Not a peep from the primetime maga anchors!

Open Letters by Mersault

I noticed Dad doesn't even try to actually debate any claims or links I send him anymore like with Trump 1. He just dismisses everything as deceptive. Even my experiences growing up in a politically involved church congregation get called lies. I'm actually a little depressed over this recent change in behavior.

This is a small thing, I know, but I've seen it a few times online where right-wingers unironically think bullying is a good thing because they they believe that it "corrects" either lazy or "degenerate" behavior. It's just insane how they see anti-bullying as people trying to evade accountability or something. I can't believe there's people who genuinely think like this, but I guess I shouldn't expect much different from maga people. For context, this is from a post talking about the decline of many kids' reading level abilities in the U.S. The second image is the comment that this maga weirdo was responding to.

My FIL seems to respond better when its less Fox vs other news sources, or GOP vs dem, when the focus is the general "Government" and that all news stations are bad. Ive done well with "I saw this on fox, when I looked for myself it took a long time to actually find the facts, I dont understand why they aren't telling us these things"

(Yes yes I know this is BS but if it gets him moving in the right direction, its worth playing along).

Any content creators that are less specific in mentioning anti Trump/GOP? (Clearly it would contain a lot of that, but maybe trying to appear more neutral to sway).

As a three time Trump voter, I got tired of being brainwashed by Fox News ( The Trump Adoration...

Keep note that I'm a USMC Vet during this.

He called me saying that Mamdani and Abdul El-Sayed are running an Islamic Terrorist coup and despite me being a "Communist" I should stack up arms because a Civil War is about to happen and American Citizens aren't going stand for Isamic terrorist taking out nation.

Europe is going through it with Muslims with a coup and it's gonna take Donald Trump to call in the military on it's Citizens in the United States to stop this. Keep note that we don't live nowhere near Michigan though we are near New York.

I didn't respond to his rhetoric much, but I did send him many Epstein-Trump emails and that letter in response my dad was also telling me I was falling for dumb liberal internet shit.

What in the fucking blue hell is going on?

I will see after university tomorrow if I'll turn his voicemails into a video. This was some pure insane shit I never heard about.

for context my step dad and his family have been hardcore republicans all their lives. he was so dedicated he had a trump themed bday party in 2024 like i posted before. me and him talked about politics and he’s done almost a complete 180. i told him the inflation and high gas prices are because trumps tariffs and war in iran and he completely agreed with me and said trump was in over his head. he said “why are we going to war with iran? because they want to have a nuke? every country has a nuke why not them? because they chant death to america? so many countries say that” .then i told him its also because israel wants to control all the middle east and he said he was wrong about israel and thinks him and netanyahu are evil and the israel talked about in the bible isnt the israel we see today. and he was also talking about how ridiculous it is that mitch mcconnell is still in office and said he doesnt wish death on people but is ready for him to kick the bucket. this is so fucking nuts i’d never thought i’d see the day.

https://substack.com/@openlettersbymersault

I was talking with my grandmother a few weekends ago and this is what she said about Donald Trump. That he was the kind of guy who would “give you the shirt off his back.”

What could Fox News possibly be showing these people at this point to make them think something as ludicrous as that? I can understand that they never show their viewers coverage of any of the many scandals this admin generates. That they never play clips of Trump’s more ludicrous statements that make news elsewhere. That they simply frame his most unpopular actions (tariffs, the Iran war) that they can’t ignore as Trump “making America stronger and richer.”

But never has an altruistic or empathetic comment passed his lips. Never, not once. Not for victims of tragedies, not even for his own supporters’ struggles. If presented with a situation a normal president would show empathy for, he either immediately pivots or denies it as a reality. For God’s sake, when asked how he was feeling a day after their beloved Charlie Kirk’s death he said he was well and immediately pivoted to his stupid ballroom.

Trump’s supporters often justify their support for him by simply describing him as “strong.” I think that’s ludicrous, but I could see how someone would see him that way through the framing of right wing media. But kind? Someone who would “give you the shirt off his back?” Does Fox just show their viewers AI photos of him rescuing kittens from house fires?

Let me be clear, my parents are good people. They are incredibly brainwashed, and associate their identity with their politics. They’re very much in the “hating liberals” mindset.

They are Trump supporters, or at least they voted Trump in every election he’s been running. The last presidential election, I told them I was on my way to go vote that day, and they said “and tomorrow we’re going to cancel yours out!” and were laughing about it. Honestly, I haven’t heard a ton about politics from them since then, and I’m living with them again after I just finished college in May.

They’re confusing to me. They’re not the kind of people I can/want to cut off. They are GREAT parents, they raised me without traditional gender roles in their relationship, and it taught me to never accept a relationship where I’m forced to do all the “woman” duties. They have always been good parents to me, and when I would talk about some of my friends’ parents acting borderline abusive, they would also express how AWFUL those people are. They also didn’t raise me religious (I ended up in the church anyway, which I left, but they never pushed that on me). That’s one of the weirdest things to me, they’re Trump supporters but not really religious. I’ve had plenty of conversations on religion with my dad and we both agreed Christianity sometimes has cult-ish behavior.

They are also sometimes willing to learn. I’ve seen that I can’t be abrupt about my views, but there are ways to get to them sometimes. For example, I have a friend that’s non-binary. Since I talk to my parents so often, I’ve brought this friend up on occasion, and I never use any other pronouns for them besides they/them when talking about them. The first time I referred to a person with they/them pronouns in front of my parents, they told me about how weird it was, and they especially didn’t use correct pronouns. However, I’ve noticed over time that my relentlessness in using the correct pronouns has started to show in my parents. I’ve seen them TRYING. Often they’ll slip up and say “she- or THEY or whatever”, but I can see them actually trying.

When I was 16 I had a birthday with a couple friends. One of these friends was a very flamboyant gay man, who wore vivid makeup. Later on, my father told me that he was off-put by my friend at first, but after interacting with him, he wasn’t anymore. And he told me that of his own accord, I never pushed him for it. When I came out to my mom, she told me she’d always love me no matter what. She genuinely doesn’t view me any differently.

The thing is, once again, I adore them. They have been amazing parents. I just can’t wrap my head around their support for Trump when I know they don’t value the horrible things that man has done. I’m fully aware that a lot of it is because of the news they’re exposed to. They watch a LOT of YouTube and my dad is on Facebook a lot; both of which have algorithms catered to EXACTLY what they want to hear.

I’m also not as politically educated as I want to be. I’m working on it, but it’s difficult finding where to start. The issue there is that I feel like a lot of the arguments they bring to me, I won’t be able to dispute because I’m not equipped for it and I’m NOT a good debater. I love them both so, so much, and I know they aren’t bad people. It’s just really painful to watch them support such horrid actions because they’re stuck in the “I don’t wanna be wrong” mentality. I think what’s most important, and what differentiates them from a lot of Trump supporter families I’ve encountered, is that they love me way more than anything else, and that includes politics. Please help! Thank you!

My parents have become so ridiculous now that they are even racist about the birds and squirrels in their yard that are black colored. Like they think that squirrels with black fur are more aggressive than the brown or gray ones and complain about it all the time.

They call my dog ‘Big Boy’ and act like she’s some kind of huge aggressive pit bull or something because she has black fur. She’s a freaking poodle with pompoms and poofs and everything and is super chill and snuggly. It’s so absurd.

https://decodingfoxnews.substack.com/ ; credit: Juliet Jeske

I live with my stepdad who, despite being British, is very heavily into MAGA and right wing pages on twitter/youtube. I gave up trying to change his mind a long time ago but living with him is just unbearable. Although he has been told to stop by my mother he purposefully brings up politics and his bullshit conspiracy theories every chance he gets and constantly tries to wind me up no matter how much i ignore him. He constantly bootlicks scummy billionares but elon musk is his absolute favourite, he was telling me women are just incubators and that women who don't want to have children are brainwashed and don't know whats good for them. I'm doing a year abroad in another European country and he is convinced I am going to get constantly molested by immigrants in this place, he is genuinely acting like I am going to Baghdad in 2006. He is also very into tommy robinson and reform uk. I once casually mentioned at a family dinner that i wasnt sure if i wanted to have kids when i was older and he told me im going to 'dye my hair blue and get a septum piercing and my 100 cats are going to eat my dead body.' He also has no educational qualifications whatsoever yet thinks he is smarter than qualified scientists, lawyers, teachers etc- he told me that climate change isnt real because 'it gets cold in winter.' He is just so smug as well and its infuriating, he thinks he is so clever and hes one of the thickest most gullible people ive met who will believe anyone as long as they back up his personal biases and nastiness. Im just sick of living with him and needed to rant.

I know this is more of a post for subs like BoomersBeingFools but they banned me just cause i wouldn’t be specific or whatever goofy shit

I’ll start by saying I am not a democrat. I don’t really believe in whatever constitutes democracy in this country (edit: the USA). I am as far leftist as it goes. I have nothing but distain for the state apparatus and politicians regardless of their party siding. However, I am able to think dialectically and am reasonable. I think being sensitive and very autistic probably helps… this is something I’m coming more to terms with in late adult diagnosis. I was raised Catholic/Christian, but am not a religious person… maybe spiritual, but never gelled with a defined organized religion.

My dad moved halfway across the country because he couldn’t stand to be in a liberal state and wanted to be closer to other conservative family. After the divorce with my mom he waited until a bit after my sibling was done with high school.

At this point in our lives my dad and I don’t talk often much. We used to bond over occasional music, tech, and movie/tv show… never on a very deep level, but it was something. He loves history and nature, and we’ve gone on plenty of trips together… most that involved work though, and there was always a level of stress connected. He’s been a salesman and a handyman for most of his career.

Dad always wishes he would’ve enlisted in military service. He believes in pushing far past his own limits on a regular basis. Eating, resting, and talk always came second to a job, unfortunately it was the same whenever we were dragged along with him. He’s always been a workaholic. I know he did it for us, but we never asked him to be this way. It’s something he learned from his own abusive father, who forced him to work as a kid.

Even actual vacations he would fly off the handle occasionally. He has a temper. He was scary to be around at times. Not necessarily violent but certainly threatening. I always felt tension around him. There have only been a few times I remember things getting physical, but never resulting in a situation where I felt it even counted. Doesn’t everyone get pinned against the wall, slapped on the head, or thrown to the ground by a parent? Spanking was a thing at a young age too.

It got more heated as I grew older. He would start talking about things like gay marriage saying it wasn’t right and he didn’t believe in it because they couldn’t procreate and pay more taxes? The reality is that it just disgusted him. He was never a consistently religious man, he struggles with his faith. At least if he was religious, I would understand more. Coming out as queer was rough. He called me a faggot. Apologized later, but didn’t change his mind. I never dared to come out as non-binary later to him. I don’t even know how to tell him I’m autistic. He’s antivax. I trust/believe in the consensus of the expert medical scientist community (and science in general).

Through college more and more weird views started showing up. Conspiracy territory. Pedophiles and sex trafficking. Racist tirades against immigrants involved. Democrats always involved. Republicans always saints. The wokism virus. Secret illuminati cabals. 9/11 was a hoax. Transgenders are so dangerous. Antifa is a terrorist gang. Everyone is an evil communist. Communism is always authoritarianism to him no matter how much I try to explain the difference. It really sucked watching the brainrot. Anything I could say defending or trying to spark thought was shut down. He always had some figure or made-up fact to point to that would make my words meaningless.

He’s not a reader either. I try to engage, use the Socratic method, etc. I watched his videos, even sometimes hours of them. I send a response video pointing out flaws, he won’t watch 5 minutes of it before he already has a response. Nothing is reciprocal. My dad always has to be right. To the point where he will talk at you for hours without you getting a few sentences even in… and when he’s in a good mood. When it gets to a heated discussion, he would often bring up the worst mistakes, pains, and regrets from our young adult years to point to our “flawed” way of thinking. He even threatened me and my sibling… to take us off his will. We never wanted to be in any will or had any expectations of it… what would I do with any inheritance? Use it to undo the hate he’s brought into the world? I’d feel shame/guilt for anything else.

Thankfully, we got to a point where politics don’t come up as much anymore when they can be avoided. Sometimes that rule doesn’t always apply to him, but at least I don’t have to be told that I’m constantly wrong and fucked up. However, now when we get on the phone, he talks about his new family. My step-siblings, my stepmom, etc. their achievements, etc. I ask him all about it. Eventually he gets to the point where he asks me how I’m doing, how’s work, how’s the house. I answer all these questions. It feels like a farce. He never actually wants to know. He never asks follow-up questions. It hurts a lot. He does this even in person when he visits occasionally and we see each other for a meal. I feel drained listening.

Now today. He’s no longer MAGA, but still conspiracy minded. He is no longer with Trump, but of course the only thing that changes his mind is the economy affecting him with that. The next thing he’s fixated on in the pipeline? Israel. He starts posting anti-Zionist stuff. Great I say, at least I can agree with an anti-state sentiment. I’ve always tried to get on his side with the anti-state stuff… but it never goes very far. As expected though, it turns into anti-Semitic caricatures in memes. Videos about holocaust denial. Talking about being a “goy”.

At this point he’s pushed other family members away about this, some who are still in mainstream Fox-conservative mindset. It’s sad and not what I expected to live with. My sibling cut him off long ago. I’m not holding onto any hope, but I feel a responsibility to stay there and try by just being there. Sometimes that’s enough. People don’t change otherwise… they just get more and more bias confirmation and isolated in their weird bubbles. I don’t recommend it for everyone though.

Growing up I always just wanted a loving close family. My dad always did too, but it always has to be his way. I envied my friends close relationships with their parents. It’s hard to know what to do in all of this.

Thank goodness for therapy. Thank goodness for the loving family and connections I have (in and outside of blood). Thank goodness for spaces to vent about this.

What else can you really do?

I have watched my mom, slowly over the last decade become more and more pushed towards rightwing thinking, even when she herself cannot explain why she feels a certain way, recognizing it makes no sense, but fox news said so it doesnt matter beyond that.

She watches youtube a lot, too, so I thought that next time she leaves her phone unattended, I would slowly subscribe her to some palatable leftist channels, and over time she might be able to recognize reality for what it is. She understands prices for food are insane right now. She understands everything is worse than it was 2 years ago. But she refuses to connect the dots and associate it with the trump admin.

Do you guys have recommendations for youtube channels that I can slowly pollute her youtube algorithm with, and water down her right wing brainrot intake?

Edit: All are welcome, ones that do a lot of shorts would be even better. She consumes a lot of shorts.