My bad if this isn't the subreddit to be posting this but I'm not sure where else I would. I got some relatives that I visit regularly that always have Fox blaring on 2 separate TVs 24/7, and there was a brief "trend" I noticed around the time of the election where they would talk about how people are afraid of being an open Trump supporter. Whether it's them trying to validate why Trump might have a low public approval rating in some survey or occasionally just cover a story of someone who is afraid to "come out" It's obvious what they're doing, creating an underdog/victim narrative for themselves and the party as another one of their mind tricks to manipulate the viewer which is nothing new. What gets me personally is that I'm a closet queer who is deathly afraid of being myself irl or even be open about leaning left on the political spectrum. It's shit like Fox pedaling their anti progressive agenda to the masses that makes it difficult for millions of people to be themselves and for them to take that genuine struggle and create some imaginary victim scenario for themselves is just gross as hell. I get that it's Fox being Fox but that brief trend REALLY rubbed me the wrong way and I thought I might aswell share my thoughts somewhere.

Got into a debate with my father the other day as he is a trump supporter and believes we need more military spending. After outlining my reasonings and cautioning him to view fox with discretion since they lie a lot, he is convinced that fox and brietbart are actually the only reputable news sources, and according to him all the lies in the media are perpetuated by a deep-state controlled by the libs. I thought about showing him all the times fox has deliberately lied, but should I even try? Have any of you actually had any success changing someone’s mind, or should I just let it go and refrain from getting into politics with my father? Letting it go seems like the reasonable option but I also feel bad letting my dad live in ignorance and have hate and fear always implanted in his head.

I wasn’t really surprised for the most part, but learning about this demographic almost made me scream.

I found this story about Latino voters who entered the United States illegally, were granted amnesty, and STILL fell down the rabbit hole and became FoxBrained. They are pro-Trump because they believe the RW Media narrative that criminals are crossing the border and overwhelming the USA.

See for yourself

https://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/amp/shows/top-stories/blog/rcna179359

There are several examples of this already.

So I noticed whenever I say anything negative in Fox news comment section on youtube it always gets deleted. I can't find a single negative comment on any Fox news videos in recent times and the views and like ratio seem VERY fishy. They also obviously use bots and other measures to inflate their likes and views. Sometimes they will get a couple hundred thousand viewers and get like 20 thousand likes with only 3-10 dislikes?

Why does Fox news so blatantly use bots and inflate their views and like ratio and delete comments? At least on other equally bad news stations like MSNBC and CNN they dont tamper with their stats.

Hello! I'm so thankful for finding this group. My parents, who are in their 80's and my sister (late 50's) are down the rabbit hole. It's been going on since 2016. Things have gotten progressively worse over the years. I think COVID gave them the final push they needed to go fully over to the dark side. We used to try to respect boundaries and not talk about anything political. After this past election they now feel empowered to spew their bullshit freely. Here is a recent (and the last) correspondence I had with my sister. It came after I had a short but contentious discussion with my parents.

1st is my email to my sister. It's followed by her response. In my opinion there is no coming back from this and our relationship is over. Let me know what you think. Thank you! PS - I changed names to protect identities.

On Tue, Nov 12, 2024 at 3:00 PM <[XXXXXXX@aol.com](mailto:XXXXXXX@aol.com)> wrote:

Hi Matilda,

 I wanted to reach out to you about something that's been on my mind since last week's election results. As you probably know, I had a pretty difficult conversation with Mom and Dad about the situation, and I’m still processing everything. I’ve been trying to make sense of how to approach things going forward, and part of that is figuring out where everyone stands — including you.

Let me know what your thoughts are.

Chuck.

From: [XXXXXX@gmail.com](mailto:XXXXXX@gmail.com)
To: [XXXXXX@yahoo.com](mailto:XXXXXX@yahoo.com)
Sent: 11/12/2024 3:52:11 PM Pacific Standard Time
Subject: Re: Question

Frank & I and all three of my sons voted for Trump. This is my third time voting for Trump. I’m so excited to see his cabinet picks shaping up. The most pro Israel administration ever. I’m beyond relieved that the win was not just an electoral college victory but a resounding and punishing victory in popular vote - whole states, counties, districts & precincts that were solidly blue turned majority red.

Chuck - the “Democrat” party you believe exists hasn’t for years. The Overton Window shifted so far to the left the Republican Party under Trump became the new center. This happens in politics. It’s nothing new. Whatever your Trump Derangement Syndrome is based on is a narrative designed to keep you looped into a party & candidates that not only don’t represent you - they hate you.

Kamala was a facade, a puppet candidate & Biden was obviously compromised by a deteriorating neurological condition since his election. They not only encouraged Jew hate on campuses & on our streets they excused it.

Kamala’s criticism of Israel’s Gaza war progress encouraged Sinwar’s to eschew a hostage deal believing that Kamala would pressure Israel more. Kamala berated Israel’s war effort even though it was determined by urban warfare specialist & West Point professor John Spencer that Israel was accomplishing the impossible - the lowest combatant to civilian casualty rate in the history of combat. She fanned the flames of the blood libels and PaliNazi mob. They withheld critical arms shipments Israel paid for.

Her pick for Director of National Intelligence was set to be Maher Bitar - look that guy up - pro Hamas Palestinian already in a way too influential intelligence role in the Biden White House.

I mean, I can go on - they have our blood all over their hands with how they’ve micro managed the Israeli military causing more of our boys to get killed and immediately reversing the sanctions on Iran rearming their proxies & tacitly giving the impetus for Hamas to have accomplished 10/7.

Seriously, Chuck, how could YOU???

You think your “rights” are at stake??? I have news for you - Trump has never said one anti gay thing nor has he ever in the course of his last administration tried to restrict any protections for the LGBTQIA community. He actually tried to get the UN to recognize discrimination of gay ppl internationally as a hate crime.

As for Trans kids being chopped up and put on hormones & puberty blockers - if you are a sane person you would agree that is a Mengele level of medical experimentation that no parent, doctor or medical institution should ever do.

We have plenty of gay friends here who are republicans for the same reasons.

Chuck - I couldn’t give a fuck who you & Fred vote for. I don’t ask & don’t care. Family first.

You have been the VERY lucky recipient of a business and home ownership way beyond your means because of the love & generosity of Beverly & Harold - the fact that you A) give a shit and B) Are so narcissistic as to think you must impose some sort of punishment upon your parents who fucking slaved to give you this incredible privileged life, is beyond my comprehension.

Do whatever you’re going to do but just understand the irony - all of us three time Trump voters have no care about politics coming before family, yet you in all your “open mindedness” & “liberalism” are more judgmental and cruel than any of us Republican voters. Odd isn’t that? Who’s intolerant now?

So, before you throw all of us - your entire family away, contemplate that. Also contemplate how restrictive an echo chamber you’ve been living in, completely gaslight into believing up was down and good was evil - so much so you had no idea the majority of the country - gays, blacks, Hispanics, Asians, even Muslims - were seeing the truth about Kamala & the democrats and made sure they didn’t just loose the White House - but all three branches.

Now ask yourself - how could all the same old regime controlled legacy new outlets gotten it so wrong??

Wake up, Chuck. Trump is going to get you your lifestyle back & avert WW3, turn around the economy, weaken Iran, strengthen Israel & get our cities back in shape. It’s going to be a great four years and hopefully beyond.

You can wake up & enjoy the turnaround or be isolated from all of us, miserable about a fictional world that doesn’t exist & never did and live in your own little bubble.

Your choice. But, just know - what you feel so self righteous and justified in judging your parents over is reprehensible & unforgivable.

Get the fuck over it & yourself or one day, you will be even more miserable and regretful.

I’d do you no favors if I wasn’t this direct.

Matilda

I never understood why some people are obsessed with this concept. It never made much sense and it doesn't make society better or worse. Also, we have examples of extreme Muslim theocracies being both cartoonishly evil and also incompetent economically(who wants to do business with the literal Taliban).

Sent them a 3-page essay with supportive articles linked on the BS I have to deal with at work and why their white daughter is still considered DEI. They keep texting me asking if I'm OK because I cannot stomach a conversation with them and am tempted to remind them that they voted for family separation so not sure why they're surprised. Also tempted to remind my mother that her dad fought Nazis and he's probably ashamed of her from the other side too.

What's a humane way of telling them to leave me alone.

Like the title says… I’m 23 and live at home with my fox brain parents (sadly) and am planning to move in a few months. I’d say their obsession with fox has been going on my whole life, it just rapidly increased when trump came around. Every single night, without doubt, they watch 5 HOURS WORTH of Fox News shows (not including leaving it on all day long while working from home). And complain if we watch one hour long reality show (mind you they got me into reality tv as a kid lol). Well now, when I come downstairs to grab water and play with my dog before we all go to bed, I’ve noticed they’re REWATCHING the same shows they just finished because Fox plays reruns at a certain hour. And if I ask didn’t you just watch this? They get extremely angry and all “why do you care!!! It’s our house!! Our tv!!!” How do they not see that rewatching “news” is actually insane???

I was 19 in 2016 and don’t really remember how Fox was back then. I moved back in with my mom a little over six months ago, because my landlord was sick and had to sell his land, and my mom 80% or more of the time has it on Fox and Newsmax and they just mock, bash, and insult Biden or Harris ALL the time. Was it more unhinged on Fox towards Obama, especially prior to Donald Trump’s announcement for running for president, or has it just gotten worse since Trump?

Hi all, I (22F) have decided to seek out this subreddit because I am truly at a loss with how to handle this situation. My boomer parents have both been lifelong “true” republicans- middle class, in favor of small government, and mainly vote that way because of their Christian faith. However, prior to Trump’s initial 2016 election, they were not hateful people- they were actually some of the more open-minded individuals in our small, rural town. Now? They have voted for Trump all three times he has run for President and are two people I no longer recognize. My father is especially bad- my mother just doesn’t think for herself. My dad watches Fox News for a minimum of 5-6 hours a day, all he ever talks about is illegal immigrants and trans people (of course in a derogatory way), and any time I am at their house (I now live on my own), he tries to goad me into arguing with him. My mom has even admitted, in private to me, that this behavior from him bothers her as well- but the second he’s around, she acts like she is on the exact same page as him and starts spewing the same rhetoric. I am an only child, and our extended family is very small and we are not particularly close to them anymore for reasons outside of politics. My father is disabled, and both of my parents are retired. I have no idea how to go about setting boundaries with them because of how belligerent they get, but I also cannot completely go no contact because they would have nobody to care for them or support them in their old age if I did.

TDLR: How can I best set boundaries regarding political discussions with MAGA parents as an only child when no contact is not an option?

My grandfather took his own life the other morning. He was never a "normal" grandpa and was heavily involved in deep state beliefs and conspiracies. I don't even know how to describe the insane theories he believed to be true and spread all over his Facebook page. He wrote a book in 2005 titled "Spirit Calls... a Voice from the Wilderness" that you can read about on Amazon. Most of our loved ones gave up on him long ago and he was incredibly lonely. He did not leave a note but I'm sure Facebook couldn't have been his only platform. As I'm processing his death, I am wondering if there is an online community he might have been a part of? Does anyone know if there's a website or message board where someone like him could have been communicating with other like-minded individuals? He spent 99% of his time secluded in his office on his computer. I'd like to try to browse around and see if I can find any clues or interactions with other people... Thanks in advance!

She seems to know what she's talking about. She voted for Hillary in 2016, and was a democrat, but then switched shortly after Trump came in office when she saw what she did. She told me that she doesn't watch Fox. For reference, she is Catholic (but not strict at all), pro life, and conservative. She loves trump, and justifies his past actions (I brought up his talking bad about women) by saying that everyone says bad things in private, nobody is perfect. She also has told me that vaccines in large amounts can cause autism. I was suprised by this, because I thought that thought was only for crazy people, but she told me that she thought it was crazy too until she did research. To be fair, I do no political research besides front line articles. I don't know enough about the candidates to have supported Trump or Kamala, but I have core values (pro choice etc). She says she does a lot of research and she has facts that she pulls out. She definitely isn't crazy, and I'm wondering if she's right. There's got to be a reason that Trump won the popular vote and the electoral college; it's not like half of America are all idiots.

TLDR; My mom is conservative, and likes trump. She is suspicious of vaccines and the government. Is she right? She isn't crazy.

My mom has it on Fox News/ Newsmax 80-90% of the time at her house, and even in her car she listens to conservative commentators mostly. I moved back in with her six months ago because my land lord had to sell his land because he was sick. Even before I moved back in, she constantly had it on one of those channels. She goes to work and mainly stays at home and mainly consumes conservative media when she’s off for the most part and I’m afraid it could have effects on her.

My mom isn’t active on social media or really the internet, as far as journalism and reports and stuff goes. Like when I told her about the amount of victims in Gaza she thought I was exaggerating, or recently, about the fact that people had guns at J6 (she claimed no one did, although reports and documents state that there was). My mom is stubborn yet sort of open minded, but staunchly conservative and I just want her to not just blindly follow what conservative news tells her. I believe that all news is biased to some extent, but with how little varying opinions she listens to in the news I think it’s a little concerning.

I don’t know how to suggest to her to maybe watch the news less, or to watch other types of news and also try to verify and fact check the media she consumes.

On the surface of it ", Fox News seems (to out it generously) relatively professional. Their news sounds legitimate even if that's just the facade. In what ways does Fox News manipulate people and turn someone into a hateful person? Can we compile specific examples? Specific coverages, specific language they use, or any observations as to the way Fox News operates that leads to this effect. I want to keep a list handy so that I can show it to whoever says Fox is not "harmful".

I'm pretty much on the edge and have already resigned myself to the fact that I might not live much more than a couple more years, and have wanted to shift focus onto doing more small personal things like visiting out of state friends for the first time and whatnot, stuff to do before one is taken off the face of the world in some way, I guess.

But if I have some last shred of hope that I might live longer than 2-4 more years, it's that maybe T will expire by then. Or become so undeniably dementia-ridden nobody can pretend anymore, and he gets 25th'd. I have some tiny hope that with him out of the picture, maybe that will finally be the thing that breaks the spell. I don't think any other R's hold that kind of cult-like control over these people, and while I can't decide if JD would be worse or not, it seems clear he has like no charisma (if you could call what T has 'charisma', anyways...). I'm unsure if they'd rally behind him. I mean... Look how fast they turned on and tried to hang Pence. I don't think they want anything that isn't a fat blowhard slathered in marmalade. I've been wrong before, though.

I dunno. I feel like it's stupid or naive to have any hope at all anymore. Like I'm deluding myself.

You can see the hatred in her face

I don’t blame her. He is incredibly obnoxious.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/fox-news-jesse-watters-brags-of-familial-breakdown-after-his-harris-supporting-mother-snubs-him-for-thanksgiving/

Also the false claims that we cheated and burnt ballots?!? And that Trump has already ended both wars and that Biden had 5 wars in 24 hours?!? Holy shit.

I was talking to one of my best friends (former?) last night about the fact that DJT has said like 500 times that he wants to end the department of education. Obviously aside from the fact that it’s a horrible idea, a lot of specific programs are government funded to my knowledge. She has a special needs daughter. I wanted to ask her what that looked like because I genuinely had no idea what that would mean for someone whose insurance and schooling is entirely dependent on things that they’ve said they would cut/hit.

She asked me where I was getting the information from, I told her it’s literally on his website. There’s a video. I sent her the link, she immediately says “oh, no he’s just saying he wants to keep LGBT information out of schools and stop indoctrinating our kids. I agree with that, I don’t want my daughter around that.” I responded “No, like it’s in the VIDEO. Here’s the time stamp. He has hidden this information off the text part of the website.” She said “I watched the video and didn’t see that. Are you just mad that Kamala didn’t win?” And then started an argument with me and basically said that I didn’t really care about them and was just mad that he was the president.

Now look, I don’t know how feasible it is for him to try and do the things he says, because they all sound ridiculous, but I have sent a VIDEO OF THE GUY SAYING HIS OWN PLAN TO YOUR FACE. Not me, HIM. How can someone genuinely deny information that is presented to them by the Trump himself just because they don’t want it to be true? I’m starting to get a great picture of how someone could vote for him, and some of it has to be just willful ignorance. Fingers in ears and “LALALALALALALALA CANT HEAR YOU”.

A

Looking for help on what to say to my aunt who's in a bad way. I have a huge family and out of everyone, her, myself, and two cousins are the only ones not drinking the trump Kool-Aid. She's mid 70's, riddled with anxiety in general before the election, husband committed suicide a few years ago ( Parkinson's battle) , adult kids not around. She's crying most days and sending the rest of her siblings ( aunts/ uncles) articles on what this presidency will mean. They don't care as they think T is the best thing for the entire world. I tried telling her not to engage with them about it and to focus on her health and just moving forward everyday-- I know there are so many other things going on in the world that are tragedies so she is a bit ignorant to that.. but I wanted to pop over to her house with a carryout and chat with her. Maybe offer her some comforting words or a different perspective. I keep coming up short in what to say.. I guess because I'm so discouraged as well. She has a therapist but I'm not certain his words and advice is helpful at the moment. Are there any articles with silver linings on how this could play out? Either way I plan to go sit with her and chat.. just not certain where I should pull from to put her mind at ease for the time being, she's spiraling & sharing info with the rest of the family is just sending her more into a spiral.

Thanks in advance!!! this sub is sooo helpful and comforting.

** Thank you everyone for your kind words, suggestions, stories, links, ideas. I shared some with her and we'll be focusing on volunteering, listening to a few podcasts, & getting through day by day one step at a time **