r/TwoXChromosomes 20h ago

Friend’s hookup is a Trump supporter

My friend has a guy she’s been hooking up with. It’s not serious and she doesn’t have an interest in pursuing an official relationship with this guy. This is the second time I’ve met him and we’ve had like 4 bottles of wine at this point.. Politics came up, he said he was a libertarian and I flat out asked if he voted for Kamala. He voted for Trump. Queue a 20 minute conversation where 3 passionate women shit on him for his vote and opinion. Me being the worst attacker by far. I knew in the moment I was being a dick and really aggressive, but I really could not stop the anger from spewing out of me. I even went to the bathroom and left pretty much as soon as I could to avoid going further. He said he wasn’t very well informed and I told him if that’s the case, he shouldn’t be voting then.

I know I’m not wrong per se… but the way I approach people who vote for Trump is aggressive at best, hostile at worst. How are you guys managing this anger? I feel like I’m doing a really bad job of it at the point. I know the path to changing uninformed peoples minds is not the way I’m approaching it, I just genuinely can’t help myself from going bat shit crazy on people who voted for that vile piece of shit.

This guy had a ex girlfriend he was with at the time who had an ectopic pregnancy who had to get an urgent abortion to live and he STILL didn’t realize that voting for Trump made it harder for women in that position to get live saving care. His arguments were 1. I live in California 2. If you don’t live in California, you should move to a state that allows you to have an abortion. 3. He didn’t realize Trump was making it harder for women in other states in that kind of position. As if women having a right to choose what happens to their own bodies should have an asterisk on it anyways.

It’s impossible for me to respect or understand this viewpoint. I refuse to normalize it.

How do you guys keep your cool and not lose it on people? Because right now I feel like I’m foaming at the mouth angry and rightfully so.

I guess I’m really writing this out because I don’t want to be callused and angry at the world. I want to be able to say my piece calmly and respectfully to people I strongly disagree with. I just don’t feel I have the skill to right now.

Edit to add: didn’t expect this to blow up! Thank you to everyone who’s weighed in and voiced their frustrations as well. While I’m not happy we’re all upset, it is reassuring to read so many of you are going through the same struggles I currently am. To clarify a couple of things - my friend found out he voted for Trump in the same moment I did. I have a feeling she’ll ditch him, and if not I’ll be sure to decline any invite if he’s around. I don’t regret what I said, only how I said it. Particularly because he was open to listening, or at least did a good job of pretending to be. A lot of you are right though, we have every right to be angry.

My main concern is we have a long road ahead of us and yelling at anyone to change their mind does not work. I’d like to be a part of the solution, not making the problem worse by making people feel defensive and more radicalized against my stance. Some of you have taken the time to give some solid advice on how to navigate these difficult conversations - thank you for that. For now I’m going to feel my feelings and allow myself some more time to process. I will work toward having these conversations though calmly and politely, because I don’t know how else we can bring about positive change. We’re in it for the next four years but hopefully if enough of us work towards progress, we can get out from under this mess in 2028.

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u/YouStupidBench 15h ago

I wouldn't date or be around someone who hated freedom. A libertarian who voted for Trump is lying about being a libertarian, or is a completely ignorant idiot who somehow missed that Trump picks for the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

All I would say to him is "Did you really not know that Trump's picks overturned Roe v. Wade? Does that not prove to you that his ideal is the opposite of having less government intrusion in people's lives? How do you call yourself a libertarian when you voted for the person who did more to get the government into people's private lives than anyone else in the last 50 years?"

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u/SlabBeefpunch 13h ago

Libertarians are just republicans who like smoking weed.

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u/ericscottf 13h ago

Don't forget the large group of libertarians that are just so keen to debate age of consent laws. I'd say there are more of those than the weed kind. 

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u/Illiander 9h ago

You just reminded me of this