How Trump Changed Republicans

[spiritbx]

The thing about ideological beliefs that didn't stem from logic and rationality is that it's the same as cheering for a sport team for them. There's no integrity or thought behind any of it, they just cheer for w/e they think they are supposed to.

[_cloudface_]

*The past was alterable. The past never had been altered. Oceania was at war with Eastasia. Oceania had always been at war with Eastasia.*
George Orwell, 1984

[sammarchant]

This has been incredibly frustrating for somebody who was a Republican before and has remained consistent on these issues.

[fancyfree]

We've always been at war with Eurasia.

[Electricshrock]

Seems to me that increased suspicion of and hostility towards Russia is pretty consistent with Russian actions on the world stage, not a mere byproduct of political tribalism. It's those who have envisioned Putin as their savior from Wokeism or some shit that have their blinders on.

[vcuheel]

A lot of views on Russia changed when they invaded Ukraine.

[dakrisis]

If 'winning' is the most important part of your election cycles, there's something wrong with your implementation of democracy. Some places call for absolute competition, running the government is not one of them.

[lordheaviside]

I think the Russia example is different, because in other countries the soft-on-Russia liberal parties also forcefully pivoted to a strong anti-Russia position after the invasion of Ukraine. In many European and North American countries this is bipartisan while Republicans in the US are much softer on Russia because of their cult leader’s connections to and predilections towards Putin.

[pb]

As a lifelong conservative Republican I have observed this as well. The willingness of my party to completely bow to a grifter just to “win” is frightening. Tens of millions of Republicans like me are voting blue to stop this nonsense.

[IFYOUWANTITGOGETIT]

People will believe anything if you say it with enough confidence

[SophiaAphrodite]

The thing is. Democrats have never been soft on Russia. Both parties were hardliners. It is the GOP who flipped

[blackfangofargentina]

The scariest part about this in my opinion comes from a Destiny quote

"If someone didn't use logic to arrive at a position, it's near impossible to use logic to convince them the position is wrong"

[geico]

And it's so damn shocking to me as an American. I was born in 1975, I cannot believe most Republicans have a softer opinion on Russia than the one I grew up witnessing. Amazing! Just WOW! 😊

[trevorguy]

Alex, the least you could do is name the guest and leave a link to the full video in a pinned comment or the description for those interested in watching it. Basic YouTube stuff man.

[chrism]

Because people with right leaning tendencies value authority and falling in line above everything else. Thats the reason, when you boil it down people who lean right value strength for strengths sake and bow to the leader, thats it.

[adam_p]

You’re giving Trump fans way too much credit, assuming they even know what free trade means. They don’t follow policies, the follow anti dems. It’s now tribal.

[christopher]

Kind of a false equivalency about Russia. Democrats never became "warmongers" as he said about Russia. They just adopted a less conciliatory stance. Kind of weird to use such inflammatory language to describe a predictable reaction to a country running information attacks on the country.

[mark_tapia]

Loved this whole interview. Very pragmatic view of democracy.

[kevdaag]

Then again, there are those of us who don't change our minds when the wind blows.

[merdufer]

Free trade was advantageous when America dominated the global market, but when America lost that domination, protectionism suddenly looked pretty rosy. Donald Trump was only there at the right time. The same goes for Russia. Trump has a good instinct for things people want to hear that are unspoken. That's the basis for his political success.