A small business owner who voted for Donald Trump recently posted a video on TikTok, pleading for help as crushing tariffs on China threatened to bankrupt his operation, which imports alloy wheels. His call for support, however, drew little sympathy from some fellow Americans.
“Votes have consequences,” he was told, with many comments from Twitter/X users relishing the notion that another MAGA voter was suffering because of their political choice. The backlash prompted a second video from the man, in which he dropped several F-bombs while criticizing the apparent heartlessness of those celebrating his hardship.
The message the left is getting is “fuck you, we’re going to kiss this bigot’s ass because we would rather him have his way and murder your friends than ever do anything you want.”
Can you explain for how showing compassion for someone means you have to kiss their ass? You keep putting words in my mouth because you want to argue with me. At this point I am beginning to wonder if you’re a fascist just pretending not to understand this point to waste my time.
Can you explain why there’s sympathy for this bigot that doesn’t exist for the left?
If I were a fascist, you would listen.
Okay, now it’s clear that you’re just arguing with me for the sake of arguing with me. In the long run, I can only hope that my argument sinks in, and you consider acting with more compassion in the future, even if you can’t acknowledge in this moment that you were wrong.
I can only hope that one day you’ll treat the left better than you treat the right.
How am I mistreating the left?
We’re talking across each other, not to each other. Whenever I see this “make nice with bigots” shit, and that’s all it is, I can’t help but notice that it’s always a fucking prelude to moving to the right again.
The left needs assurances that this won’t happen, and they will never get them because it’s just going to happen again.
I have been trying to talk to you for over half a dozen comments, but you keep treating me like I am some enemy. I totally understand that feeling of seeing the overton window shift towards the right and you are absolutely correct that there are liberal institutions who push that “well, let’s be civil, and hear them out” bullshit. That’s NOT what I’m saying. That’s never been my position, but you keep treating me as though it is.
I’m saying we need to keep pushing back, hard, against the right wing, in any way we can, but the reality is that cruelly dunking on conservatives who are suffering the consequences of their political project doesn’t help, and that it is counter-productive to the overall goal of defeating them. That has been my entire point in this entire conversation and it is honestly driving me crazy that you can’t engage with it.
That’s because I consider your messaging to enable those same institutions.
And I’m saying that this has never been a concern when there’s hostility toward the left and understanding toward the right.