Liberal fury and stress hurts someone. But it isn't Trump. | Opinion
It's unfair to characterize every MAGA adherent as felon-loving racists who relish the anti-DEI and anti-transgender movements. Some do, but some don't.
I’m worried about you, liberal friends.
Very worried.
It’s been more than three months since Donald Trump won the presidency again and four weeks since he took office again. Many of my liberal friends remain distraught at his election, and that’s not unusual. Most Democrats, according to a recent Pew Research Center poll, don’t like anything Trump does.
It’s fine not to like his policies, but it’s not fine to let him paralyze you, as is happening in too many cases. The fury you feel isn’t healthy.
I see you rubbing your temples and pounding Ibuprofen because of headaches. I see you worry about the pains in your chest, feeling listless, with a stomach so upset you can’t eat.
All of those symptoms are signs of stress. It isn’t stress caused by Trump or the MAGA movement.
It's stress caused by you.
Donald Trump can't keep his promises
You cause that stress when you can’t discuss this administration without launching into an angry diatribe. You cause that stress when you obsess over every move the White House makes.
Just because 77.3 million people voted for Trump doesn’t mean they agree with all of his policies. Some do, some don’t. Some voted because they truly believe in his message, while others have been hoodwinked by promises he can’t keep.
Remember when he said he would bring down grocery prices? Once he got elected, he changed his tune and now says that’ll be “very hard.”
It’s unfair to characterize every MAGA adherent as felon-loving racists who relish the anti-DEI and anti-transgender movements.
Some do, but some don’t.
MAGA voters aren't against you – necessarily
Most MAGA supporters are working-class people worried about their financial future and their families, just like you. They worry that Democrats moved too far left too fast, pandering to disenfranchised groups and cultural issues – just like you.
That’s right. A new Gallup poll shows that Democrats want their party to moderate its positions.
Here's something else. Trump doesn’t care about you. Heck, he only cares about his supporters if they vote for him. Otherwise, they’re useless.
I get it. You’re worried about a country governed by Project 2025 adherents intent on marginalizing people of color and cultures they don’t understand and don’t care to.
But Americans, historically, have become more tolerant over time.
Did you know that in the 1950s and parts of the 1960s, this country was aghast at interracial marriages? Now, more than 90% of people are OK with it.
Now is not forever
The time that we live in is not the time that will last. It feels that way because everything – the anger, hurt and stress – is right here, right now, with no prospect of getting better.
But times change.
Society changes.
Until then, you can help yourself by remembering that some people voted for Trump with good intentions, even if you see them as misguided.
Remember that democracy stinks when you’re on the losing side (remember how conservatives felt when Barack Obama won the White House)?
Remember that the emotion doesn’t hurt Trump.
It hurts your family, the people you’ve shunned and, most of all, you. Your values, views and morals shouldn’t be governed by rage at a movement that doesn’t know you exist.
Freedom of speech and choice doesn’t apply only when you agree. Remember that, too.
So take a breath. When you feel your head pounding, your chest thumping and your stomach tightening remember: The stress that harms you won’t do anything to change a reality we’ll live in for another two years, or four if the Democrats don’t take the House in 2026.
That’s a long time to chew yourself up.
I’m worried about you.
Very worried.
Ray Marcano, a longtime journalist, is the former national president of the Society of Professional Journalists, a two-time Pulitzer juror and a Fulbright fellow. He is a frequent Columbus Dispatch contributor, where this column originally appeared.