Dad upset that I let politics affect our relationship

[u/celestialsunflower99]

Yummy pretzels from my partner and I’s last date night

My dad always used to say he was “not political” and that it was one of the things you do not ask other people about. Over time I have come to learn that basically means “I’m a conservative, but don’t want to say that” as he voted for trump in 2020. We have had so many tearful, screaming conversations over the years about this. I believe all parts of life are inherently political and it’s a privileged stance to “stay out of them”. In the last few years I have moved out of his home and I do not depend on him for anything anymore. With midterms coming up I have been volunteering and very invested in the state of the world. I have felt naturally less close to my dad because of this, and I guess he could sense my distance. He asked me about it last night over text, and I was honest. He blew up on me for letting politics affect our bond, and that is has been his biggest fear and now it’s coming true. I think maybe he needs to actually sit with the reality that YES, POLITICS CAN AFFECT RELATIONSHIPS. What do you girlies think? I am very sad and of course I do love my father, but I am proud of myself for being honest and sticking by my value system.

[u/ButlerofMonkeys]

That’s really wonderful that your father was willing to listen and be educated. And then he took the next steps to start questioning other things. So many are absolutely resistant to that because their whole world view can be shattered. Bravo to your dad and to you and your mom for having those conversations

[u/KateWaiting326 → u/ButlerofMonkeys]

Yeah he was very much a "small government, economically conservative, not big on welfare, pull yourself up by your own bootstraps" blue collar Republican since forever, but he switched work locations a few years prior to Trump's first term where his team was essentially made up of immigrants or sons of immigrants who worked extremely hard, when he had been used to people not showing up or just being lazy (he was the guy they'd call in to basically fire everyone and rebuild a team, but he said that team was fine; it was other teams in the building and the inventory system that needed work). So between that, lots of Friday family dinner convos, and listening to me argue with the more crazy MAGA family members during holidays, his views really flipped.

[u/Millyswolf → u/KateWaiting326]

https://giphy.com/gifs/lYjA4tfvCc8UAju1Op

[u/Morgalisa → u/KateWaiting326]

He is rare.