Former Republican Rich Logis — executive director of the nonprofit Leaving MAGA — on Sunday unveiled 5 “critical guideposts” to reach loved ones who continue to support President Donald Trump, noting that in his own experience, “MAGA became all-consuming” until he “managed to find [his] way out … on [his] own.”
“It’s seemingly a daily occurrence to see testimonials from people who voted for Donald Trump but are now ready to renounce” his Make America Great Again movement, Logis wrote in Salon. “This buyer’s remorse is just beginning, and we need to provide an off-ramp for the increasingly uncertain.”
As Logis noted, “many people only care about something when it affects them personally” — and for Trump’s most fervent supporters, that realization could come in the form of deportations, tariffs or the president’s bucking of the Constitution.
For Logis, it’s best to avoid saying “I told you so” when speaking with disaffected Trump supporters.
“That may afford instant gratification, but it only strengthens an obsequious subservience to Trump,” Logis opined. The writer also suggested people interested in making inroads with Trump’s faithful should avoid referring to “MAGA as a cult, even if you believe that term fits.”
“MAGA people will shut down,” Logis noted.
The former Republican blamed support for Trump on “three primary reasons”: “Misinformation and disinformation; a tendency to believe the worst about the "other side"; and a profound misunderstanding of capitalism and free markets, which has created widespread financial dissatisfaction.”
“There will be a gradual, and then sudden, realization among many Trump voters that the chaos created, and havoc wreaked, by the likes of Trump … will harm lower-income and middle-class Americans, along with small business owners, worst of all,” Logis said.
The former Republican then offered his 5 “critical guideposts” to engaging Trump supporters:
1. "Search for relatability and common ground.”
2. “Don’t attack!”
3. “Introduce the possibility of reconciliation with their family and friends.”
4. “Rather than debating facts and policy, open up a respectful back and forth.”
5. “After you make some progress — which will likely take more than a single conversation — ask if they’re open to hearing about the regrets of former Trump supporters, which might include the work of our nonprofit.”
“I understand that you may feel the MAGA supporter in your life is racist, homophobic, misogynistic or downright unpatriotic,” Logis added. “Please consider that saying those things will absolutely not convince them to leave MAGA. The way to begin creating doubt — the necessary precursor to self-empowerment and, ultimately, to leaving MAGA — is through empathy and education.”