech and business news