# Why do conservatives (in the US) hate the left so much **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [June 28, 2026, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-conservatives-in-the-us-hate-the-left-so-much/1031251 "2026-06-28T19:14:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**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:** [July 4, 2026, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-conservatives-in-the-us-hate-the-left-so-much/1031251/121 "2026-07-04T19:12:22Z")
Yep. That is pretty much the nonsense, repeated over and over again, that we are supposed to talk to them seriously about. I would still like to see actual positive ways _that have been shown to work_ from those that make a habit of pointing out how “the Liberals” aren’t doing the right thing. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2026, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-conservatives-in-the-us-hate-the-left-so-much/1031251/122 "2026-07-04T19:38:07Z")
In addition to not helping poor and working class people, the Republican party has for a long time spoken out against (and worked to dismantle) safety net programs. Much more than the Democrats. I remember hearing an interview on the radio with Jeb Bush. This was around early 2013, right after Obama had been re-elected. They were discussing what the Republican party needed to change. Bush stated that it was a big problem that poor people were finding it difficult to work their way up from poverty. My jaw dropped. Going back at least to Reagan, the near unanimous response from Republicans was that poor people could improve their lot in life by working harder. And often, a plug for upper-income and capital gains tax cuts, which would create jobs and prosperity. And yes, race is a factor. After Trump was elected the first time, the _Washington Post_ sent a reporter to a very poor county in West Virginia which had overwhelmingly supported Trump. It was also, like much of West Virginia, overwhelmingly White. Residents they spoke to claimed to oppose welfare. When the reporter pointed out that a very high percentage of the county was receiving public assistance, one resident said he wasn’t opposed to welfare, “for regular, working people”. I wonder who they are? And who they aren’t? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2026, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-conservatives-in-the-us-hate-the-left-so-much/1031251/123 "2026-07-04T22:02:29Z")
> [@F.U.Shakespeare](#): > > Residents they spoke to claimed to oppose welfare. When the reporter pointed out that a very high percentage of the county was receiving public assistance, one resident said he wasn’t opposed to welfare, “for regular, working people”. Welfare went away during the Clinton administration. But the GOP uses “welfare” to mean any public assistance- including Social Security and Unemployment- unless of course- they are getting it. Note that us Dems hate the MAGAs quite a bit. ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2026, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-conservatives-in-the-us-hate-the-left-so-much/1031251/124 "2026-07-04T22:58:29Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Note that us Dems hate the MAGAs quite a bit. Speaking just for myself, I feel disappointment rather than hatred. Some years ago this took the form of, “Really? Trickle down economics again? Don’t we already know that doesn’t work?” But now it’s, “We’re blaming immigrants again? And picking on trans people and marching / chanting about not being replaced by Jews? Seriously?” Like any large group, I don’t think we can assign hatred to every last member of those who see themselves as conservative. I think they’re very likely to be personally kind, meaning to the people in front of their face. But at the same time, vote for and otherwise support very unkind policies which would impact those very same people. Which is to say I’d vote for “unkind” as a key characteristic rather than hatred, for whatever that distinction is worth. But my reaction is 80% disappointment and 20% pointing and laughing. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2026, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-conservatives-in-the-us-hate-the-left-so-much/1031251/125 "2026-07-05T10:20:13Z")
> [@Llama\_Llogophile](#): > > Like any large group, I don’t think we can assign hatred to every last member of those who see themselves as conservative. I think they’re very likely to be personally kind, meaning to the people in front of their face. Naomi Shulman: > Nice people made the best Nazis. My mom grew up next to them. They got along, refused to make waves, looked the other way when things got ugly and focused on happier things than ‘politics’. They were lovely people who turned their heads as their neighbors were dragged away. You know who weren’t nice people? Resisters. People like that will smile and talk about how nice they are even as everyone not-them is killed. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2026, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-conservatives-in-the-us-hate-the-left-so-much/1031251/126 "2026-07-05T15:29:10Z")
Stephen Sondheim: “Nice is different than good.” But don’t forget that we ALL support horrific evils by turning away. Maybe not soldiers in the night, but your insurance payments support a system that reguarlarly denies care. Your taxes support a military that (for example) killed schoolgirls in Iran. We’re all complicit in the system in which we’re embedded. Conservatives vote worse than liberals, but at the end of the day: Most humans are nice people who also enable evil. I think the difference is more how active the individual is in also doing good for others. Voting is significant, for sure, but it’s not all there is. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2026, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-conservatives-in-the-us-hate-the-left-so-much/1031251/127 "2026-07-05T16:39:08Z")
> [@Sigene](#): > > seeking out right wing media doesn’t get you closer to understanding conservatives. There is a difference. I No more than consuming media on crystals, holistic healing, star signs gets you a complete understanding of progressivism. Its nuanced. Its not black and white. Crystals don’t tell you 24/7 that immigrants are eating your pets or liberals want to ban hamburgers or that wearing face masks is fascism. Star signs don’t gaslight you into believing the opposite of reality. Holistic healing isn’t designed to make you fearful, hateful and ignorant. Right-wing media do, and the conservatives I know very much parrot what they are told on right-wing media to the point of having a worldview completely disconnected from reality. Whereas left-wingers who believe in woo are mostly irrelevant idiots who aren’t actively working to facilitate the hurting of others. So this comparison is not only not nuanced, it’s utterly false. And those right-wing media outlets are often the reason for conservative concerns, like “Venezuelan gangs are taking over our cities!” (they’re not) or “the border is wide open” (it never was) or “crime is rampant” (it’s been falling dramatically for decades) or “children are being given sex change operations without their parents’ consent” (not happening) or “men are pretending to be girls to win sports competitions” (no) or “illegal immigrants get free housing and money and jobs” (_really_ no) and similar worries based entirely on fantasy but which consumers of those media believe are real. Whereas the concerns of the left like incipient fascist behavior are increasingly validated. > [@Hawkeyeop](#): > > Not everyone who despises the Democratic party is a nazi They aren’t all MAGA or religious or hateful. Sometimes they are even Democrats. The Venn diagram between the Democratic Party and “the left” doesn’t overlap nearly as much as it used to. > [@Velocity](#): > > If the right behaved the way you described there’d be 100 million mass shootings per year. There clearly aren’t. The right behaves the way it does and there are hundreds of mass shootings a year, mostly by right-wing perpetrators. The largest number of active or foiled domestic terrorism events per year have been driven by right-wing ideology for decades. And as pointed out already, the right increasingly outsource their violence to police, ICE and other government agents. Isn’t that enough? And absent Sigene’s details about which conservative “concerns” are being overlooked, I’m left with Andrew Lawrence’s famous tweet: > [@](#): > > Conservative: I have been censored for my conservative views > > Me: Holy shit! You were censored for wanting lower taxes? > > Con: LOL no…no not those views > > Me: So…deregulation? > > Con: Haha no not those views either > > Me: Which views, exactly? > > Con: Oh, you know the ones So if those actual “concerns” aren’t based on delusion or overt bigotry, I’d certainly like to know what they are. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2026, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-conservatives-in-the-us-hate-the-left-so-much/1031251/128 "2026-07-05T16:54:31Z")
And it goes again to the old “even the ~~re~~ publicans love their children”. Yeah, we know that already, the best step is to complain about evil and vote for better humans. And the last decades have demonstrated that Voting is very significant. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2026, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-conservatives-in-the-us-hate-the-left-so-much/1031251/129 "2026-07-05T17:00:04Z")
Well, a certain poster in this thread has been vocal that they do not, in fact, love their children. I’m insisting because (1) I don’t think “hatred” applies to the majority of conservatives, though it does to the minority, so I’m fighting the premise of the thread, and (2) I don’t think “THEY are different than US” is a good step towards healing the divide. It’s the sort of thing that, left to fester, brings on civil wars, and there are already small minorities and groups of bots pushing things in that direction. I think the main reason for the hatred is given above: propaganda networks pushing the divide. Why we allow these is maybe a better question. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2026, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-conservatives-in-the-us-hate-the-left-so-much/1031251/130 "2026-07-05T17:17:55Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > Well, a certain poster in this thread has been vocal that they do not, in fact, love their children. I think that poster was referring to what takes place when they children get a mind of their own. > [@Dr.Drake](#): > > I’m insisting because (1) I don’t think “hatred” applies to the majority of conservatives, though it does to the minority, so I’m fighting the premise of the thread, and “You can safely assume you’ve created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do” – Anne Lamott > [@Dr.Drake](#): > > (2) I don’t think “THEY are different than US” is a good step towards healing the divide. It’s the sort of thing that, left to fester, brings on civil wars, and there are already small minorities and groups of bots pushing things in that direction. Meh, the point here is that _we are now less divided_ in the sense that almost 60% do not agree with the hatred that is attempted to be institutionalized by the current administration. The reality is that as the polls show now, the MAGA right wing was lucky and clever enough to win the past election, but the reality is that now just a bit over a third would support the hate that is there coming from the conservatives in power. Of course the polls still show that a super-majority of Republicans still think that the mega hatred coming from the corrupt leader that protects rapists and racists are happy to continue to support him. But there are more now willing to support independents and Democrats. What is clear to me is that the current administration will not investigate this type of hatred as a thing to be concerned about: > **['Free speech': Trump aide pressed to condemn White nationalist group](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2026/07/05/patriot-front-donald-trump-doug-burgum-white-supremacists/90812179007/)** > > A member of President Donald Trump's cabinet was pressed to condemn the White supremacist group Patriot Front, which gathered in Washington on July 4. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2026, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-conservatives-in-the-us-hate-the-left-so-much/1031251/131 "2026-07-05T19:51:05Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > I think the main reason for the hatred is given above: propaganda networks pushing the divide. Why we allow these is maybe a better question. On individual levels I think it’s because deep down they KNOW that they are not as inteligent or capable as the left. So all they have left is to attack. The ‘leader’ of the entire party can barely read, or string coherent sentences together or maintain functional relationships. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2026, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-conservatives-in-the-us-hate-the-left-so-much/1031251/132 "2026-07-05T20:29:36Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > On individual levels I think it’s because deep down they KNOW that they are not as inteligent or capable as the left. And therefore they must project their own disreputable elements ON the left. They can’t admit ownership, and they lack the intellect to actually defend what they espouse. So they just say “NO, YOU!!!” As with the “Patriot Front,” the ludicrous cowards who marched through D.C. on the Fourth. They can’t be defended (because the right lacks the intellect to come up with a defense). So we will simply pretend that they belong to the left: [![](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:acepmujux4hz6gajktloqzhf/bafkreifzasnavw3dsqvri2dj4g3l47jf6t55mqhxpujfatn3uezjuxh6cq) ](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:acepmujux4hz6gajktloqzhf/bafkreifzasnavw3dsqvri2dj4g3l47jf6t55mqhxpujfatn3uezjuxh6cq) ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2026, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-conservatives-in-the-us-hate-the-left-so-much/1031251/133 "2026-07-07T02:14:05Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Like the other person said, the last paragraph is…not founded in reality. Plenty of conservatives love their families, like their friends and care about their neighbors. Some don’t, but many do. Evenso, neuroscience studies show conservative brains feel less empathy than leftist brains. > **[Conclusion - Ideological values are parametrically associated with empathy...](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10281241/#s5)** > > Several studies in political psychology reported higher levels of empathy among political leftists (i.e. liberals) as compared to political rightists (i.e. conservatives). Yet, all those studies lean on self-reports, which are often limited by... > **[Empathy and the Liberal-Conservative Political Divide in the U.S.| Journal of...](https://jspp.psychopen.eu/index.php/jspp/article/view/5209/5209.html)** > [@enipla](#): > > On individual levels I think it’s because deep down they KNOW that they are not as inteligent or capable as the left. So all they have left is to attack. That is a factor in why they hate Obama so much. Obama is self made. He was born to a single mother, had no political connections but was highly intelligent and accomplished amazing things. 99.9999% of the people who hate him will never be anywhere near as intelligent and competent as him, and it filled them with rage since it overturned the racial hierarchy which states that black people deserve to be subjugated because they are considered inferior. FWIW, the last few democratic presidents over the last ~40 years have all been self made and overcome massive hardship (Biden, Obama, Clinton) while the GOP presidents all came from wealth and privilege (Trump, W Bush, HW Bush). I don’t know what role, if any, that plays in political mindsets but it is worth noting. Then again people like Al Gore and John Kerry had a lot of wealth and privilege too. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2026, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-conservatives-in-the-us-hate-the-left-so-much/1031251/134 "2026-07-07T02:58:55Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > He was born to a single mother, That isn’t true. His parents were together when he was born. She remarried not very long after her divorce. By the time she divorced again, Obama was an adult. [Ann Dunham - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann_Dunham) That’s not to say that there weren’t periods when she was a single mother, but not when he was born and not for the majority of his childhood. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2026, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-conservatives-in-the-us-hate-the-left-so-much/1031251/135 "2026-07-07T16:10:27Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > That isn’t true. His parents were together when he was born. My mistake, thank you. I guess my point is that he didn’t really know his biological father. ---
**Author:** ![Ancient\_Nerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed655f/32.png) [@Ancient\_Nerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ancient_Nerd)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2026, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-conservatives-in-the-us-hate-the-left-so-much/1031251/136 "2026-07-11T01:58:41Z")
Conservatives were still in mourning over Bush Sr’s loss when Clinton came up with don’t ask, don’t tell. That really frosted their twinkies. Rush Limbaugh and Newt Gingrich then stepped in to seal the deal. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2026, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-conservatives-in-the-us-hate-the-left-so-much/1031251/137 "2026-07-11T02:31:36Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > That is a factor in why they hate Obama so much. Obama is self made. He was born to a single mother, had no political connections but was highly intelligent and accomplished amazing things. 99.9999% of the people who hate him will never be anywhere near as intelligent and competent as him, and it filled them with rage since it overturned the racial hierarchy which states that black people deserve to be subjugated because they are considered inferior. That may also be a factor in why the right whines so much about the ridiculous claim that life is harder for White people. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2026, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-conservatives-in-the-us-hate-the-left-so-much/1031251/138 "2026-07-11T02:34:30Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > As with the “Patriot Front,” the ludicrous cowards who marched through D.C. on the Fourth. They can’t be defended (because the right lacks the intellect to come up with a defense). So we will simply pretend that they belong to the left: Same thing with January 6. I couldn’t see any conservative defender in this thread address it although I could be wrong. But I remember that right after 1/6, there were conservative defenders on this message board saying that we shouldn’t blame them for it because they hadn’t had a chance to vote against it. I of course said, that the vast majority were supporters of it, because 10% of conservatives not voting or switching their vote would be an almost unimaginable swing, and that would still leave 90% of them supporting the overthrow of democracy. And it wasn’t even 1%. The number of people walking away from the GOP after 1/6 was lost in the noise. Therefore, the vast, overwhelming majority of GOP supporters want to end democracy. Anyone trying to rationalize them needs to address this. The majority never even address it, but some think that it was Antifa (who Trump encouraged then pardoned lol). ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2026, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-conservatives-in-the-us-hate-the-left-so-much/1031251/139 "2026-07-11T03:40:17Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > The majority never even address it, but some think that it was Antifa (who Trump encouraged then pardoned lol). And then tried to fund reparations for. Say it loud: REPARATIONS! REPARATIONS! REPARATIONS!!! That thing that’s EVIL when paid to Black people, is GOOD when paid to White TERRORISTS!! Please be patient. I’m TRYING to learn the language of Random CAPITALIZATION, ---
**Author:** ![survinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@survinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/survinga)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2026, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-conservatives-in-the-us-hate-the-left-so-much/1031251/140 "2026-07-11T11:47:20Z")
I would like to somewhat push back against the premise in the OP’s question. Today’s right-wing in the US is not really conservative, IMO. In fact, I think Democrats and the center-left is more conservative than today’s right-wing. What we see today is hatred based on dislike of “out groups”, such as LGBTQ, Immigrants, Muslims, and the like. The right-wing thinks the left wants to have more of these out-groups in order to push White Christian America out of power. I think this is the main basis of their hatred. But I also don’t see any of that as conservative. I see today’s right-wing as radicals. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-conservatives-in-the-us-hate-the-left-so-much/1031251.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-conservatives-in-the-us-hate-the-left-so-much/1031251.md?page=8)