Supporting Trump is akin to being trapped in an abusive relationship where the warning signs are obvious to everyone around you.
The lies are constant, as is the manipulation, the daily mental beatings and gas lighting, the constant excuses, the utter cruelty, and the insistence that what you’re seeing isn’t really happening, or that somehow it’s what’s best for you. And the history is there to show that he’s done this to others before you, but you ignored it because you feel at home in it and know this place. No matter how bad it is, you’re less afraid of where you are now than the safety of where you could be. You don’t know what you don’t know, and you’re too afraid to find out.
You’re willing to let him continue to do it to others for fear you’ll be left out, or worse.
Trump convinced you Jesus wants it this way, so you are willing to put your soul on the line to be inside his world, under what you made up is a protective custody awarded by a god not of the scriptures. Everyone else can see the damage, but you’ve become so invested in defending him that every criticism feels like a personal attack. You keep telling everyone things are fine, even better than ever, while dismissing anyone who points out the obvious harm. Meanwhile, the rest of us are looking at the same situation and wondering how much evidence it would take to get through to you.
Many people don’t get out of abusive relationships alive, while others get out but deal with a lifetime of trauma and ruined families and relationships. At some point, it starts to look less like loyalty and more like a refusal to admit you were wrong. It becomes a willingness to stay even though leaving would improve not only your life, but stop the abuse for others as well. But the one sweet spot that you can’t bring yourself to give up is that you agree with the racism and the cruelty to others. Trump tells you it’s okay — good, even. That is your comfort zone, and so you think it’s worth it to stay.
Changing your mind isn’t fragility. Refusing to question what you’re defending is, and a perilous strategy. No one is coming to save you.
Blink twice if you want out.
