It has become a staple of American political discourse to see folks on opposite sides of the aisle trying to make sense of one another—or, more often, failing hilariously to do so. Recently, a couple of women made headlines for expressing their feelings about not supporting Donald Trump. You’d think their reasons might be rooted in a well-thought-out critique, but boy, did things spiral down the rabbit hole faster than a toddler in a candy store.
To kick things off, these ladies claimed they felt like their rights were being stripped away. One of them even went so far as to suggest that Trump was trying to drag women back to the 1900s, where, allegedly, all the fun was draining away along with the right to vote. It’s a tall claim that makes you wonder if she’d heard “the Donald” say “Make America Great Again” or if she thought he was casting spells based on her interpretation of history. Spoiler alert: he’s not pulling us back in time, unless there’s a new time machine we haven’t heard about.
Then came the cherry on top of this wild sundae: the notion that Trump was pushing for “abortions after birth.” Look, when it comes to political debate, we all have our clunkers—reminds you of the time your buddy tried explaining how to cook without burning water but ended up setting off smoke alarms. Here, however, the conversation felt less about facts and more about an “oops, my brain’s in airplane mode” moment. The lady saying Trump wanted to have babies aborted after they were born? Come on! If that was the case, you’d think there’d be a lot more flying babies coming back from the hospital!
Let’s not forget the side commentary kicking in with the classic “I’d rather vote for Kamala than Trump.” That’s the political version of saying you’d rather eat a bowl of nails than a hot dog at a summer barbecue. I mean, really, if you find yourself comforted by the thought of being locked up under the vice president’s rule, you might want to take a breather and reconsider your life choices—it’s suddenly sounding a lot like a plot point in a dystopian novel no one asked for.
Now, snickering at these misunderstandings aside, it does highlight a larger issue—how many people are actually informed about the candidate they’re supporting? Looking at this fiasco, you can’t help but wonder if these women were snacking on cabbage during the debate instead of paying attention. With political discussions often peppered with misinformation, it’s not surprising how easily facts get twisted. Instead of a healthy debate, we end up with a reality show, and not the fun kind with roses and drama. More like “Survivor: The Political Edition,” where the only thing we get to vote on is who gets to stay on the island.
At the end of the day, it’s essential for voters—regardless of which side of the fence they’re on—to have their facts straight. Maybe if we all took a deep breath and made a pact to at least listen to each other instead of cooking up fiery opinions based on half-baked ideas, we might just lift politics to a higher plane. And who knows? We might even find some common ground. But until that miraculous day arrives, we’ll just have to keep the popcorn handy for the next round of hot takes at the debate!
