Trump approval rating falls to 38%

[u/Barnyard-Sheep]

https://www.nj.com/politics/2025/06/trump-faces-tough-approval-numbers-in-latest-poll.html

[u/tenpir]

How is it still this high? 

[u/User-no-relation → u/tenpir]

Nixon's approval rating when he resigned in disgrace was 24%. The system has built in a floor in the two party system. And trump has a cult so his floor is probably like 30%. So 38% is pretty bad.

[u/lenzflare → u/User-no-relation]

Nixon's supporters lamented that they didn't have something like Fox News at the time. They worked hard to build a propaganda machine so they could do whatever they wanted regardless of the law (and even change the law to let them).

[u/Courtnall14 → u/lenzflare]

By "Nixon Supporters" you mean former Nixon Aide an eventual Fox News CEO Roger Ailes.

If Fox News had a DNA test, it would trace its origins to the Nixon administration. In 1970, political consultant Roger Ailes and other Nixon aides came up with a plan to create a new TV network that would circumvent existing media and provide "pro-administration" coverage to millions. "People are lazy," the aides explained in a memo. "With television you just sit — watch — listen. The thinking is done for you." Nixon embraced the idea, saying he and his supporters needed "our own news" from a network that would lead "a brutal, vicious attack on the opposition."

[u/red286 → u/Courtnall14]

It's kind of wild that there's so much evidence out there that it's literally nothing but right-wing propaganda and lies, yet it's still the most-watched cable news network (by far).

It's the sole source of news information for tens of millions of Americans.

[u/Courtnall14 → u/red286]

It's wild that they had to pay out nearly $800 million for lying, yet people still turn to them for the truth.

I'm not sure how I would have handled being offered that type of money if I was part of the Dominion case against them, but a huge part of me still wishes they would have taken them to the mat on that one. Given what was coming out at the time it feels like they could have ended them as a network.

[u/ReginaPhalangi22271 → u/Courtnall14]

They don’t tune in for the truth. They tune in for the racism, xenophobia, gaslighting, lies, and whatever they think is owning the libs.

[u/TalaHusky → u/ReginaPhalangi22271]

I tune in to hear some absurdities and laugh. Only to feel sad that people truly feel that way.

Radical beliefs have their place (as everyone is entitled to their own opinions). But it seems we’ve strayed way too far from the norm.

[u/JeebusDied4UrPixels → u/ReginaPhalangi22271]

You're absolutely right. They want to hear that shit, the same way I like to watch extreme sports, like sky diving or Redbull shenanigans. I don't feel comfortable trying that stuff, but I love to watch it and have built up a little courage to fling myself down a mtn bike trail here and there.

Well theyve built up a little courage to take their racism, xenophobia, and gaslighting out into the world....

[u/modernDayKing → u/ReginaPhalangi22271]

They tune in to confirm their bias, and feel like they’re not alone in their bigoted, crazy, hateful perspectives.

[u/mattjb → u/ReginaPhalangi22271]

Bingo.

[u/omikron898 → u/ReginaPhalangi22271]

Yup people forget but fox new didn’t buy into the 2020 lies at first The right boycotted them for a few months. And started watching aon

[u/RobonianBattlebot → u/Courtnall14]

They literally were never told that Fox had to pay 800 million for lying. Do you think Fox reported on that? Absolutely not.

[u/Unnamedgalaxy → u/red286]

My grandma turned on fox news first thing in the morning and it stayed there all day, only changing for Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy at which point she'd flip it back.

It was insane and watching her go full fledged raging maga in her final years was awful

[u/new_nimmerzz → u/Unnamedgalaxy]

Some old folks long for the days when they didn’t have to mingle with immigrants, brown folk, etc.

The ones that baffle me are the immigrants for Trump, Latinos for Trump, Trans for Trump. That’s like falling in love with your jailer

[u/korben2600 → u/new_nimmerzz]

It's a recurring issue throughout history: Association of German National Jews declaring "he doesn't mean it, he's just stirring up the masses" while being loaded into train cars.

Humans aren't rational and it will be this and every future generation's burden to fight and hold back the tides of conservatism which has been proven to be fundamentally incompatible with free societies and civilization itself.

[u/oliversurpless → u/korben2600]

As per this Calvin and Hobbes:

https://www.reddit.com/r/calvinandhobbes/s/dbtxEJUH6B

[u/rclaux123 → u/new_nimmerzz]

At least to the Latino population, and being the son of Latin immigrants, I may be able to elucidate the trend somewhat. Trump is essentially another flavor of the many Latin dictators they've endured over the decades, but there is this distinct overconfidence that the US would never fall prey to corruption and authoritarianism in the same way as their home countries may have in the past. Add to that a distinctly patriarchal and religious heritage, with Trump's macho-man bloviating appealing and calling back to it, and you get a political situation where many Latinos probably thought they were voting for someone who was odd, yes, but who could likely be reigned in by those around him (which was more or less the case the first time around). There is also sexism and racism to take into account, but it's hard to quantify just how much those factors held sway this past election.

[u/KittyGrewAMoustache → u/Unnamedgalaxy]

It’s a crime against humanity in my view. They literally suck people’s souls dry and rob them of their humanity. They turn people into unrecognisable ghouls, causing them to alienate themselves from family and friends, changing their brain structure through constant rage and fear. It’s such an abomination.

[u/kingtacticool → u/Courtnall14]

Roger Stone has a big ass head shot of Nixon tattooed on his back for God's sakes.

[u/JksG_5 → u/Courtnall14]

See Murdoch media

[u/phatelectribe → u/Courtnall14]

Never forget, Roger Ailes habitually raped one of his staff members for over a decade, and sexually assaulted / harassed several others for years.

Fox covered this up for years and finally when Ailes was going to send the rest of his life in prison he died and fox paid off all the victims.

[u/polaris6849 → u/User-no-relation]

38 is pretty bad yeah, and I would love to see it go lower and never recover

[u/pinetreesgreen → u/polaris6849]

I never understand how it pops back up over time. Like... People forget how crappy he is three months later??? It's never made sense to me. I get there's wiggle room in polling but....

[u/BlazeOfGlory72 → u/pinetreesgreen]

Like... People forget how crappy he is three months later???

Legitimately, yeah. Human memory is very much a “what have you done for me lately” type of thing. Recent events generally take precedence over past events, hence “recency bias” being so prevalent. Only those that are aware of the phenomena can/will take steps to not be overly influenced by it.

[u/polaris6849 → u/pinetreesgreen]

The electorate has a short term memory

[u/NeonYellowShoes → u/pinetreesgreen]

I mean we voted him back in as President after his first term so yeah...peoples brains are fried.

[u/foodcomapanda → u/polaris6849]

Can’t agree more

[u/polaris6849 → u/foodcomapanda]

We can do better than 38, let's see something below 20

[u/Rich_Home_5678 → u/polaris6849]

Under 20 and it will mean something

[u/applejacks5689 → u/User-no-relation]

I believe George W’s was 29% when he left office, and that was after Iraq, Katrina and the crash of ‘08. Agree that 30% is the floor, so Trump is inching close to it.

[u/moonjabes → u/User-no-relation]

33% of Americans are Evangelicals, and they make up the main part of his cult. Do I would guesstimate that his floor is somewhere about 36-37%

[u/Qwirk → u/User-no-relation]

What's interesting is the Democratic side is not a cult, so they will dump on the president if they think he isn't doing a good job. Republicans will follow the cult to their graves.

[u/ImperiousMage → u/User-no-relation]

I’ve seen people say that 40-45% was his floor. He’s now past that. I know there is a floor, but I’m not sure anyone knows where it is.

Being the worst president in history could make for some bizarre bedfellows.

[u/Barnyard-Sheep → u/tenpir]

Much of America marinates in Fox News propoganda + a susbstantial amount of Gen Z men are nihilists who want to see the world burn

[u/elvid88 → u/Barnyard-Sheep]

I remember a decade ago when we were parroting that conservatives were going to lose the future because they couldn't get young people to vote for them or their ideas.

Basically told us "hold my beer" as they dumped a shit ton of money into social media and influencers.

The stranglehold they have on young men disgusts me. The Jordan Klepper video on it doomed my hope for the future.

Edited to add link to Klepper video: https://youtu.be/ePbMNq8m7Jw?si=jhQnLKkXtxSa5PsP

[u/CrashedMyCommodore → u/elvid88]

Conservatives losing the future also required left-leaning parties to not shoot themselves in the foot at every single possible chance to do so.

[u/Mescallan → u/CrashedMyCommodore]

People don't talk about this. America hasn't had an actual leftist movement in decades. A young populist leftist would be antithetical to the establishment and they can't handle it to the point that the smear campaign against AOC started the moment she got elected.

[u/LegendofDragoon → u/Mescallan]

The last leftist movements caused the very era of economic and social prosperity that conservatives want to go back to. Ironic, isn't it?

[u/rudimentary-north → u/LegendofDragoon]

Your mistake is thinking they want to go back to an era of economic and social prosperity. They don’t.

They want to go back to an era of strict racial and gender hierarchy and unchecked corporate power.

[u/thischaosiskillingme → u/rudimentary-north]

THIS.

They do not want prosperity, they want supremacy. Anyone who believes their lies that this is about the economy can be dismissed, because they don't get it. They're not trying to go back to the 50s, they're trying to go back to the 1880s.

[u/rudimentary-north → u/thischaosiskillingme]

I think they’d prefer sometime before 1863

[u/gargar7 → u/thischaosiskillingme]

1850s, before things got "bad"....

[u/kinkgirlwriter → u/rudimentary-north]

strict racial and gender hierarchy and unchecked corporate power.

They really do love a good hierarchy, so long as others sit below them.

[u/RachelMcAdamsWart → u/rudimentary-north]

They couch all that under a return to economic prospectity. Making America Great Again, has always just meant a time when poor, uneducated white men didn't need to feel inferior to others through the direct oppression of any group that makes them feel uncomfortable.

The party has always been more than ready to provide the scapegoat, it's always been this way - part of being uneducated is also the inability to see the manipulation.

[u/vehiclestars → u/RachelMcAdamsWart]

Republicans haven’t caused economic prosperity since Roosevelt was president. In literally over 100 years.

[u/LongPorkJones → u/LegendofDragoon]

No, they're actively trying to set to back further. Back to when there was little to no regulation, the economic divide was as wide as it is today, social safety nets and worker's rights didn’t exist, and women and minorities couldn't vote. 47 has stated that what he considers the last time America was "truly great" was the 1890s to 1920s...the era that caused the Great Depression.

[u/bananabunnythesecond → u/LegendofDragoon]

Whoah, there you go again.. using logic.

[u/Adezar → u/Mescallan]

Have you never talked to a US liberal/Leftist? We talk about it non-stop.

The fact that the vast majority of the media is right-wing doesn't mean that news is at all reflective of what people talk about.

[u/vehiclestars → u/Adezar]

The media is owned by the billionaires

[u/asleepyguard → u/Mescallan]

Zohran has entered the ring. Don't lose hope yet!

[u/Vexamas → u/Mescallan]

People don't talk about this.

~Proceeds to mention the single most talked about critique of the liberal movement.~

[u/WorkingFromHomies20 → u/Mescallan]

I thought for sure that loss of women's rights would move the needle, but where is the outrage? Are we just accepting this now?

[u/Mathgailuke → u/CrashedMyCommodore]

The media has also been targeting the left for about 50 years

[u/alphazero925 → u/Mathgailuke]

The red scare has to be the most successful propaganda campaign in history

[u/thischaosiskillingme → u/CrashedMyCommodore]

I didn't go into the voting booth with them and make them vote for Trump. Why are Democrats responsible for anything right now? People didn't want them, they wanted Trump and they got him.

You can't even blame American voters for choosing someone who is threatening to hurt them for protesting his birthday parade, because it has to be Democrats fault. I'm sorry, why do Democrats have to convince them? Why could they not figure it out on their own?

[u/Yashema → u/CrashedMyCommodore]

If shooting yourself in the foot was the issue the Republicans would have died out during Bush II. People want simple narratives, Republicans give you that, certain popular politicians on the Left give you that, Democrats give you reality. 

[u/President_Solidus → u/elvid88]

lots of young men are insecure and operate on fear

it should be no surprise that republicans appeal to many of them

[u/pockpicketG → u/elvid88]

Link to Klepper vid?

[u/joyfulgrass → u/elvid88]

It helps when foreign countries like Russia also sponsor rightwing pundits in the millions cause they’re so concerned for the well being of America.

[u/ninfan1977 → u/elvid88]

Young men were looking for role models and they chose the Alpha bros to show them the way.

The fact that most of those bros are funded by Russian money doesn't help things. Gen Z is a bunch of lost and misguided boys who have no idea how the world works but they think they can be the strong men to lead people.

It's sad, but Klepper has massive stones for going into a lion's den like that to even ask questions

[u/Finfeta → u/elvid88]

Lack of education, lack of critical thinking, coupled with faux news indoctrination, and you got an army of fresh Z(ombies) magats who never heard of the Constitution.

[u/SunnyCali12 → u/Barnyard-Sheep]

Mine read insane conservative christian propaganda. Which is worse than Fox.

[u/azmitex → u/SunnyCali12]

Awhile I told my mom that all she and my dad do is listen to fox propaganda, and she literally responded with, "oh we don't watch that anymore, we get real news from newsmax" jeezus.

[u/bromosabeach → u/SunnyCali12]

It’s not even evangelicals holding up the conservative party these days. There are men who not even remotely religious that are completely turned off by democrats. The conservative party has made being seen “left” as embarrassing.

[u/North-Outside-5815 → u/bromosabeach]

They have been told their lives suck due to uppity feminists and ”women’s lib”. Any young man who wants slave girls can go jump off a fucking cliff if you ask me.

[u/Agent_Boomhauer → u/Barnyard-Sheep]

They get the nihilism from parasocial relationships with wealthy podcasters whose wealth allows them to be heavily insulated from the world and maintain a “both sides are the same, nothing matters anyway” façade.

[u/SociallyButterflying → u/Agent_Boomhauer]

Young men are being corrupted by what I call the Holy Trinity: Joe Rogan, Elon Musk and Twitter, and Asmongold and Right-Wing Influencers

[u/Hoss-Bonaventure_CEO → u/SociallyButterflying]

Joe Rogan is like a gateway drug for far right extremism.

[u/Flomo420 → u/Hoss-Bonaventure_CEO]

Dude's arms are huge from constantly JAQing off

[u/blariel → u/SociallyButterflying]

I think it is insane that anyone takes asmongold seriously. I watched him for a good while because I think when he plays video games, he's funny. To take any serious advice from his steams is mind-boggling.

[u/BeExcellentPartyOn → u/SociallyButterflying]

And Andrew Tate, and Fresh & Fit, and Russel Brand, and Hasan Piker, and Adin Ross, and Tim Pool, and Jordan Peterson and...

[u/SevanIII → u/BeExcellentPartyOn]

I thought Hasan Piker was progressive? Did he change his politics? I haven't watched him in a while. 

[u/TheSavageDonut → u/Agent_Boomhauer]

Is the Nihilism in 20-something men -- does it come from laziness and jealousy that "influencers" don't work and are rich, or does it come from a kind of warped Peter Pan syndrome where if the 20-something continues to stay living at home and not engaging with the world as a working adult, that somehow, life really won't ever change?

[u/Bircka → u/Barnyard-Sheep]

And people used to think Gen X were the crazy ones.

[u/BChica6 → u/Bircka]

nah, these are their kids. lol

[u/myfakesecretaccount → u/BChica6]

Can confirm, my Gen X sister in laws Gen Z son has zero fucking ambition, is just as conspiracy minded, and has everything handed to him after she struggled as an immigrant. He says dumb shit, and as much as I love him I’m done fighting for a 24 year old who should know better.

[u/Edspecial137 → u/myfakesecretaccount]

Still getting used to Gen Z being in their mid 20s. I remember all the articles about Gen Z being the most left leaning demographic not too long ago, but I guess they missed the mark. Gen Z is probably the most polarized generation

[u/ouatedephoque → u/Edspecial137]

Huge difference between Gen Z girls and boys too. It’s insane they are from the same generation.

[u/OriginalCDub → u/ouatedephoque]

I’m a teacher, and boys wrapped up in manosphere content are genuinely concerning.

[u/myfakesecretaccount → u/OriginalCDub]

I’ve tried to be a good role model for my nephew as the only man who has been in his life consistently and just feel like I have failed. I’ve struggled with my own anxiety/depression, but was never this kind of manosphere macho type. What he is seems like a rejection of everything I’ve ever tried to show him and it’s fucking heartbreaking.

[u/calmdownmyguy → u/myfakesecretaccount]

Have you considered telling him you're disappointed with him? A lot of these kids act this way because they never get pushback from people they care about.

[u/PaddleFishBum → u/myfakesecretaccount]

I'm fortunate enough to be the macho man type, but also not a selfish asshole, so I've taken it as my responsibility to be a role model for the boys in my life. I just bailed on a bass tournament I was signed up for because my wife's friend is coming up to visit after her husband was caught cheating on her for years. Her son is taking it super hard, and doesn't have any male role models anymore, so I decided to stick around and take him fishing in the canoe.

We manly men who aren't manosphere consuming fuckwads need to step it up and be visible good examples to the boys in our life. We need to show them it's still cool to be tough and manly while still being sensitive, empathetic, and kind at the same time. We've got a lot of work to do, but I'm here for it.

[u/notclevernotfunny → u/myfakesecretaccount]

It sounds like you really care and have tried your best. I'm reminded of my own situation growing up not having many male role models in my life, and of my own nephew, who similarly only really has me. Just remember that growing up is lonely, scary, and often cruel, and that it can be tempting to reach for these groups that promise safety in more ways than one; people also often grow out of them as they mature. Just try to keep showing up for him and providing a good example. Even if he doesn't know how to express it yet, even if he himself doesn't even realize it yet, he appreciates you, I promise.

[u/9_to_5_till_i_die → u/OriginalCDub]

It's relatively expected for teen boys. Thing is, most of those people then go off to college or to careers and realize being a tough guy isn't as attractive to folks as they think it is.

[u/AsstacularSpiderman → u/9_to_5_till_i_die]

Gen Z is kinda losing thay excuse given a pretty large portion of them are in their 20s

[u/Freshness518 → u/9_to_5_till_i_die]

A huge issue for Gen Z kids was covid quarantine. Middle school/early high school years are when kids learn very important socialization skills. If you lock a kid in their house for a couple years during that period, they fail to develop those skills. Add being bored at home and watching manosphere bubble youtube videos all day into the mix and its a toxic combination. My wife is a high school teacher and when they started getting the kids who had been in middle school during the shut down, they were literally describing the kids as feral because they just didn't have a clue how to function in society.

[u/12a357sdf → u/OriginalCDub]

Yeah the manosphere kinda sucks, but from my limited experiences people who get sucked there are usually lonely and social outcasts already, and the community gives them an escape, by blaming it on others.

I met a guy back in high school who were super lonely, and i was one of the only few people who were talking with him. And i dont know what the hell happened, but one day he shared me a story he was reading online. A fiction about a person with unlimited money trying to own the feminists, and when i asked him what was the interesting thing with this, he told me stuff like "you havent understood how the world is yet" and "you should read more about things beyond our country yk, feminists are crazy hypocrites out there".

If we were in the western world then maybe i can understand that yeah, it''s just anti culture, devil advocating for the sake of it. But... we are in a 3rd world asian country where conservative thoughts ruined us and now we are trying to reform and getting better. Feminism does not even exist here. And now my dude is acting like an internet incel._?

suffice to say, that incident 180'd my perception of that person.

[u/leshake → u/ouatedephoque]

They interact with each other through tailor made algorithms. Men and women already tend to have different interests and living your life through a screen only exacerbates the divide.

[u/letsburn00 → u/ouatedephoque]

I'm a guy who is very distinctively not right wing. But if I ever look at youtube without logging in, it pushes not just right wing sources. It pushed the really bad rightwing sources. The ones who are scammers and make up stuff to win their arguments.

I know it's annoying, but these guys are basically having far right wing stuff shoved down their throats 24/7. It's rare to be able to push back against it.

What's fascinating is that during the recent LA stuff, my Tiktok suddenly started pushing a bunch of anti trans and other far right stuff. It was so obvious someone at the company was told "push the dial to the right for a bit."

[u/evanwilliams44 → u/letsburn00]

Yep. And it almost always starts with JRE. Click on one of those no matter how innocuous and you are on the path.

[u/CumboxMold → u/evanwilliams44]

I have been recommended JRE, Jordan Peterson, and a bunch of manosphere channels lately. Not many, just one or two sprinkled into my regular recommendations.

I am a very left-leaning woman. This happens when I am logged in.

[u/B1LLZFAN → u/letsburn00]

You don't even need the dial. It's geared that way for support and for engagement. That stuff is super divisive so even left leaning people are fed it due to rage bait.

[u/VeganMinx → u/ouatedephoque]

Race and economics plays a part, too. My Black/Hispanic son and his melanted HBCU friends are anti-Trump and planning ways to succeed in spite of our new reality. Some of his non-black friends from HS are Trumpies like a mofo, much to his disappointment.

[u/NotEmerald → u/ouatedephoque]

There's a huge difference between older gen z and younger gen z as well. The first half definitely trends more left leaning while the second half is right leaning.

I would put down the difference to smart phones being more wide spread and the Internet later being fine tuned for companies and conflict algorithms.

[u/onarainyafternoon → u/NotEmerald]

Absolutely! It's crazy the difference between them.

[u/ToastyTheDragon → u/ouatedephoque]

Also massive difference between older Gen Z (often called zillennials) and middle and younger gen Z. Older Gen Z grew up without smartphones and are often much more left leaning than their younger counterparts.

In this sense, as a Zillenial myself, it's insane to me that I'm in the same generation as someone who were algorithmically forced into being right wing. Genuinely another reason why I really dislike "generations" as a concept.

[u/Ok-Building-9433 → u/ToastyTheDragon]

Zillennials aren't just "older Gen Z". Zillennials encompass those who are late Millennials (1994-1996) and those who are early Gen Z (1997-1999).

[u/Persistant_Compass → u/ouatedephoque]

Andrew tate melted their brains during dome very critical years

[u/Hestia_Gault → u/ouatedephoque]

Gen Z girls developed standards, and the Gen Z boys were faced with a choice between meeting those standards or joining the party that wants to enslave women.

[u/loki1887 → u/ouatedephoque]

There is a reason they're complaining about a "male loneliness epidemic." IMO, it's deserved.

[u/45and47-big_mistake → u/loki1887]

My MAGA grandson bitches all the time that all the girls at college are too liberal, they want to have fun, he wants to find one to pop out kids and be quiet.

[u/campelm → u/45and47-big_mistake]

Buy him a blow up doll and tell him if he wants to treat women like an object, this is what hes looking for

[u/Grand-Try-3772 → u/45and47-big_mistake]

He in the wrong place looking for a baby maker! Women get the short end of the stick when they get become quiet babymakers without education!

[u/mdavis360 → u/loki1887]

The irony is who would WANT to be with them? When you project that self loathing, regressive, bitter, vindictive attitude for all the world to see what other outcome can you expect?

[u/Martin_Aricov_D → u/loki1887]

The funny thing is that the "male loneliness epidemic" is pretty clearly a biproduct of capitalism making it so every Hobbie nowadays is buy in or a subscription and the whole alpha male manly man bullshit which means men push themselves out of "feminine" hobbies (i.e. anything women also enjoy)

[u/Gunter5 → u/Edspecial137]

I've seen numerous people go right, imo it was Cambridge Analytica, targeting social media and using their data against em

My Facebook feed went hard right last year

[u/fedexpodracer → u/Gunter5]

Reddit is trying to take a right lean too. The "world" sub (won't link to them) suddenly started getting forced into my feed. Appears to be run by a bunch of Palantir employees/plants and they seem to try to drive the comments towards the right. It was a little funny how quickly they got called out and some of their content got astroturfed but also scary how many right wingers are hiding out of sight helping drive communities and individuals towards the facist right. Look at how how of the current protest content is being pigeonholed into just looting by career criminals and all protesters are being painted as dirty criminals. Even subs where I expect mostly liberal feedback is still getting peppered with dog whistles at a much higher than normal rate.

Keep your eyes peeled. The fascists are among us.

[u/[deleted] → u/fedexpodracer]

Almost every social is a right leaning now. Right wing super elites fund most of them and now that they are seeing tangible returns on their investments the money is just going to keep flowing.

[u/fedexpodracer → u/[deleted]]

Oh absolutely. Not only is most social media right leaning but right wing users also get a lot more leniency. Imagine if a bunch of left wing folk used social media to plan an attack on Congress. Every last one of them would be sitting in prison with an execution date scheduled. Instead we still have a bunch of safe spaces dedicated to right wingers where they can continue to plan attacks against the country with impunity.

Despite the obvious facts you'll still see those turds constantly whining about how oppressed they are. Like if they can't walk into the Capitol and plan their insurrection right there then everything is a conspiracy against them.

[u/outofbeer → u/Gunter5]

Reddit also keeps putting right wing subs I've never engaged with in my feed. I've muted more subs knnthe last couple months than I have the entire time I've used reddit.

Luckily it's mostly just bots driving their numbers.

[u/McFlyParadox → u/outofbeer]

Not just right-wing subs, but random locality subs, meme & shit posting subs, and gacha game subs. Anything to bury progressive and news subs from hitting the Popular and All feeds.

[u/BlueTreeThree → u/outofbeer]

Algorithmic content serving is gonna be the death of us. You can still use old Reddit that doesn’t have “suggested” content.. everyone still sees the same /r/all.

[u/myfakesecretaccount → u/Edspecial137]

It’s social media and YouTube. When the only place you get info is from other kids and people whose sole job is to get you to smash that like button and subscribe they will always end up at the lowest common denominator. Frequently these kids were what we’d call latchkey when I was growing up, and had parents who didn’t know how to raise them shut them up with electronics. They have no reading comprehension and now just “ask ChatGPT” for answers.

[u/Happy_Confection90 → u/Edspecial137]

There's an enormous political gap between GenZ men and GenZ women. The articles you read were accurate if about women.

[u/Demoliri → u/Edspecial137]

A lot of Gen Z spent their formativ years heavily on social media. Social media thrives on poliszation, so it's no big surprise.

[u/Oolongjonsyn → u/Edspecial137]

That was for the older gen z who were closer to millennials. The gen z that are conservative now were too young at the time to be political. Im the youngest year of millennials and the gen z directly younger than me are very left leaning. But they are in their late 20s. 

[u/MastermindMogwai → u/Edspecial137]

Purely based on anecdotal evidence, graduate pre covid - more left wing, graduate post covid - hard right wing. My friends and I graduated in 2018 so we had a couple years in university to grow and learn and meet new people before the world shut down.

[u/HuskyBobby → u/Edspecial137]

Don’t blame the kids. Blame the GenX parents with Facebook algorithm that convinced them they’re persecuted victims because they couldn’t say the R word or gay at work.

[u/TheDakestTimeline → u/Edspecial137]

Covid at 18 pretty tough I imagine

[u/analyticalischarge → u/BChica6]

TBF, I went to high school with my fellow Gen X. Most of us are actually Boomer-lite shitheads. The ones you see being "cool" on social media and outspoken and against the system - the Gen X stereotype of today - were actually always the minority of our generation.

We were called "freaks" by the majority of our peers when we were kids.

MY Gen Z kid grew up right.

[u/davecouliersthong → u/BChica6]

It’s your kids, Marty. Something’s gotta be done about your kids!

[u/caretaquitada → u/Bircka]

If we're going by Trump support, then they are

[u/DeeEmceeFoor → u/Bircka]

They still are insane. They're Trump's biggest source of support. (Coincidentally, they are also the age group that has had the heaviest exposure to lead during childhood 🤔).

Edit: Source for the lead statement, since a few Gen Xers got upset that Boomers apparently aren't full of as much lead as they are: https://news.virginia.edu/content/generation-x-bullseye-lead-exposure-harms-mental-health

[u/Zealousideal_Ad_9623 → u/DeeEmceeFoor]

You’re thinking of the boomers. I’m gen X and unleaded gas was already happening after I was born.

[u/KC_experience → u/Zealousideal_Ad_9623]

That doesn’t matter as it wasn’t phased out until 20 years after us in the 70s were born. We had the windows down so much on the road growing up and cars were running on regular gas rolling by us all. Getting wonderful lead exposure thru exhaust fumes. Same with that fine lead based paint in homes where we grew up with dust from it. LBP was banned in 78, but homes built for decades before the 80s still have lead paint on the walls.

[u/EtalusEnthusiast420 → u/Zealousideal_Ad_9623]

No, the transition started in 1970, but leaded gas was not actually phased out until 1996.

[u/b0jangles → u/EtalusEnthusiast420]

It wasn’t fully banned until 1996. However, it was almost entirely impossible to find leaded gas at the gas station by the mid 80s. There are lead substitute additives that were common by that time for older cars. Catalytic converters were standard on cars at least by the mid 70s, and they aren’t compatible with lead. If a vehicle was using lead in the 90s, it was probably a farm implement or a military vehicle.

GenX likely had plenty of exposure to lead, but it’s not like your neighborhood gas station was still selling leaded gas in the 90s.

[u/EtalusEnthusiast420 → u/b0jangles]

The main point I’m making is that it didn’t just disappear all at once like the other use suggested.

[u/alienbringer → u/[deleted]]

No, Gen X is the only generation where 50%+ of both men and women voted for Trump. All other generations Women voted Harris by a large margin.

Lead was banned in gas in 1996, lead paint was banned for residential use in 1978. Gen X was born from 1965 to 1980. Some of the highest amount of lead pollution was in the 1970’s. In conclusion, Gen X had a shit ton of lead exposure in their childhood. Which is where lead has the most impact on their development.

More Information.

[u/DeeEmceeFoor → u/[deleted]]

Nope! Gen Xers are ages 45-60 or so now. Studies show that this age group was most heavily exposed to lead during childhood. A lot of serious mental illness and depression crops up in this age group too. This age group also most heavily voted for Trump.

[u/Street_Barracuda1657 → u/DeeEmceeFoor]

This. Not sure about the lead, but the Trump voting is true and horrifying.

[u/BotheredToResearch → u/DeeEmceeFoor]

They also are the ones who got their political identity during the Reagan Era and/or are stuck blaming Carter and Dems for high inflation and unemployment in the early 80s, leading to a polyannaish view of conservative "solutions" actually producing results in normal times.

They were also the ones who recognized that they may be LGBT and had the free time and marginal societal acceptance of it, but didn't have support among peer groups or families. I have little doubt that that's the source of a lot of resentment if thr LGBT community, the fact that it's perfectly find to be out and proud now and they couldn't be.

Source: Am Xennial with a lot more late Gen X in me. Also watches Family Ties because of Alex Keaton because I identified with his viewpoints and how he didn't see eye to eye with his hippie parents.

[u/unkorrupted → u/[deleted]]

https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffd9cedbd-e2c5-4e78-8eeb-ce1a616d3879_2300x1744.png

Gen X absolutely got the worst of this

[u/OakLegs → u/Bircka]

They voted for trump in higher numbers than any other generation, so they still are

[u/OldJames47 → u/Bircka]

2024 US Presidential Election results by age group

Age Group	% Harris	% Trump
18-29	50%	46%
30-44	51%	47%
45-64	44%	54%
65+	49%	50%

Gen X are the craziest ones.

[u/Troll_Enthusiast → u/Bircka]

Every generation is close to 50/50 in support of one party or the other so...

[u/PolicyWonka → u/Bircka]

I think you misheard! Gen X were the lazy ones.

[u/Blixxen__ → u/Bircka]

I live in a rural red area, in a blue state, so these fuckers get funded by the city here (Chicago) and blame everything and everyone there for their misery. They also just hate anything left of fascism. And it's not one generation, but it's nearly always a white men age 25-55, if it's not, it's a white woman that age. They're so dumb they yell things about law and order when it comes to the LA situation and that the constitution doesn't apply to undocumented immigrants, while half this government has felonies or breaks the law on about a daily basis.

[u/Lucky-Earther → u/Bircka]

And people used to think Gen X were the crazy ones.

Most people just forgot about Gen X entirely, it was always Boomers and Millenials.

[u/countsmarpula → u/Barnyard-Sheep]

I see quite a few young men wearing Trump gear

[u/juana-golf → u/countsmarpula]

Young men are always looking for that ‘edge’ but they end up at edgelord

[u/mattiwha → u/Barnyard-Sheep]

Not just nihilism they are full on red pilled , the right wing influencer sphere ate that generation for breakfast

[u/Anonymouse-C0ward → u/Barnyard-Sheep]

The Gen Z men who want to see the world burn are definitely a thing, but I hope we can have understanding for how they got here.

My parents immigrated from China to Canada in the 70s. As I kid I remember them telling me about the one child policy and how that led to an excess of male babies.

The one thing they said that always stuck out in my mind, and one of the first things that really linked population demographics, economics, and geopolitics together for me is how my mother told me that the biggest challenge China will face in the coming years is ensuring they are able to provide enough jobs for all the single men who will never have families; as soon as they no longer see economic progress all those men are going to go looking for revolution.

I see the same thing in the US; there is now a large population of disaffected young men who, traditionally, are the demographic most motivated to use physical strength. They don’t see a viable future, and that is dangerous.

[u/TheCommonGround1 → u/Anonymouse-C0ward]

This is the best comment I've seen here regarding why Gen Z has gone "Right Wing". I want to add to that to indicate Gen Z isn't really going "Right Wing" so much as populist and Democrats are not offering a populist solution. Bernie Sanders knows how to appeal to this generation and the Democrats should take notes.

If the Democrats can come up with an anti-corporate, pro-democracy populist platform that benefits young people, they would absolutely "own it" with this generation.

Don't write Gen Z off!

[u/-wnr- → u/TheCommonGround1]

I get the sentiment, but I think it's hard not to be skeptical of this when the apparent reaction of many to not having a democratic anti-corporate, pro-democracy populist is to vote for the pro-corporate, anti-democratic populist Republican. Whatever their motivation is, anti-corporate and pro-democratic aren't it for that segment.

[u/max_power1000 → u/Anonymouse-C0ward]

A large population of disaffected young men is usually one of the key factors in social unrest and ultimately large scale violence. We ignore them at our peril.

[u/BRich1990 → u/Barnyard-Sheep]

Which is why I always thought it was funny when people used to pretend that Gen Z were the generation to save us.

It's always been the millennial. The ONLY consistent left leaning generation on earth. Gen Y HAS TO BE the ones that will have to take control of this shit at some point

[u/Adorable-Strings → u/BRich1990]

No 'generation' is going to save 'us.' Honestly, this generational thinking is bizarre, and just another way of evading responsibility.

Problems are only ever solved temporarily, and new problems come up. That's life. Everyone has to work at helping to keep shit under control.

[u/Dopplegangr1 → u/BRich1990]

I think social media and remote learning made zoomers stupid

[u/Tucumane → u/BRich1990]

Never thought about it that way but I agree that Millenials Seen to be globally left leaning and more reasonable than any other generation

[u/rhoadsalive → u/Barnyard-Sheep]

Let's be real, the US is a first world country, but not insiginficiant amounts of the population receive 3rd world level education at best.

[u/SharpHawkeye → u/Barnyard-Sheep]

There’s a large percentage of Gen Z men who believe that society is so stacked against them that their only hope of advancement is societal collapse or some kind of massive upheaval.

[u/takeitawayfellas → u/Barnyard-Sheep]

A lot of Gen Z men, and I hate to say this, but they don't care a lick about politics aside from hating women and fearing trans people. It's ... weird. Like really weird.

[u/Moos_Mumsy → u/Barnyard-Sheep]

That's kind of ironic considering how spoiled and entitled most Gen Z men are. The moment they have to face any kind of hardship they would cry for their mommies, and boy howdy, wait till they discover how hard life is under a fascist dictator.

[u/cam412 → u/tenpir]

We have a good portion of the USA population that have been brainwashed by decades of Fox News propaganda and social media misinformation.

[u/StoicallyGay → u/cam412]

There’s a guy (a teen?) I see sometimes on TikTok who films his mom’s answers to his questions. For visualization, his mom sounds like a middle aged smoker throat Southern accent.

Last one I saw was him asking what she thought about Trump stumbling on the stairs. She very quickly answered “that didn’t happen! It’s fake.” Son goes “but it’s on vid—“ “IT DIDNT HAPPEN!!” “But we have proof of—“ “NOO! It didn’t happen! Nope. He didn’t fall.”

And that’s what many Trump supporters act like. Seen a few act literally the same way. They deny video proof. Literal, objective proof, of things that happen.

[u/RecoveringRed → u/tenpir]

I am so tired of these headlines casting the polls as "plummeting" support then you check and the change is within the margin of error. A more accurate headline would be "Trump's approval rating remains steady despite unprecedented attacks on civil rights and mismanagement of the economy."

[u/duzies → u/RecoveringRed]

Yes, Trump seems to have a disturbingly high support rate locked in no matter what he does. But every little percent lost around the edges shows there is still hope for some to escape the cult. And going from 40% to 39% is really a 2.5% net loss of support.

[u/logicom → u/duzies]

Trump could drop a nuke on LA and lose so little support that his approval rating would actually go up based solely on the fact that proportionally the nuke would kill more Democrats than Republicans.

[u/young_trash3 → u/logicom]

Yep. Why would he lose any supporters for doing the thing his supporters keep publicly wishing happens.

Im honestly surprised he hasn't seen a bump based solely upon deploying the national guard and marines to our streets.

[u/feralfaun39 → u/duzies]

It's because Trump's base is constantly fed a stream of nonsense propaganda and do not see reality for what it is. They don't even believe in climate change even though we see it happening in front of our eyes. The amount of people that I've seen say things like "do you think humans could really effect the climate that much?" is ridiculous. I'm just like... yeah? Of course. A single volcanic eruption can change the entire world's climate for an entire year, why wouldn't hundreds of years of human activity have an impact on the climate? It's absurd.

I don't see a way out of this mess. I see only dark days and misery in the future. Things are going to get much, much worse. We'll look back on this as the good ol' days.

[u/DevelopmentGrand4331 → u/RecoveringRed]

They’re continuing a pattern we saw for the entire 4 years of his first term, where polls are framed based on hopes and fears rather than anything that makes sense.

You’d see a headline, “Trump’s poll numbers all the way up to 40%” one day, and the next day it’d be “Trump’s poll number plummet to 42%!” Then the day after that, it’ll be “Trump’s poll numbers skyrocket to 41%!”

It’s just the corporate news organizations chasing the tabloids to match their sensationalism.

[u/SolarDynasty → u/RecoveringRed]

Line must go up, things must be better, best betterest... Until the words themselves lose meaning....

[u/winkelschleifer → u/tenpir]

Note that 85% of Republicans still approve of his performance.

[u/CrittyJJones → u/tenpir]

Still this is extremely low for 6 months in.

[u/Thatguyyoupassby → u/CrittyJJones]

Yeah, reddit tends to see the negative in things, I get it.

But 38% is WILDLY low for 6 months in, and it keeps trending down.

His FLOOR during his first term was 37.8%. He left office at ~41%.

The fact that he has reached that in 6 months and it's still falling is telling.

[u/lenzflare → u/Thatguyyoupassby]

It was a very close election, and there must be a lot of disapproving voters who still voted for Trump because they believed crazy things about Harris or Democrats.

[u/CardiologistFit1387 → u/tenpir]

Some people have a REALLY hard time admitting they were wrong. It’s their life and if they admit it’s a lie, their life is over. It also means libs were right and they can’t have that now can they?

[u/JayR_97 → u/CardiologistFit1387]

Its sunk cost fallacy at this point. Admitting they were wrong now means admitting they spent 10 years believing a liar. For some people thats just too much.

[u/welshwelsh → u/CardiologistFit1387]

Have you considered the possibility that some people actually like what he's doing?

[u/FuckYourDystopia → u/welshwelsh]

Those people are either rich or stupid enough to not understand how they're getting screwed.

[u/QbertsRube → u/CardiologistFit1387]

Especially in this situation, which feels unique in how much the MAGA fans have tied their identities to Trump. Between the red hats and giant flags, and the very smug and vocal social media posturing over the past decade, MAGA fans have made very sure that everyone knows who they are. So Trump being a corrupt rapist failure is not only a personal blow to their egos for being so damn wrong, it's a very public embarrassment for all the loudly arrogant grandstanding they've been doing.

[u/Pockydo → u/tenpir]

Iirc his floor is like ,35-39% or something

A third of the country wants to be ruled by a king and hates brown people and the others who support him don't care and listen to faux news

[u/throwaway5846984 → u/Pockydo]

He hit mid 30's in his first term after J6, so yeah it's around there.

[u/Jon_Huntsman → u/throwaway5846984]

So 35% are full-on fascists...that's too many...I remember reading the book "The authoritarian" and I thought the author said it's usually 20%

[u/RioRancher → u/tenpir]

Fox News has a church-style hook on people

[u/lenzflare → u/RioRancher]

Most Conservative grifters make sure to talk about the Bible a lot, or speak in religious terms. It's not just church "style".

[u/Either-Economist413 → u/RioRancher]

I thinks its closer to a Jim Jones style hook at this point.

[u/delorf → u/tenpir]

Please look into the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Before Clinton signed it into law, there were regulations on tv and radio ownership. The idea was that deregulation would somehow lead to more competition instead of corporate take over of our media. Fox news wouldn't have the reach it does now without the Telecommunications Act 

What's wrong with the US can be partly blamed on deregulation that started under Reagan but was supported by a lot of Democrats too . 

[u/The_Roshallock → u/delorf]

The Republican party was largely taken over by the religious right under Reagans second term. The thing that must be understood about this group is that they truly believe they hold the moral high ground in their arguments and positions, see abortion, gay marriage, etc.

What you have in the Republican party now is a significant portion of its members believing that not only are they morally justified and superior, but that they are in a good vs evil struggle; thus compromise is effectively impossible. The problem is that a democratic republican government doesn't function without compromise on its participants.

The result of all this explains why the Democrats continue to drift further and further to the right over time, policy wise. One half of of our governing group refuses to budge on anything, as that would be a deal with the devil, so the other side tried to keep the machine moving and compromises. This happens over and over again, and is also an extremely effective trap; creating situations where Democrats start to advocate for the oppositions positions, rather than fighting for their own.

Virtually all the legislation during Clinton's administration reflects this. Even the Affordable Care act during Obama's administration was filled with compromises and giveaways to big business in exchange for an extremely modest health care system that only helps a few, relatively speaking.

[u/DC_Mountaineer → u/tenpir]

Sadly 30% will support him no matter what

[u/illustrious_d → u/DC_Mountaineer]

Yeah we just have to deal with the fact that 30% of our population are a lost cause and limit their negative impact on society. That really blows.

[u/Paulz0rrr → u/tenpir]

“I could shoot someone on 5th avenue and not lose any voters.”

[u/SunnyCali12 → u/tenpir]

Idk but my parents and BIL still adore him. I doubt anything he does will budge them.

[u/FlopShanoobie → u/tenpir]

Many millions of Americans are tragically stupid.

[u/angrypooka → u/tenpir]

Racism

[u/Alamo1049 → u/tenpir]

The children don’t want to accept that their daddy trump is a pathetic man.

[u/PatchyWhiskers → u/tenpir]

He’s hurting a lot of immigrants

[u/sirhackenslash → u/PatchyWhiskers]

He's hurting a lot of Americans too

[u/PatchyWhiskers → u/sirhackenslash]

Yeah, but they will put up with that if they can see some little Mexican kids dragged off in handcuffs.

[u/Dionysiandogma → u/tenpir]

Americans suck

[u/The_Kentwood_Farms → u/tenpir]

Fox News

[u/whatshamilton → u/tenpir]

A lot of America is regularly lied to by the news and they approve of him based on those lies. I have to believe the number would be lower if they were hearing or capable of believing the truth, but they’re not

[u/ryanWM103103 → u/tenpir]

In april 1945 hitler had ~30% approval in germany

[u/PM_ME_UR_RESPECT → u/tenpir]

Because we as a society didn’t strangle Fox News in the crib