Any republicans reading?
- jlk399
- Mar 4
- 3 min read
Hey friend,
I have a bit of a strange request today.
I’m looking to have a series of respectful, good-faith conversations with Trump supporters.
Why?
Well, I genuinely have some questions about what they’re seeing reported, what they’re celebrating or upset about, what they’re scared of, and how they’re understanding or processing a variety of news stories.
Some people like to say we need to come together in unity right now, focus on compassion, or not let politics divide us… but I think they often mean we should just set our politics aside, and try to be kind and loving to people despite them.
I actually don’t agree with that.
I do believe that if we want to avoid something like a civil or world war, we need to forge connection and understanding across the ever-increasing political divide. I also believe compassion and respect are undoubtedly an important part of forging that
But the “unity” we need right now can’t be done despite our politics. I believe, in fact, that we must actually dive directly into our politics, and try to make sense of how they do (and don’t) intersect, not set them aside.
The thing is, our politics are about much more than just who we vote for. They’re an extension of our very humanity. When we talk politics we’re not talking about ideas, but people; we’re talking about our hearts and souls.
Our political beliefs represent something fundamental about ourselves—our values, our fears, our wounds, and our aspirations— and I believe they need to be understood, honored, and dealt with as such.
I don’t want to try to “love someone no matter what they believe.”
I want to try to understand what they believe, and more importantly, why they believe it.
Because nothing gets better until we can really see and understand each other, and because we all need to feel truly seen and understood in order to heal, grow, and evolve.
I believe I’m uniquely positioned to do this work of seeing and understanding, of gathering insight, and of alchemizing it into healing.
As someone who grew up Republican (and is now progressive in the extreme)...
As someone whose entire coaching and writing career has centered around giving language to complex, nuanced, and difficult-to-talk-about truths…
As someone who has been honing the skill of unconditional positive regard and curiosity for decades…
As someone with the privilege and the bandwidth…
As someone with a platform…
…I feel called to have these kinds of conversations.
I’ve had great success in understanding specific topics like abortion and Palestine/Gaza in the past when I’ve invited these kinds of conversations, and I know that both my humanity and my work is better for it.
So if you are a Trump supporter or Republican who is feeling pretty good about what’s going on right now, I would like to invite you to reach out to me here and schedule a Zoom call with me to talk about it.
We can go over the ground rules for such a conversation beforehand, but please know that my goal in having these conversations is to grow my understanding of the “other side of the political aisle” as it were, so I will do everything in my power to show up with respect, compassion, curiosity, and an open mind– and I hope that you will, too.
That’s it for today. I realize most people who read this email are likely to be fairly aligned with me politically, so this may not be all that fruitful, I wanted to give it a shot anyway.
Big hug,
Jessi
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