this post was submitted on 08 May 2025
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[–] untakenusername@sh.itjust.works 115 points 20 hours ago* (last edited 20 hours ago) (2 children)

not hating misled trump voters is actually a really good idea and more people need to try it

not saying that the actually insane ones arent worth hating, but some people are just maga bc everyone they know is

[–] Eldritch@lemmy.world 53 points 19 hours ago (4 children)

Everyone makes mistakes, those that can admit it are rare. Those that can forgive rarer still. And both should be role models.

[–] solidgrue@lemmy.world 13 points 19 hours ago* (last edited 19 hours ago) (1 children)

Be the change you want to see.

Edit: I mean it as a challenge to the rest of us

[–] Eldritch@lemmy.world 5 points 17 hours ago

Always words to live by

[–] pupbiru@aussie.zone 4 points 11 hours ago* (last edited 11 hours ago) (5 children)

as long as admitting your mistake isn’t entirely based on leopards eating your face

“they’re hurting the wrong people” isn’t remorse

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[–] Someonelol@lemmy.dbzer0.com 14 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

What should we do with the ones who voted to hurt others but now want to change sides because they're being hurt too? Should we ignore the very likely possibility they'll jump right back to the other side when the Republicans backpedal just enough to no longer look so blatantly shameless? Let them turn against Trump on their own, I just want to keep my distance from these people before they likely disappoint us in the next election cycle.

[–] PyroNeurosis@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 points 7 hours ago

"There's an old saying in Tennessee—I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee—that says, 'Fool me once, shame on...shame on you.' Fool me—you can't get fooled again."

[–] kescusay@lemmy.world 59 points 20 hours ago

If they're genuinely apologetic and recognize they made a terrible choice, then yes... Welcome back to reality.

[–] Nougat@fedia.io 32 points 20 hours ago

There is a path to redemption, and recognizing your past mistakes is part of that.

[–] Draegur@lemm.ee 30 points 19 hours ago* (last edited 19 hours ago) (3 children)

Instead of "if you're not with us, you're against us",

It's "as long as you're against them, you can be with us."

And frankly, that's what we need right now.

First past the post voting is fucking garbage but this is how you're supposed to engage it; it's NEVER EVER EVER EVER going to be good for supporting the lesser of two evils.

Instead, the best thing it can ever do is punish the greater evil

And these are VERY DIFFERENT GOALS.

If people were voting to punish the Trump campaign, Kamala would have won.

Notably, people very much voted to punish Kamala instead. Even the ones on the left. And boy did we show her -_- now we ALL get to suffer.

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[–] Realitaetsverlust@lemmy.zip 28 points 11 hours ago (3 children)

That's the right thing to do. Making it easy for people to accept that they were wrong makes it much easier to pull support from the opposing party. If you constantly ridicule, mock or insult them, they are much more likely to stick with their opinion simply because they do not want to accept that you were right.

A vast majority on lemmy should learn this aswell.

[–] pupbiru@aussie.zone 17 points 11 hours ago* (last edited 11 hours ago) (7 children)

A vast majority on lemmy should learn this aswell.

from what i’ve seen, yes people are angry but people are willing to accept apologies that aren’t based entirely in leopards eating faces… you don’t get a pass for your shitty ignorant behaviour just because that behaviour comes to bite you in the ass

you get to apologise and have it accepted if you’ve seen the harm that’s been done to other people and are genuinely remorseful

[–] Whats_your_reasoning@lemmy.world 14 points 10 hours ago (9 children)

Getting apologies would be nice, but it starts with acceptance. Right now, if a Trump voter can accept that they messed up or were led astray, and they can be convinced to join the resistance, that's all I care about. I care less about hearing an "I'm sorry" than I do about having more people on the streets today - actions speak louder than words, and to turn down someone who's joined our side over something as petty as "Have you apologized yet?" would do little more than push people away.

We need a united front right now, and just as former Trump voters have to suck up the bad feelings of having contributed to this mess, we have to hold off on purity-testing our fellow protesters and accept that to fight the oligarchs, it takes all of us, regardless of our feelings toward each other.

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[–] jjjalljs@ttrpg.network 2 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

I feel like this is a deep flaw in humanity. That most people would rather continue eating literal shit than admit they were wrong.

[–] Realitaetsverlust@lemmy.zip 2 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

Many people would be willing to admit that they're wrong, however, if the "opposing" side is constantly mockign and ridiculing you, yeah, I can see why people don't want to admit that.

[–] jjjalljs@ttrpg.network 2 points 4 hours ago

I wonder what sort of studies have been done on this. I found a few with a quick search about admitting being wrong- IT seems to correlate with humility like you would expect. Also admitting fault also sometimes makes people like you more, contrary to the belief that people will think you suck if you admit fault. Though maybe not for politicians, oddly.

[–] aidan@lemmy.world 2 points 9 hours ago (2 children)

A vast majority on lemmy should learn this aswell.

The vindictiveness and hate for anyone who slightly disagrees by some on here is only matched by Reddit users. It makes sense I guess

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[–] Default_Defect@midwest.social 19 points 16 hours ago

Too bad I don't know any that stop drinking the kool-aid (flavor aid), they still think that hurting liberals makes hurting conservatives worth it.

[–] AntelopeRoom@lemm.ee 17 points 16 hours ago (2 children)

As much as it's fun to say fuck you I told you so, you catch more flies with honey. We need to make it easy to leave the cult and not make people double down just because they feel ashamed or feel like they have to defend something. The goal, while enticing, is not to rub people's nose in the shit they admittedly helped create. The goal should be to get rid of this motherfucker and reverse everything he's done.

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[–] StonerCowboy@lemm.ee 11 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

Yall maybe forgiving but not i any and all Trump voters are traitors. Because you cannot stand there and listen to this man commit sedition

Say shit like "i have a concept of a plan"

And still slap knee "gosh darn it that is the man I must vote for president what a patriot!"

Fuck that. Cowards all of them. Every single one in gov. And every single voter.

Remember the women who slept with Nazis and after the war? That's Trump supporters.

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[–] sunbrrnslapper@lemmy.world 11 points 19 hours ago

It's never to late to do the right thing.

[–] prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 9 points 4 hours ago (2 children)

A University of Massachusetts-Amherst poll of 1,000 people from early April found that just 2% of Trump voters say they regret their choice and wish they had voted differently.

Jesus Christ...

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[–] Fleur_@lemmynsfw.com 8 points 9 hours ago

Hey, so long as they're willing to put the ones who aren't apologetic against the wall

[–] Wilco@lemm.ee 8 points 18 hours ago (4 children)

No we don't. MAGAts are fucking stupid. They knew what they voted for and got EXACTLY what they were told they were voting for.

[–] jeffw@lemmy.world 18 points 18 hours ago (3 children)

This sort of delusional and aggressive thinking just drives division.

The reality is, most people don’t make educated decisions at the polls. It’s knee jerk reaction to the economy

[–] mister_flibble@lemm.ee 14 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

The reality is, most people don’t make educated decisions at the polls. It’s knee jerk reaction to the economy

Yes, and that's childish and fucking moronic. Do better. I'm admittedly one to over-prepare in general, but I genuinely cannot comprehend why anyone would CHOOSE to not know anything about what they're voting for. "Oh, I don't like following politics". Well, tough shit dumbass; I don't like feeling like I'm stuck in the geopolitical equivalent of a high school group project with the asshole jock who can't be arsed to do his portion of the fucking presentation but here we fucking are.

The situation is dire enough that no, I'm not saying we should turn these folks away. We need all the help we can get. But I'll be lying to them when I tell them I forgive them. I don't think I ever truly will.

[–] agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works 5 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

This isn't partisan, you're fighting human nature here. Most people aren't that politically engaged. How many people were surprised Biden wasn't on the ballot?

Most people aren't following politics, they follow a vibe that they think about every few years and then go on not worrying about. Things have to get really bad before the average person thinks critically about their political representation beyond sports tribalism.

Every convert is +2, don't disincentivize that.

[–] mister_flibble@lemm.ee 3 points 10 hours ago

I'm not trying to disincentivize that, I'm being honest about it in a forum where it's highly unlikely they're gonna read it. How many regretful Trump voters who voted that way because they don't pay attention do you think hang out in politics threads on lemmy? I'm not gonna turn any away if I run into one in real life but if I'm being sincere, I'm also never gonna be able to fully trust them.

[–] Wilco@lemm.ee 3 points 17 hours ago

The dude instigated 1-6. He is a felon. The economy has nothing to do with it.

[–] Default_Defect@midwest.social 3 points 16 hours ago

And "being the bigger man" before got us to where we are now. Give them an inch and they take a mile.

[–] Deathray5@lemmynsfw.com 4 points 12 hours ago

Perhaps but any kind of effective resistance needs widespread support from anywhere we can get it

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[–] aceshigh@lemmy.world 7 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

That’s fantastic. This encourages taking personal responsibility over their action. I think it’s important to allow people to learn and grow, without the shame. Shame keeps people locked into their false beliefs. The more apologetics we have, the faster change will come. With that said, don’t forget these people. They still have fucked up beleifs.

[–] SLVRDRGN@lemmy.world 3 points 5 hours ago

I agree.

I feel that on our end, it's going to be more important than ever that it's not just what we say but how we say it that will actually change how those who voted for Trump will feel.
People are capable of self reflection, but if you don't believe it then you're helping them to have no shot at it.

[–] jjjalljs@ttrpg.network 6 points 5 hours ago

I think there's a difference between someone who voted trump and realized they fucked up in a like deep , systemic, way, and someone who doesn't like this specific implemention of right wing stuff.

Like, if they regret trump but keep voting R, that's not good.

[–] Sterile_Technique@lemmy.world 6 points 16 hours ago

Seems to be a division here based on the (ex)Trumpanzee's sincerity vs not.

My thought is who gives a shit if they're sincere? The goal isn't to convert them, it's to defeat Trump and people like Trump - if a former Trump voter can be used against him, I have no issues at all with at least pretending to accept that that person is having an authentic denazification. Whether or not they're truly capable of self reflection is kinda moot

[–] Jikiya@lemmy.world 5 points 3 hours ago

Shouldn't be turning people away that are apologetic, but don't think the path to victory lies there. All the people that are sitting out elections are the ones that should be targeted. So few of eligible voters are actually doing so.

[–] GooberEar@lemmy.wtf 5 points 3 hours ago

Disagree if you want, but I've felt this way and have been saying some variation of this (but perhaps not as eloquently) pretty much since November of 2024.

Granted, in the immediate wake of the election, even I didn't think things would be this way, at least not so soon. As soon as he took office, anybody with half a brain cell could see, first-hand sans conjecture, just how much of a disaster we were in for. I was like, at this stage, we're going to have to root for the hamberders to do their thing and in the mean time we're going to have to turn the other cheek and accept those Trump voters who come to regret their vote. If there are enough of them, and they genuinely see an apology as a path out of the cult, there's a better chance of turning things around.

[–] Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world 4 points 11 hours ago

And when these trump voters vote for republicans again, democrats will blame the left. Again.

[–] Mustakrakish@lemmy.world 3 points 4 hours ago

Appologetic is the key word. There needs to be accountability, not even for a sake of justice or anything, but just due to the fact that they need to have learned a lesson to be an ally of the cause, and not just an eventual traitor.

[–] Septimaeus@infosec.pub 2 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago)

Yet another reason y’all really shouldn’t go doxxing and murdering working class voters: missing the Purple Wave.

Edit: remove named user (community rule)

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