There’s still time to talk to our Trump-supporting friends and family. Two facts keep the effort worthwhile.

First, it’s important to remember that many Trump supporters live in an information bubble with Fox News and many other conservative voices keeping them unaware of the dangers of Trump. Plenty has been going on these past few months that they might not be aware of. What they don’t know can save them… but only if you tell them about it. They may actually thank you.

Second, recent news may have created an opening for more to leave MAGA :

• Trump’s continued lack of respect for the military and our veterans
• Hurricanes Helene and Milton are reminders about climate change, Trump’s claim of the climate change “hoax”, and Trump’s exploitation of disasters
• Trump provided COVID test machines to Putin while Americans were dying.
• Trump’s continued cognitive decline
• The spreading awareness of Project 2025 hurting all Americans
• Tim Walz might give them an “out” 

That being said, the time window to talk to them before election day is closing fast and voting has already started, so it’s time to act.

Prioritize your chats with:

• Your closest friends and family
• Especially those in swing states
• Especially those who have vulnerable friends or family members (female, any minority, medical needs, special needs, relying on Social Security, etc.)

Don’t waste your time and patience with:

• Strangers
• Anyone on social media – they’re only there to pick a fight

The basics:

• This could take more than a single conversation (so get busy!).
• This is about one-on-one conversations – face-to-face or on the phone
• Without saying it, folks will want to save face – let them.
• Try to minimize lecturing, judging, sarcasm, and condescending tones.

Start counterpoints with an agreement:

• “I was wondering about that a while back too – then I realized that…”
• “You’re spot-on there – I’m just worried that…”

Sometimes simple rephrasing helps:

• Replace “What you don’t understand is…” with “I can’t believe they lied to us about…”.
• Replace “Wait, you didn’t hear about…” with “Ya, I was shocked to hear about…“.

Plenty of fact-checking could be done, but it’s rarely useful. Instead, go for broader points, especially those that would impact them. Guide them to ask themselves if they really want vote to:

• Harm their wife, daughter, mother, sister
• Give control of their life to billionaires, foreign actors, and sociopaths
• Continue tax breaks for billionaires and give up their Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid
• Let corporations torch their children’s planet
• Hand our troops over to someone who disrespects them
• Terminate our democracy and democracy worldwide, especially for one issue
• Endanger their vulnerable (women, minorities, non-Christian, special needs, health issues, etc.) friends, family, and coworkers

A more general point is:

• A Harris win means you can vote for a Republican four short years from now
• A Trump will give you a country run by billionaires, high-tech sociopaths, women-haters, religious extremists, and Putin. These folks are not in this for you and will take all they can, control all they want, and they will never ever go away. Trump kowtows to dictators and wants to shred the Constitution and that will not end well for anybody.
• Dictators and many billionaires (foreign and domestic) and corporations aren’t spending big dollars on the Trump campaign for our benefit.
• A Trump win will destroy democracy and everything that comes with it, and your voting days will be over