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When Your Son Goes MAGA
The New York Times ^ | Jan. 19, 2025 | Callie Holtermann

Posted on 01/25/2025 8:10:40 PM PST by MinorityRepublican

It is easy for Alex Behr to gush about her son, Eli, whom she describes as a generous and thoughtful college junior who had a serious skateboarding phase.

It is much harder for her to talk about his politics. Ms. Behr, 59, is a Democrat in Portland, Ore., who voted enthusiastically for Vice President Kamala Harris in the November election. She and her ex-husband were appalled that Eli, 20, decided to cast his first vote in a presidential election this fall for Donald J. Trump.

When Eli brought a “Make America Great Again” hat home from college this summer, Ms. Behr threw it into the corner of his bedroom. They argued about guns, immigration and abortion, struggling to do so without permanently damaging their relationship.

“facts don’t matter to you,” Ms. Behr wrote in a moment of frustration during one text exchange about Mr. Trump’s legal battles. “love you. have a good day.”

A few months removed from Mr. Trump’s victory, the two have arrived at an impasse. Ms. Behr worries her son is being swayed by conservative opinions fed to him on YouTube and Instagram. Eli feels like he is simply learning to think for himself — a quality he admires in Mr. Trump.

“He’s not afraid to say what he thinks,” Eli said in an interview. “It seems like what he says is coming from him instead of coming from a big cabinet behind you, telling you what to say.”

Mr. Trump has for nearly a decade been a source of political divides within families, cleaving new fault lines along the way. In 2016, as younger voters leaned toward Hillary Clinton over Mr. Trump, it was easy to find left-leaning children loudly bemoaning the politics of their Trump-supporting parents, online and in the news.

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Humor; Society
KEYWORDS: alexbehr; callieholtermann; coollikebarron; enemieslist; enemyjournalist; fakenews; newyorkslimes; newyorktimes; nytsedition; portlandleftist
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To: dp0622
“Reagan is gonna take money away from all the poor people”

By definition, poor people are poor because they do not have much, if any, money.

61 posted on 01/26/2025 5:07:20 AM PST by newfreep ("There is no race problem...just a problem race")
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To: rlmorel

Conservatives is the new independent transgressiveness.

Lefties are old boring old hat or if young...wierd.


62 posted on 01/26/2025 5:07:35 AM PST by Chickensoup
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To: MinorityRepublican

“facts don’t matter to you,”

LMAO. Many choose the “facts” that agree with what they desire to believe. Whether those “facts” are real or made up just depends on the emotional weakness of the individual. Pragmatists want the truth while the delusional want affirmation and comfort regardless of what’s really true.


63 posted on 01/26/2025 5:08:07 AM PST by Rlsau1
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To: clee1

There is no worse fool than an old fool.


64 posted on 01/26/2025 5:08:35 AM PST by Repeat Offender (While the wicked stand confounded, call me with Thy saints surrounded.)
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To: Bloody Sam Roberts

A couple years ago my daughter was doing the online dating thing. One guy she was chatting with said that he was a democrat because his entire family were democrats.

She started discussing different issues and after a few weeks he wrote and said “I think I’m a Republican.”

That guy didn’t work out but she met her now husband on the same Christian dating site.


65 posted on 01/26/2025 5:11:01 AM PST by cyclotic (Don’t be part of the problem. Be the entire problem)
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To: MinorityRepublican

My parents never even nosed around or discussed who or what political persuasion I was.

We were brought up a certain way and what I thought came naturally.

There was a time when I was about 18, I almost fell for the bleeding heart BS and the democrat slogans, but it never took hold.

I like honest and straight talk and don’t care for liars. Obviously, not of the left.

This woman is silly but she is probably one of those crazed Karens with TDS.


66 posted on 01/26/2025 5:14:12 AM PST by dforest
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To: MinorityRepublican

“Mr.” Trump has been the source of divide?

Maybe their son didn’t want to be fodder for a boots-on-the-ground war with Russia.


67 posted on 01/26/2025 5:25:59 AM PST by Ge0ffrey
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To: Harmless Teddy Bear

She’s a liberal. None of them will think being a “decent person” (by a conservatives definition) is success.

Liberals really care what their children believe (most conservatives have your opinion). It’s why they’re so adamant about being involved in schools.
This kid has rejected his upbringing and therefore in her opinion has personally rejected her. Don’t be surprised if mom and dad throw him out of their lives.


68 posted on 01/26/2025 5:26:05 AM PST by Varda
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To: Sirius Lee

Boy, I bet she hated the Reagan era.


69 posted on 01/26/2025 7:23:17 AM PST by princeofdarkness
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To: MinorityRepublican

…it’s a good indication he’s not an idiot…


70 posted on 01/26/2025 7:32:14 AM PST by TalBlack (Time to use the Law and the Power. Good luck Mr. President.)
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To: Bloody Sam Roberts
LOL!

A couple of years ago my mom told me, "I am so glad you did not marry a democrat. It makes having you both over so much nicer."

71 posted on 01/26/2025 8:54:36 AM PST by Harmless Teddy Bear ( Not my circus. Not my monkeys. But I can pick out the clowns at 100 yards.)
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To: cyclotic
Awesomeness.

Was it Calvin Coolidge who was confronted on the campaign trail ages ago...who said, "My grandfather was a Democrat, my father was a Democrat. What do you think that makes me, sir?"
Coolidge...in his usual frugality of words replied, "An ass."

72 posted on 01/27/2025 6:58:56 AM PST by Bloody Sam Roberts (Perfection is impossible. But if you pursue perfection...you may achieve excellence.)
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