The op-ed below does not necessarily reflect the views of the University Daily Kansan and its members.
Donald Trump, in his second term, has collected controversies like Pokemon. He has built his own personal army that has murdered American citizens, he has been implicated thousands of times in connection to deceased pedophile Jefferey Epstein, he has posted racist depictions of the Obamas as monkeys and he has done so many other things that I simply can’t recall at the moment because of how frequent the onslaught of news has become.
For any other president, just one of these stories would be career ending. Barack Obama once received backlash for wearing a tan suit! However, through it all, Trump maintains a dedicated fan base. His approval rating may be abysmal, but it isn’t anywhere near as low as it should be. I refuse to believe that 40% of Americans, if made to give their genuine honest opinion, truly agree with the direction that Trump is taking our country. I believe we have more good people than that.
This begs the question, then, why is it impossible for Trump to lose support? One of his only verifiably true statements seems to be his 2016 quote “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn’t lose any voters.”
I think the answer to this question is two-fold. First, America is dangerously misinformed. And secondly, our culture has made it too difficult to admit being wrong.
On the first point, we are no longer living in a monoculture of information. Partisan news outlets and internet echo chambers ensure that everyone sees and hears exactly what they want to. It’s quite possible that a lot of people simply don’t see coverage of the events that would help change their minds on Trump, or at the very least see incredibly biased coverage that gives them very little room for free-thinking interpretation.
I’ve recently gone on a social media cleanse where I unfollowed a lot of my favorite political pundits in favor of unbiased news reporting. I can attest that the information I receive and the way it’s presented to me have both been drastically changed. Without forcing myself to consume legitimate journalism, I would seldom come across a challenge to my pre-existing beliefs.
Apply that same concept to the average Trump voter, in a family of Trump voters, in a town of Trump voters, who get their opinions from Fox News and X. You could be the most naturally-inclined leftist in the world, but growing up with influences like that will keep you supporting Trump forever. After all, it’s common sense not to support domestic terrorists, violent criminals and fraudsters.
Therefore, I think a big part of the problem we’re facing now is that people simply don’t know about the worst controversies of the Trump administration. The Constitutional violations that keep some of us awake at night will never reach the news feed of others. And when they do, it will be in the form of a carefully synthesized conservative talking point.
The second part of the problem is that even when people do see what is happening, we have made it almost impossible to admit being wrong.
A popular narrative in anti-Trump online spaces is that anyone who voted red in 2024 is unforgivable. One TikTok with over 75 thousand likes states “don’t ever forgive anyone for voting for Trump in 2024.” The video claims that since “we’ve known how bad this guy is for 10 years,” it is “completely unacceptable” to have voted for him.
This is not at all a constructive narrative. It fundamentally undermines the entire resistance movement. We can’t forget that Trump won the popular vote in 2024 and every single swing state. Clearly his campaign did something right in convincing 77 million Americans to vote for him.
Anyone who voted for Trump but has since become fed up with his administration now has nowhere to go. Breaking away from MAGA and yet not being accepted by anyone else leaves the only option to be politically stranded.
Therefore, it can be social suicide to turn away from Trump. I strongly believe that the anti-Trump movement should become more forgiving and welcoming. After all, almost $2 billion went into Trump’s 2024 propaganda machine to influence American voters. We can hardly blame people for falling victim to political deceit and a well-run campaign.
Trump keeps his supporters because our culture separates people so distinctly into political camps and never lets them leave. Once you have become a Trump supporter, you are fighting an uphill battle to ever change. Not only does a partisan 24 hour news cycle constantly reaffirm your beliefs, but denouncing them requires humility and taking a huge social risk.
Countering MAGA populism requires forgiveness.
Mason Renner (masonrenner@ku.edu) is a freshman from Kansas City, MO, studying journalism with a minor in political science. His interests are politics, economics, and current events. He enjoys reading, writing, doing research, and sharing that passion with others.
This article was edited by Opinion Editor Arien Roman-Rojas. If the information in this article needs to be corrected, please contact arienroman@ku.edu.
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