Any friend of Trump is no longer a friend of mine

In the gruesome wake of one of the most heinous terrorist attacks in world history two weeks ago, the twice-impeached, America-attacking Republican frontrunner for the 2024 presidential nomination, Donald Trump, called the murdering Hezbollah terrorist network in the Middle East “very smart,” and I am once again thinking I’ve had my approach to this ugly menace all wrong.

Trump unloaded his latest bilge in a steady, all-day stream, first on a Fox rightwing propaganda radio show, and later in front of a crowd of fawning goons in Florida, while doing one of his slurry, standup routines where he hulks over a lectern, waves his fat, little hands, and spits out every unhinged thought that crosses his tiny, polluted mind.

“You know, Hezbollah is very smart,” he said through all his noxious smoke. “They’re all very smart.”

Because of course he did, and of course we’ve all but forgotten about it, because the established shelf life for Trump’s projectile vomit is about two days, give or take a few hours. We haven’t just normalized this vile beast, we’ve let him completely off his leash.

Anybody who has been paying even the slightest attention to this goon the past seven years won’t be surprised by this odious gust. It is hardly the most loathsome thing this guy has slobbered out while polluting our airways, or even the latest.

He is a documented racist, who has belittled the disabled, called our fallen vets “suckers and losers” and bragged about writing love letters to dictators. He is a convicted rapist, who has insulted women in every way imaginable, including “grabbing them by their pussies because they let you” and then bragging about it.

Trump’s public hug of Hezbollah also once again reflected a long-established pattern of first slamming our U.S. allies, before falling all over himself to compliment our enemies.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un have all been given the Trump stamp of approval — and his love letters — while virtually every nation in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), has been on the other end of his dark dimwittedness.

Despite all this, and as difficult as it can be, I have long been a proponent of keeping the lines of communication open with Trump supporters. It is impossible to reach somebody if you won’t talk to them.

While I am thankful beyond words that most of my family see the bastard for what he is, the same is not true for many of my old friends, who seem to still be on the side of the anti-American son of a bitch.

I say “old” friends, because at this time in my life, I am not interested in acquiring any new ones, who sympathize with drooling, orange losers.

I grew up with most of these old friends, and from the safe distance of Facebook, can see they still have many of the sunny qualities that attracted me to them in the first place so many decades ago. What happened to them along the way that they now see a black hole like Trump as some beacon of hope disappoints me to no end.

Most of my old friends are white, so I fear the worst: The landslide elections of Barack Obama were just too damn much for them to process. They needed to somehow get even, and the traitor, Trump, was their perfect blunt instrument.

Still, I stay in contact with many of them with the hope that the sun will once again come up, and what I believe to be their true selves will shine through.

I wish I could tell you that this has resulted in significant breakthroughs, but the truth is, the landscape is as dark as it has ever been on that front.

On a recent trip to England to visit family, I got into a substantive conversation with my nephew, who grew up in the UK, but has dualcitizenship and an unparalleled command of U.S. history. Bluntly, the young man is a genius, and stubborn in his opinions.

Anyway, Peter, who best I can tell leans slightly to the Right with his politics, was making the case that Trump would win handily next year, not because he liked Trump, or even wanted him to win, but because of his ability to connect with his supporters, “who will never leave him.”

While I politely melted down, and pushed back on his assumptions, I was forced to concur with his point that Trump’s supporters will never crawl out of their bottomless tanks. They either share, or condone, the man’s odious character and complete contempt for decency and our democracy.

Well, I have decided today that I can’t look past this anymore. There is just too much at stake. This country will not survive another Trump presidency.

While there probably isn’t much question of my activism in many of my friends’ minds, I will still be reminding them regularly that there are people like me out there, who will not allow a repeat of November 8, 2016, or January 6, 2021.

I am simply not built for that.

On Wednesday, one of Trump’s most ardent supporters was elected Speaker of the House. Virtually nobody had heard of the election-denier and radical, rightwing Christian, Mike Johnson, three days ago.

We are learning now he is nothing but Jim Jordan with a rabies vaccine.

He is the most dangerous kind of Republican — unassuming, and cold-hearted. He could be your friend on Facebook posting pictures of puppies and babies, while believing deep in his cold heart that like Johnson, the LGBTQ community is criminal, guns are good, healthcare for all is bad, and America’s No. 1 enemy won the election in 2020.

All of them need to know that the majority of Americans don’t believe these terrible things, and that they will be crushed in 2024.

When I put up the white flag, and amicably ended my talk with my nephew, he said, “No matter what happens, Uncle Earl, you can at least say you were on the right side of history.”

I wish I could tell you that made me feel better.

(D. Earl Stephens is the author of “Toxic Tales: A Caustic Collection of Donald J. Trump’s Very Important Letters” and finished up a 30-year career in journalism as the Managing Editor of Stars and Stripes. Follow @EarlofEnough)