Every family has one—or several: Right-wing relations or friends who treat every word of President Donald Trump as if it comes down from the Most High. Who furiously assert that:

• COVID-19 is still a Democratic hoax.
• The Trump administration is doing a terrific job at controlling a pandemic that has killed more than 170,000 Americans.
• Legitimate media stories of Trump’s crimes and failures are “fake news.”
• Dr. Anthony Fauci (and, more recently, Dr. Deborah Birx) are traitors for daring to contradict Trump’s lies and ignorance with scientific facts.
• Only Trump can be trusted to safeguard America.

What to do? 

There are three methods to cope with such behavior.

Method One: Challenge the Stormtrumper

Bring up an embarrassing incident that even the Stormtrumper can’t deny.

Example: A Stormtrumper accuses Democratic Presidential candidate Joe Biden of “groping” women.

Response: Mention how Trump openly bragged about grabbing women “by the pussy.” Then ask: “Would you leave your mother / wife / sister alone in a room with him?”

Donald Trump

No matter how the Stormtrumper replies, you have him.

• If he says “No, I wouldn’t,” then ask: “How can you support a candidate like this?”
• If he says, “Yes, I would,” then assert: “So you’d leave your mother / wife / sister alone with an admitted sexual predator?”

Odds are the Stormtrumper will back off—or try to change the subject.

If he opts for the latter, don’t let him. Keep attacking him for supporting a sexual predator until he flees or shuts up.

Method Two: Fight Fire With Fire

Trump has long relied on slanders and insults to successfully attack his opponents—in business, politics and media.

His slanders have included:

• He falsely accused the father of Texas United States Senator Rafael “Ted” Cruz of being a party to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. 
• He falsely accused Barack Obama—who was born in Hawaii—of being born in Kenya, and therefore ineligible to be President.
• He has accused Democratic Vice Presidential Nominee Kamala Harris—who was born in Oakland—of being born outside the United States.

Among his insults:

• “Little Marco” [Rubio]
•  “Pocahontas” [Elizabeth Warren]
• “Lyin’ Ted” [Cruz]
• “Crazy Bernie” [Sanders]
• “Crooked Hillary” [Clinton].

These slanders and insults need not be taken lying down.

Slanders can be attacked with counter-slanders.

For example: It’s widely assumed that Trump’s failed response to the COVID-19 plague results from mere incompetence. But it could result from the deliberate sabotaging of the American healthcare system. Why? To curry favor with Russian President Vladimir Putin

Trump’s ties to Putin—and the monies he’s received from Russian oligarchs—are well-known. Perhaps he’s weakening the United States to pay off that debt. 

If this assertion is false, let the Stormtrumper prove it. 

And insults can be countered with insults—such as:

• “Commissar-in-Chief”
• “Fake President”
• “Carrot Caligula”
• “Putin’s Poodle”
• “Coronavirus-in-Chief”. 

There’s no need to insult your Stormtrumper friend/relative (unless you want to).

Just keep jabbing at his infamous idol. If he ends your relationship because you don’t subscribe to his brand of treason and criminality, the loss is his.

Of course, if he insults you and you feel like responding, here’s a reply that’s always useful: “Everybody has a right to be stupid, but some people abuse the privilege.”

Then walk out, hang up or block him if he’s on your Facebook or Twitter page.

Method Three: Use Diplomacy

But suppose you’re peace-loving by nature and don’t want to get into a verbal (and possibly physical) combat with your Stormtrumper relative/friend.

At the same time, you don’t want to prostitute your integrity by agreeing with the sheer ignorance and lies coming out of his/her mouth. (And often it’s impossible to tell which is at play.) 

In that case, you can honorably defuse the situation by simply saying: “Of course.”

Most Stormtrumpers come from the ranks of high school dropouts or, at best, graduates. 

They dismiss legitimate news media who chronicle Trump’s crimes and failures as “fake news.” Thus, they remain—proudly—ignorant of what’s going on in the world. 

In short, they’re not exactly the sharpest knife in the box.

So when you say, “Of course,” they will most likely think you’re agreeing with them. When what you mean is: “Of course only a moron and Fascist like you would believe that.”

This will save you from wasting your time in trying to educate them.  (Remember the adage: “Never try to teach a GOPig how to sing. It only wastes your time and annoys the GOPig.”)

It also allows you to preserve the relationship. (That’s assuming you want a relationship with someone who actively supports a master criminal and traitor.)   

* * * * *

The key thing to remember when dealing with Stormtrumpers is what Ernest Hemingway said about Fascism: “Fascism is a lie told by bullies.”

Stormtrumpers are Fascistic bullies who tell lies. They give you two choices: You can be their slave—or their enemy.  

If you choose to be their slave and you have any sense of self-worth, you will despise yourself for doing so. 

If you choose to fight, you might not win, but you’ll have preserved your own integrity—which the Stormtrumper forfeited long ago.