I had my first experience like this a few weeks ago. It was.... Jarring https://twitter.com/rodimusprime/status/1318632879103107072

In the years since Trump got into office there have been tons of podcasts, think pieces & threads by black people talking about how this presidency has exposed white people whom they considered to be 'friends' as latent bigots or at least tolerant of Trump's bigotry.

I had NEVER had this experience. My white friends are politically engaged and while some may be conservatives or Republicans I had never had the experience of their politics causing me to re-evaluate the relationship. Until last week....

I "had" key being "had" one white friend who voted for Trump in 2016. I honestly didn't care because he was a die hard Republican and was going to vote his party no matter what. We talk more about comic books and Super heroes than politics so his vote choice never came up

He also knows what I do for a living so debating me or arguing with me about politics is kindof a fools errand. Either way a week ago he sends this text with a conservative cartoon poking fun at Joe Biden. I was annoyed because it was in a thread about Star Trek Discovery I think

I texted him:
"Dude are you seriously going to vote for Trump again in 2020?"
His response:
"That's a really complicated question with an even more complicated answer"

He proceeded to explain how he didn't like Trump personally, didn't always agree with him, but felt like Joe Biden was too liberal for his tastes and didn't want encourage socialism in America. Mind you, this guy grew up in farm country where government support is common

I pointed out how Trump was doing a horrible job w/ #COVID and had been calling on white nationalists to disrupt polling places. Didn't matter. He believed that Trump's Non-plan for COVID was better than Biden's potential plan for COVID

This was a relatively short exchange but I was shocked because I was finally having one of those oft reported "How do I interact with my white friend after this TRUMP conversation?" talks that I used to make fun of people for struggling with. Mind you my struggle wasn't long

I didn't care if he voted for Republicans or Trump. That's his right. What annoyed me was gaslighting about the kind of job that Trump is doing and the president's open threats to the lives of black people in America. He was too smart to give me the BS answers he was giving

If you vote for Trump because he'll keep your taxes low. Then just say that, don't pretend that he hasn't botched #COVID or provoked violence against black people or is suppressing the vote. That pretty much ended the conversation & friendship for me.

Maybe for some people this is a real struggle, but I can tolerate almost anybody's opinions as long as they're well thought out. The moment you're blowing smoke up my nose to rationalist Trump? We're done. Politics isn't a game for black folks in 2020, it's life and death