How to talk to a Right-Wing friend who seems to want to prove you wrong.

[egbertowillies]

An exasperated listener to PDR asked if my book addressed how to talk to Right-Wing friends whose sole intent is to prove they are right. How do you get past that knee-jerk reaction?

https://egbertowillies.com/2021/04/15/how-to-talk-to-a-right-wing-friend-who-seems-to-want-to-prove-you-wrong/

[flying rabbit]

1. K&R nt

[DENVERPOPS]

2. Why bother ???????????????

Even easier, and what I have been forced to do, is get rid of all the Republican associates, friends, and relatives.

You aren't going to be able to convince them of a single thing, and their group is obviously and literally out to destroy all of us.

[Duppers]

6. That's been my strategy for the uneducated

Idiots.

[INdemo]

3. I usually ask my Republican friends:

Just what did Trump do to make America great? They don't have an answer
or their answer is usually along the lines of " Well he was a lot better that Obama"They just cant answer that.
Another one that gets them is "How many times when Obama was President did a Government official knock on your door demanding your Guns? Usually the answer is "never" and usually ad "and they better not try either"
My Dad told me before I was even old enough to vote ..."Dont even try to win an argument against a Republican".
"Just tell them they are full of shit" and move on

[GETPLANING]

4. I just say, "Oh really? I have not heard that."

Then I ask why they believe whatever it is they are trying to convince me of. Then I repeat, "Oh, really? I have not heard (or read) that anywhere."

[Duppers]

5. My hubby asked a neighbor where he had heard

...whatever nonsense he was spouting. The guy proudly said Faux News.

Hubby: "Well, they lie and your information is not true. Look it up."

3 days later they ran into each other again while walking the dogs. The neighbor, a retired Navy dentist, was honest enough to admit Faux was wrong.

So, in a very small percentage of the time, it works.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

7. Most of the right-wingers around here seem to...

... DEMAND answers all the time, like they'd prefer to take some magical "knowledge pills" rather than put much effort into it themselves.

I used to try to answer all of their, "Oh, yeah! What about THIS?" demands, but I don't play those games with them anymore. If they're stumped by a counter-argument, they no longer get to change topics until they can provide an answer themselves.

Edit: And their behavior is often like Spanish Inquisition judges. They might as well scream, "We're not the ones on trial! Only liberals like you are on trial!"

[heckles65]

8. The argument that outrages me is

"We're not a democracy, we're a Constitutional republic." If I ask them to explain it, they say our representatives vote on issues, we don't vote directly. I say no one is in favor of this. If I accuse them of believing white votes should count more than black votes, of course they bristle, but there simply is no other explanation.