I get the desire to set disagreements aside for the holidays. I understand the importance of family. But at this moment, I reject avoiding a subject that envelops virtually every aspect of our lives.
Trump gives presidential turkey pardon to Gobble and Waddle
President Donald Trump gave the annual presidential turkey pardon to two birds, Gobble and Waddle.
With Thanksgiving, we have reached the season of: “Oh, we just don’t talk about politics.” For many, that’s the best or only way to deal with relatives who still support President Donald Trump and his increasingly unpopular MAGA movement.
I understand the desire to set disagreements aside for the holidays. I understand the importance of family. But at this moment in history, I wholly reject avoiding a subject that, thanks to Trump’s extremism and unquenchable thirst for attention, envelops virtually every aspect of our lives.
Not talking politics with your MAGA relatives is letting them off the hook. When a president is routinely bombing boats in international waters, ordering masked federal agents to round up hardworking immigrant families and sidestepping Congress while slapping tariffs on countries willy-nilly, those who disagree with such things have a responsibility to speak up. Staying quiet in the interest of feigned comity over a meal, under the present circumstances, seems an unreasonable luxury.
You can love your relatives and still disagree. You can ask questions about the state of America under Trump without raising your voice. (If they want to, that’s on them.)
At Thanksgiving, you should talk politics. It matters.
So if you find yourself in the presence of Trump supporters on Thanksgiving or at any point during the holidays, here are some questions worth asking, starting with this vitally important one: How is your life better under Donald Trump? Be specific, please.
Grocery prices have increased, electricity prices have gone up more than 10% since Trump took office again, U.S. consumer sentiment in November fell to a near-record low, and millions of Americans are facing spiking insurance premiums thanks to Republicans allowing Affordable Care Act subsidies to expire.
Are any of those things making your life better?
Citing AAA data, CNN reported Nov. 25: “The national average for regular gas stood at $3.055 on Tuesday, almost exactly the same as $3.056 a year ago under former President Joe Biden.” That’s not better.
Ask MAGA relatives how immigration roundups help them
Have Trump’s sweeping immigration raids improved your life or made you feel safer?
A Nov. 25 New York Times report noted that “special agents at the Homeland Security Department have made fewer arrests for drug crimes and seized fewer weapons than they did the previous fiscal year, according to internal government documents.”
And a Nov. 16 report, also in The Times, found: “Fewer than 40 percent of people detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement … have a criminal conviction, according to a Times analysis. Roughly 8 percent of those arrested had been convicted of a violent crime, while about 9 percent had a traffic conviction.”
Are the often-violent public arrests we’re seeing, along with the arrests of U.S. citizens caught up in immigration sweeps, making you feel better, or safer? Is the sight of U.S. National Guard troops on the streets of American cities improving your life?
Is Trump making your life better, or just making the lives of others worse?
What has gotten better for you?
Does seeing life made harder for transgender people and the parents of transgender children make your life easier? Are you glad to see the East Wing of the White House demolished without public input to make way for a $300 million ballroom? Do you like seeing Trump’s attacks on “suspected” drug boats in international waters, or his military buildup in the Caribbean that suggests potential attacks on Venezuela?
Is that America first? Are any of those things helping you or your family?
Don’t let Trump-supporting relatives pretend Trump is popular
Do you recognize that Trump is wildly unpopular? It’s so bad that Fox News’ website had a headline Nov. 19 that read: “Voters say White House is doing more harm than good on economy.”
The political polling website FiftyPlusOne has Trump’s average approval rating at 39.6% and his disapproval rating at 56.7%.
Do those sound like the numbers of a successful president? Of a president who is working to make the lives of all Americans better?
Trump has certainly done a lot to improve his own life
One person whose life has been made better is President Donald Trump. According to Forbes, Trump has added $3 billion to his personal fortune over the past year. Along with his fancy White House ballroom, Trump recently said he’s getting golfer Jack Nicklaus to help him revamp the golf courses at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. And Trump has covered the White House in so many gold fixtures it’s starting to resemble one of Saddam Hussein’s palaces.
It is all, quite simply, ridiculous. It is all quite indecent and immoral. So if your inclination is to smooth out Thanksgiving or any other holiday by “not talking about politics,” I beg you to stiffen your spine and not give MAGA relatives a pass. Ask the questions. Use the information above. Politely, calmly hold their feet to the fire.
In less than a year under Trump’s second presidency, we have seen things many Americans never thought could happen in this country. And the chaos is growing. This is no time for silence.
Love your family. Be thankful. But above all, be honest, and demand no less from the people who share your table.
Follow USA TODAY columnist Rex Huppke on Bluesky at @rexhuppke.bsky.social and on Facebook at facebook.com/RexIsAJerk