# A friend tells me he voted twice for Trump **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [September 10, 2024, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-friend-tells-me-he-voted-twice-for-trump/1007087 "2024-09-10T21:20:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2024, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-friend-tells-me-he-voted-twice-for-trump/1007087/61 "2024-09-11T20:47:04Z")
The _decision_ that Swift made may simply have been whether or not to publicize her decision and give a _de facto_ endorsement. ---
**Author:** ![We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/We_re_wolves_not_werewolves)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2024, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-friend-tells-me-he-voted-twice-for-trump/1007087/62 "2024-09-11T20:51:06Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > Actually, Swift didn’t tell anyone to vote for Harris. She said that after seeing the debate, SHE will vote for Harris, and encouraged her followers to do their own research. That’s fair, but I am certain there is at least one person in America who will not, in fact, do their own research, but will instead vote for Harris simply because Swift said she was going to. And Swift knows this, which is why she publicly made her statement. My point is this person deserves just as much disdain as someone voting for Trump simply because Fox News (or anyone else) told them to. And, to my larger point, cutting someone permanent out of your life for the SOLE reason that they voted for Trump is bonkers. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2024, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-friend-tells-me-he-voted-twice-for-trump/1007087/63 "2024-09-11T20:53:51Z")
False equivalence. As I mentioned before. Blaming voters for their ignorance and their choices _should never be used_ to excuse the awfulness and evil that RW media has – demonstrably, inarguably, objectively, legally, and provably – become. Don’t blame Taylor Swift for what _her_ fans _don’t_ know. But blame the lying RW media for their influence on _their_ audience. It really isn’t your (the collective ‘you’) friends, your neighbors, your colleagues, or the Democrats who are looking down on you and laughing at you behind your backs. It’s the places where you get your news and the people to whom you keep writing checks. They won’t leave the cult until they’re ready. Meanwhile, derision and shunning may be among the gifts they receive for their fealty to Trump. ETA: > [@We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](#): > > And, to my larger point, cutting someone permanent out of your life for the SOLE reason that they voted for Trump is bonkers. For the MAGA faithful, it isn’t a “sole reason” any more than your cousin’s decision to take up arms with ISIS is a “sole reason.” ---
**Author:** ![We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/We_re_wolves_not_werewolves)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2024, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-friend-tells-me-he-voted-twice-for-trump/1007087/64 "2024-09-11T21:00:55Z")
> [@DavidNRockies](#): > > For the MAGA faithful, it isn’t a “sole reason” any more than your cousin’s decision to take up arms with ISIS is a “sole reason.” Of course, but the OP didn’t say this friend was a MAGA faithful or provide any detail other than they had voted twice for Trump. That’s it! And my point is, making a decision to cut someone out of your life, particularly a friend or family member, based _solely_ on this one data point is stupid and short-sighted. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2024, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-friend-tells-me-he-voted-twice-for-trump/1007087/65 "2024-09-11T21:01:20Z")
One more 😉 I loved the movie, “A Beautiful Mind,” starring Russell Crowe – the story of a brilliant mathematician and his struggle with mental illness. He denies and denies and denies being ill, causing no end of chaos around him, until. Eventually he has a moment of clarity and tells his loved ones that one of the two imaginary people that he’s “seen” for years – a little girl – “never gets old.” That’s his “Come to Jesus” moment in the film. The little girl never ages. She isn’t real. It’s time. It’s time for Trump’s supporters to have their own “Come to Jesus” moment. The clues are all out there, plain for all to see. After: - the “Birther” conspiracy theory - the “Big Lie” (that the Democrats stole the 2020 election from Trump) - Trump’s incredibly well documented effort to overthrow the legitimately elected US government - its endless losses in Court (including by numerous judges that Trump appointed), and - the terminal failure of every single “bombshell” witness to the existence of the “Biden Crime Family” - the $787 MILLION dollar settlement that Fox News had to pay for lying to its viewers … every single day … day after day after day … month after month Aren’t the Trump supporters EVER going to get even the LEAST bit skeptical about what they’re constantly being told? We can’t fix that. They have to. When they’re ready. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2024, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-friend-tells-me-he-voted-twice-for-trump/1007087/66 "2024-09-11T21:01:43Z")
Sounds like the OP risks losing a pen pal. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2024, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-friend-tells-me-he-voted-twice-for-trump/1007087/67 "2024-09-11T21:03:55Z")
> [@DavidNRockies](#): > > Don’t blame Taylor Swift for what _her_ fans _don’t_ know. Exactly. And given how consequential this election will be, and knowing that she might be able to help make a favorable outcome more likely, ISTM that the only ethical decision was to speak out, at the same time encouraging people to research the issues. Sure, there will be people who mindlessly vote for Harris because they like Taylor Swift. But as you say, that’s not HER fault. And since she’s encouraging people to think before they vote, maybe a few people who weren’t paying attention will start. That’s a good thing. ---
**Author:** ![Manlob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Manlob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manlob)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2024, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-friend-tells-me-he-voted-twice-for-trump/1007087/68 "2024-09-11T22:11:41Z")
This is one of the reasons we have a right to cast a secret ballot. It protects voters from coercion or other mistreatment from those who disagree with a voter’s selections. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2024, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-friend-tells-me-he-voted-twice-for-trump/1007087/69 "2024-09-11T22:37:37Z")
> _“One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It’s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we’ve been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back.”_ > > ― Carl Sagan I’ve mentioned this here before. I feel Trump is essentially running a pigeon drop. A pigeon drop is a con. A con man will find a sucker and they will “discover” an opportunity to make money by jointly conning some victim. The con is that the supposed victim is actually the con man’s real accomplice and they set up the supposed opportunity. The sucker thought he was working with the con man to get money from the victim. But the reality is the con man and the “victim” were working together to get money from the sucker. The strength of the pigeon drop is that the con man doesn’t have to hide that it’s a con. The sucker knows a con is going on and that his supposed partner is a con man. So the sucker lets down his usual suspicions. Trump is running a pigeon drop. He winks at the magas and tells them they’re smart people like him. And they’re going to work with Trump and together they’re going to con those dumb liberals. So every time somebody accuses Trump of being a lying crook, the magas chuckle knowingly. They go through the motions of denying the accusation but they know he’s a lying crook. They think he’s on their side and the victims Trump will rob will be the liberals. Of course to carry out this great liberal owning crime, Trump needs to be President. So the magas need to send him a few million dollars so he can get elected again. Then he’ll commit his crime against the liberals and Trump and his maga partners will reap the rewards. Trump, on the other hand, is already reaping the rewards. He’s pocketing those millions of dollars the magas keep sending him. The magas are the ones getting conned by Trump not the liberals. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2024, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-friend-tells-me-he-voted-twice-for-trump/1007087/70 "2024-09-11T23:04:20Z")
> [@DavidNRockies](#): > > Sounds like the OP risks losing a pen pal. He was once much more than that. First we shared an office. Then I taught him to drive (some people growing up in NYC didn’t and still don’t learn). Then we went off to different places and became pen pals. Although I have visited him a couple times. Once we went to Banff together and swam in the hot pool. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2024, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-friend-tells-me-he-voted-twice-for-trump/1007087/71 "2024-09-11T23:08:04Z")
I guess I’m reminded of a line that I remember from – of all sitcoms – “Home Improvement.” Remember the wise neighbor, Wilson, whose face you never saw? Tim (Allen) Taylor was talking with Wilson – over the fence, of course – about a moral dilemma he had. The basic plot line was a huge falling out with an old friend – a guy with whom he’d “been friends for a long time.” But based on Tim’s telling of the story, Wise Wilson asked Tim if they were “friends for a long time” or if they were actually “friends a long time ago.” I do not mean to pretend to know your relationship with this man better than you; more to raise the point that there often _is_ a distinction. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2024, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-friend-tells-me-he-voted-twice-for-trump/1007087/72 "2024-09-11T23:21:42Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I feel Trump is essentially running a pigeon drop. **[Same](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-trump-keeping-classified-documents-for-what-purpose-does-he-want-them/970526/31).** ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2024, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-friend-tells-me-he-voted-twice-for-trump/1007087/73 "2024-09-12T00:10:50Z")
Similarly I voted for Obama three times. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2024, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-friend-tells-me-he-voted-twice-for-trump/1007087/74 "2024-09-12T00:15:55Z")
In his eyes he must be doing something right, otherwise you would have walked away. ---
**Author:** ![Apodder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apodder/32/17727_2.png) [@Apodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apodder)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2024, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-friend-tells-me-he-voted-twice-for-trump/1007087/75 "2024-09-12T02:09:46Z")
That actually sounds better regardless of with whom you were supposed to lunch… ---
**Author:** ![Sandwich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/22d042/32.png) [@Sandwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sandwich)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2024, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-friend-tells-me-he-voted-twice-for-trump/1007087/76 "2024-09-12T07:40:28Z")
> [@We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](#): > > I guess let me put it another way. Who is more worthy of disdain, a person who voted for Trump because Fox News told them to or a person who votes for Harris because Taylor Swift told them to? Neither really has an clue what they are doing but I wouldn’t say one is a “worse” person than the other. I think I see an error of logic here. Nobody is voting just because Ms Swift or Fox news told them to. The true comparison is between: . a person who is deeply invested in Ms Swift’s public persona as a friendly, likeable, decent, talented, successful and thoughtful lady who has now endorsed Ms Harris and . a person who is deeply invested in Fox’s public persona of lying, grift, corruption, dishonesty, hate, lying, grift, nepotism, lying, hate and grift and their long-standing rabid support for disgraced former president Trump and his public persona of lying, selfishness, hate, greed, dishonesty, cruelty, lying, avarice and greed. Oh, and corruption. I forgot about his corruption! 😀 And treason… [cue Spanish Inquisition parody] I think it is a stretch to see these as morally equivalent positions, or even to see them as equally uninformed. None of the Fox led voters are uninformed, and it would even be disingenuous to assert that they are misinformed. They know they are consuming partisan lies and like it that way, it’s a feature not a bug. ---
**Author:** ![Sandwich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/22d042/32.png) [@Sandwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sandwich)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2024, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-friend-tells-me-he-voted-twice-for-trump/1007087/77 "2024-09-12T07:48:32Z")
_Apologies for the sequential posts._ LOL. On review, I notice I had overlooked Fox’s overt misogyny and Trump’s history of rape, sexual assult, paedophilia and incest fantasies. Trivial things in context, I suppose! Oh America, America, how did it ever come to this? ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2024, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-friend-tells-me-he-voted-twice-for-trump/1007087/78 "2024-09-12T12:14:01Z")
> [@We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](#): > > I guess let me put it another way. Who is more worthy of disdain, a person who voted for Trump because Fox News told them to or a person who votes for Harris because Taylor Swift told them to? The fascist is worthy of disdain. The one for whom fascist messaging resonated. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2024, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-friend-tells-me-he-voted-twice-for-trump/1007087/79 "2024-09-12T13:20:25Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > In a recent letter to me, doubtless in response to a letter from me that assumed he would be voting against Trump, he said that he had twice voted for Trump. I was appalled and have not replied. I don’t know what to say. I thought I knew him. > > What would you do (assuming you are not a Trumper)? Same. A person who has voted for Trump twice has actively harmed me and my family. If it was twice, it wasn’t a one-off thing, there’s something deeply wrong that I don’t want anything to do with. Those people are never going to contribute anything positive to my life, so they’re effectively dead to me, and they deserve no effort or explanation. From experience I know it only leads to some kind of “you must debate me” off-jerking. I wish no harm on them, they simply stop existing once I know what they are. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2024, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-friend-tells-me-he-voted-twice-for-trump/1007087/80 "2024-09-12T13:23:12Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Trump is running a pigeon drop. He winks at the magas and tells them they’re smart people like him. And they’re going to work with Trump and together they’re going to con those dumb liberals. So every time somebody accuses Trump of being a lying crook, the magas chuckle knowingly. They go through the motions of denying the accusation but they know he’s a lying crook. They think he’s on their side and the victims Trump will rob will be the liberals. This is a beautiful analysis. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-friend-tells-me-he-voted-twice-for-trump/1007087.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-friend-tells-me-he-voted-twice-for-trump/1007087.md?page=5)