When Will Trump Voters Be Asked To Reach Out and Understand The Rest of Us?

For 9 years, we have been scolded and told to reach out and understand the "economic anxiety" of Trump voters, but when will that sentiment be reciprocated? I'm done being in an abusive relationship.

Thanksgiving is around the corner, and Americans are told to set aside their grievances and unite, at least for a day, around the dinner table to indulge in gluttony, family, and good vibes. The sentiment is wonderful, warm, and necessary, especially amid our ongoing familial, personal, and political divisions.

However, successful relationships, like successful marriages (I’m in year 12, folks), require reciprocity. There needs to be both give and take. You have to meet each other in the middle. Otherwise, it becomes lopsided, unfair, inequitable, and ultimately abusive. One side just keeps taking, while the other side just gives, gives, gives, and receives stale leftovers.

I feel like many of us who voted against Trump and the MAGA agenda for the past 9 years have received the short end of the turkey leg. We've been asked by the establishment and our corporate institutions, especially the media, to develop Stockholm Syndrome and learn to love our abusers and tormentors. As a practicing Muslim and child of Pakistani immigrants, I already indulge in my fair share of masochism and have no desire to indulge in more pain.

After the 2016 election, in which Trump won by a nose hair, the rest of us were scolded and told to reach out and understand the “economic anxiety” of our fellow Americans who decided to vote for an incompetent and unqualified vulgarian who bragged about grabbing women by the pussy. People of color kept telling America that it was primarily cultural anxiety and racism that was the dominant, but not exclusive, force driving many of these voters. Since American power still has no appetite or desire to confront, acknowledge, and dismantle white supremacy, they ignored us and kept resuscitating this zombie narrative of “economic anxiety” which ultimately led to the bullshit tome “Hillbilly Elegy” that eventually catapulted rich, elitist JD Vance to political power.

Study after study revealed that most Trump voters have a fear of being replaced and Trump played into their grievances thanks to a highly influential right-wing disinformation chamber. Regardless, I made a video for the Huffington Post from the NYC office on election night and reached out to these voters in good faith. I went to the Rust Belt states and gave talks and tried to explain why the rest of us saw Trump as a direct threat to our communities. I participated in discussions hosted by think tanks and organizations that brought together diverse Americans to unite around some shared values.

Meanwhile, Trump incited a violent insurrection instead of peacefully leaving the White House. The GOP mainstreamed the QAnon and “replacement theory” conspiracies that radicalized its base to commit violence and acts of terror against law enforcement, the press, political rivals, poll workers, teachers, and doctors. They promoted anti-science and anti-vax lies during a deadly pandemic. They refer to the rest of us as “the deep state” and pedophiles who are godless and want to kidnap and convert their children. Trump, this year, referred to us, or anyone who opposes him, as “evil,” “scum,” “sick,” and as the “enemy from within.” The GOP still dispenses cruelty but demands civility. They mock our safe spaces but demand safe spaces for themselves. They gloat about owning the libs but whine and complain each time we criticize them for electing a criminal who was held liable for sexually assaulting a woman. They keep working the refs and force institutions to bend the knee even as they now dominate the Supreme Court, the White House, the House, the Senate, and corporate media.

And, despite all this, we are still asked to reach out and understand their “economic anxiety.”

The year is 2024 and I have yet to see a major story or report commissioned by a cable news show, newspaper, or magazine that demands that Trump voters go to urban diners and talk to Democratic voters. I have yet to see any finger-wagging paternalism from these establishment leaders asking Trump voters why Donald Trump has yet to crack 50% support from the voting population.

Like I said, a successful relationship requires reciprocity otherwise it’s simply an exercise in abuse.

After 9 years, I’m done. 

I have no desire to reach out to or understand any Trump voter, especially after the 2024 election. I’ve seen enough. They voluntarily chose the most corrupt, dishonest, criminal, unqualified man on Earth to lead the most powerful nation. They already got a taste of his disaster and said, “More please.” When given a chance between a competent and qualified Black Indian woman and a racist who quotes Hitler, they chose the dude who quotes Hitler.

You bought it, you broke it, you fix it. I don’t need to go out of my way to understand you, reach out to you, listen to your laments, or heal your self-inflicted wounds. I also don’t need you to suffer. I’m not MAGA. I don’t need you to experience pain and humiliation to feel great again. I want you and your families to have economic opportunities, affordable health care, access to education, and security. But, Trump voters were perfectly fine throwing the rest of us to the wolves just to “temporarily” feel great again and reduce the price of their eggs. (Just wait until Trump’s tariffs hit, and you’ll miss the current price of eggs.)

That was a choice.

There are consequences to choices. Unfortunately, the country f’d around, and now we’re all going to find out.

So, this Thanksgiving and beyond, I’m not investing any of my time, effort, or labor to reach out. I’ve done that. But, I’ll be here, because I’m not going anywhere. I’m not “going back.” If Trump voters want to reach out to us, they’ll have to put in the work this time.