How Not to Convert a Trump Supporter
There I sat enjoying a margarita in a hot tub filled with vacationers on a warm Mexican night.
The hot tub was a melting pot of Americans, from the east coast, west coast and midwest.
It was just after dinner and people were already a few margs deep.
Inevitably, someone had to bring it up.
“Can you believe what’s going on with this election?!”
Cue everyone pouring on…
“OMG It’s insane!”
“I can’t believe Trump is actually doing so well!”
“I’m moving to Canada if he wins.”
The gentleman from the midwest sat quietly for a several minutes before dropping the bomb. “I’m actually a trump supporter.”
Eruption.
“ARE YOU SERIOUS?!”
“HAVE YOU BEEN LISTENING TO HIM?! HE’S SEXIST AND RACIST”
“HOW CAN YOU POSSIBLY VOTE FOR HIM?!”
His response was simple. It was the response we’ve all heard time and time again from Trump supporters.
“I don’t know… I like that he speaks his mind.”
That’s it. That’s all he was looking for in a candidate. Someone who felt refreshing in a sea of politicians.
The hot tub went on barraging the guy for a while after and I couldn’t help but think… this is by far the worse way to convince someone not to be a Trump supporter.
It was a watered down version of what happens online when someone expresses support for Trump. The natural reaction is to assume they’re racist scum and it’s your duty to let them know.
True, some Trump supporters are racist. Some are sexist. Some are in the KKK. We’re not going to convince those people to change their minds.
But many Trump supporters aren’t all those things. Many Trump supporters are just people who are enamored by the idea of “change” and they like to see someone with a fresh approach running for office.
That’s it. It’s that simple. These are the people we need to convince.
But you’re not going to convince them by arguing policy. They usually have no idea what his policies are. As Clay Shirky put it, “We’ve brought fact-checkers to a culture war.” They’re voting based on emotion.
Clay’s breakdown of the state of this election is spot on. Hillary will not win this election the way things stand now. Liberals view themselves as the majority and have been assuming that there’s just no way he can actually win.
He can. And he will. And the only way he won’t is if we recognize that we’re in the minority and start putting some sweat into making damn sure Trump doesn’t win.
One way to do that is to help people who are leaning toward the Trump side of the fence change their minds.
Here’s how you don’t make someone change their mind about Trump:
- tell them they’re stupid
- call them racist and sexist
- make them out to be bad people
- argue details of policy
In fact all of those things will have the opposite effect. We know that humans have a cognitive bias that makes it really hard to change our minds once we’ve made a choice. If someone has already formed an identity as a Trump supporter, any attack on Trump becomes an attack on their identity. It puts them on the defensive and will actually make them a stronger supporter.
It’s the same reason deporting Muslims will only drive more people to join ISIS. Make a group of people feel misunderstood and isolated, and they’ll seek out a place that makes them feel welcome and that understands their struggle.
If you want to convince someone not to be a Trump supporter, you can only do that with trust.
Listen to them. Don’t attack them. Aim to understand their core beliefs that brought them to support Trump. Once you truly understand their values and what’s important to them, it shouldn’t be too hard to poke holes in the trump argument that claims to be able to create that change.
First earn their trust by aiming to understand. Then take away the trust they have in Trump by pointing out the holes.
Now the problem is, most people who are anti-trump don’t actually know many trump supporters. Liberals cluster together geographically, and thanks to our customized social media feeds we only really hear from other liberals.
Maybe it’s time we stop ranting to each other and start seeking out other viewpoints.
