My Best Friend is a Trump Supporter

[janx]

69. I lost a brother.

He was a registered Republican. I did not realize this for decades. I knew he was a "conservative" and that he had some crazy views, but I had no idea he was a registered Republican or that he watched Faux News daily. I learned of it a year or two ago. I'm almost 60; he is 65.

But I did know that he was on the political conspiracy crazy train. As I've learned is often the case, he regularly traded right-wing email chains with his guy friends from high school and elsewhere. (This seems to have been a trend with right-wing guys--I will elaborate later.*) He started forwarding these group emails to me some years ago. I asked him to refrain, but he did it anyway. I sent him to Snopes on many occasions, then the emails would stop for a couple of months, and I'd send him to Snopes again. They finally stopped for good. He knew and knows that I had no interest in discussing politics with him, but god, at times he would INSIST on unleashing the typical talking points on me. His wife was a Dem and I suspect she still is. My other brother is quite liberal, though not registered with either party. So why did he choose to unleash on me? I will never understand this.

Not long before this last presidential election, he told me over the phone that he was thinking of leaving the Republican party. I suspect it was because of Trump. He said he was going to vote third party. So although I figured he was probably still susceptible to conspiracy theories, I thought he had at least not bitten on the Trump bullshit.

I was wrong. We got into a txting conversation that got quite rude, very fast. He unloaded the right-wing talking points and made typical assumptions about what I knew and believed. I stated that I could not fathom having Melania Trump as First Lady of the United States. Then things got personal. He came at me with personal attacks about my life and behavior. OK. It was lame and completely inappropriate, but I didn't text back.

He started up then with email, continuing the attacks. And when that didn't work, he left me a voice mail message insulting my elder daughter. That was it. I mean that was really it.

I called my other brother in tears, and I emailed the one I describe and disowned him. I regret it somewhat now, but I'm still burning mad and confused: What kind of vile society can produce this kind of irrational, horrible behavior?

*I will elaborate on the forwarded emails in another post. This one is long enough.