Hey guys, Rich coming to you here with LeavingMAGA.org.
Got a brand new video for you today,
exactly how we recommend speaking
and engaging with your friends and family
who are still in the thrall of MAGA.
You know, you guys are seeing these videos,
they're all over the place.
Leaving MAGA was actually trending this weekend on TikTok.
So to quote a famous movie line, made it ma.
But in all seriousness,
it got me thinking about wanting to do this video here
about how to look to rejuvenate these relationships
that have been torn asunder by Trump and the MAGA movement.
So let me just get right into it here.
We've got a five step blueprint.
This is a how-to that I wanna tell you guys
is not theoretical, it's not abstract.
It's actually been applied in real world situations
and has had success.
So step number one, okay,
and we ask that you follow in this order
because it's been the most effective.
Step number one is search for relatability personally,
or perhaps politically seek some kind of common ground.
You know, if you have a conversation long enough
with someone who is in the MAGA community,
you're gonna realize that you actually have agreement
on some issues of importance that affect our lives
on an everyday basis.
And I know the challenge is trying to get
to have a lengthy conversation,
but following these five steps,
it's gonna help you find some of those issues
that there is concurrence on them.
And there are shared hopes and goals and dreams
and fears and anxieties and concerns.
So many of the emotions that make up
and formulate our political opinions.
So that's step one, search for relatability personally
and perhaps politically.
Step number two, do not attack.
This is one that I see all day long on social media.
Please, I ask you refrain from attacking another,
even if it's a complete stranger,
much less a friend or a relative in MAGA.
Try to understand why they believe
what it is that they do.
You don't have to agree.
Seeking a better comprehension of why someone in MAGA
believes what they do.
That doesn't mean that you have to agree or accept
or defend with what they're saying,
but it does remind us that those with whom we differ
are not our enemies.
And that's something that has been a challenge
for us at Leaving MAGA,
but more and more we find in our conversations
when we speak with others and ask them to hold off
on attacking, we don't want them to do it.
We start to see the results that in fact,
people are having more civil, more engaging conversations.
And I think one of the reasons we're so polarized
is that there is this phobia that if I listen to someone
I disagree with, that I'm lending credence to it,
but that's actually not the case.
So we're working to overcome that phobia.
So don't think of this as trying to change someone's mind
because a mind of someone in MAGA is not changed
in a singular conversation.
And if you hear something that you know is inaccurate,
ask them respectfully and gently,
where is it that you heard that?
Wait, you heard X, where did you hear that?
Or where did you see that?
And get them thinking about the sources of information
that they're consuming.
So that's step two, don't attack, try to understand
what the person in MAGA believes.
Step number three, okay, and this one,
and they're all important, but this is one in particular.
If you've gotten past the first two,
this is where I find this center part right here
is where the conversation can continue
or it's gonna go sideways.
Step number three, ask permission
to introduce the possibility of reconciliation.
Okay, the person you're speaking to in MAGA is not really
expecting any of these five steps,
but this one in particular, ask them about the possibility
of reconciliation, ask them to think about their lives
and their relationships before Trump and MAGA.
At our organization, Leaving MAGA,
which you can learn more about us at LeavingMAGA.org,
reconciliation is a really key core component
of our work, it's in our mission statement.
We see it as really a necessity as part of trying
to find harmony with those we disagree with,
especially those we have close knit relationships with.
So that's step three, ask permission to introduce
the possibility of reconciliation with family and friends.
Step number four, don't debate facts and policy, please.
It does not work.
If debating facts and policy worked,
nobody would be in MAGA.
Just like if we call others who are in MAGA cultists
or some other insult that we can insert here,
think about if that's had any effect.
If speaking about those in MAGA ill,
if that actually worked, if calling them racist
and homophobic, et cetera, if that had an effect,
nobody would be in MAGA because there are probably
billions of words that have been spoken
in pen just like that.
So rather than debating facts and policy,
open up a respectful back and forth
by asking something such as,
dear mom, dad, sis, brother, best friend,
maid of honor, best man at your wedding,
whatever the relationship, whomever it is,
I understand some of the reasons
you wanted another Trump presidency.
Do you understand some of the reasons
why others didn't want another Trump presidency?
Let me repeat that question.
I understand some of the reasons
why you wanted another Trump presidency.
Do you understand some of the reasons
why others didn't want another Trump presidency?
Guaranteed, I promise you that that question
has never been posed.
And it gets the person in MAGA also thinking about
the fact that they don't have to dehumanize others
who might disagree with them as well.
And this question just presents an idea
that the Trump supporter has almost certainly never had.
And it enables you to continue to gently probe
their beliefs without being confrontational.
And it potentially opens doors
that had previously been shut
and doors that you may think have been shut permanently,
but you'll discover that they in fact
may not have been shut permanently, but just temporarily.
And then the fifth step here,
last but not least in all of this,
is after you feel you've made some progress,
which is gonna probably take more than just one conversation,
ask permission, ask consent to introduce them
to the work of leaving MAGA.
Ask them if they're willing to watch the many videos
that we have contributed here to the Midas Touch Network
about others who left, about friends and family
who are just trying to get back their relationships
that existed before 2015, 16,
before Trump and the MAGA movement.
You might feel that the MAGA American your life
is a racist or homophobic or unpatriotic,
is a fake American, is a fake patriot.
But saying these remarks,
it's not gonna compel them to leave MAGA.
So we've gotta think about from an activist perspective,
I think that for those of you who are watching,
we're gonna broadly, there's a broad consensus
on what the goal is.
Yes, we want people to leave MAGA.
Okay, great.
Big consensus on that.
I would say even one of unanimity.
But we have to think about the process and the methodology.
If the methodology is to alienate those in MAGA,
then all we're doing is self-sabotaging our efforts.
So making these statements about racist,
homophobic, misogynistic,
it's just gonna strengthen the already strong bond
that they have with Trump.
And the reason for that devotion
is Trump is the leader of the MAGA community.
So the way to start creating doubt,
which is the necessary precursor to becoming empowered
to leave MAGA is you've gotta do it
through empathy and education.
When I started to have my doubts in the summer of 2021,
I sought out new sources of information.
I asked, I said earlier, where did you hear that?
I started to ask myself, why do I believe what I believe?
Where did I hear what it is that I think and I believe?
So the way to start creating that doubt,
which needs to happen,
and everyone is gonna move at a different pace
is through empathy and education.
So deploy these five steps.
I cannot guarantee success, but I can guarantee failure.
The way that people have been speaking
to their friends and family in MAGA,
whether you wanna call it resistance
or whatever outreach it is, it hasn't succeeded.
This strategy that we're offering you today,
it can have success, it has had success.
Hey guys, if you liked this video,
make sure you subscribe and drop a comment down below.
Also feel free to visit us at leavingmaga.org
where you can subscribe to our YouTube channel as well.
As always, really appreciate you watching.
Thanks so much for your support.
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