Recently, we featured Rihanna Teixeira (@thediaryofrihanna), a 38-year-old ex-Evangelical woman who went viral for sharing how she deconstructed her racist and sexist beliefs and eventually stopped supporting Trump, despite voting for him in 2016.
Rihanna opened up about how, after George Floyd was murdered in 2020, she saw hypocrisy within the belief systems held by her conservative Evangelical communities. She explained that her church would grant “grace” to Trump’s behavior, including intense racist, anti-Islamic, and anti-trans conspiracy theories about the Obamas, but wouldn’t do the same for Barack Obama’s less severe shortcomings, which further made her question the hypocrisy.
BuzzFeed / Via buzzfeed.com
Since opening up about her “deconstruction,” as she called it, thousands thanked her for sharing her story, and many others shared their own experiences deconstructing their beliefs, too.
As others pointed out, it’s not often we hear about people taking accountability for their racist, sexist, or dangerous belief systems. And with a country that feels so divided and often fueled by anger and hate, it sometimes feels like there’s no hope of changing people’s perspectives.
However, because so many people in Rihanna’s comments shared they had their own “deconstruction” experiences, I was curious to know about them. So, I asked members of the BuzzFeed Community who previously voted for Trump but won’t in 2024 what their “last straw” was that made them shift their perspective or even deconstruct their belief systems.
Here’s everything they shared:
1.“Without a doubt, January 6. To see someone who could so blatantly deny the will of the people was beyond morally corrupt. He’s only gotten worse from there. Making sure to get Roe v. Wade overturned, all his corrupt dealings, all the insane stories and lies, Epstein. He turned my husband, who was a 2x Trump voter, away from him too.”
2.“I was raised in a very conservative household by boomer parents who have certain cable news programs running 24/7. The first election, I was in high school and very ignorant of many realities real people face. As I went through college and gained an education in academia and reality, I slowly pulled away from that mindset. My absolute final straw was the insurrection; admittedly, I voted for the guy in 2020, but understood that the loss should be taken with grace.”
“When people resulted to violence and declared war on our democracy, I was so disgusted. Apparently, people don’t realize that our votes are also propaganda for the actual electors to make decisions, which means that they also don’t understand how actual laws are made and put into place. We don’t need to put on the best show in the world; we should just treat human beings with common decency. There’s so much hate under him; I feel sorry for those trapped within that.”
Samuel Corum / Getty Images
3.“January 6 was the final straw for me. Not admitting his loss was bad enough, but insurrection is the worst possible thing that he stroked. And imagine, he got away with it. I would say poor suckers who believed him, and now they are in jail suffering. Meanwhile, Trump is free without any consequence. He never lifted a finger to help them.”
4.“When they tear-gassed people in front of the church across from the White House so Trump could have a photo-op holding the Bible.”
In 2020, people nonviolently protesting police brutality were tear-gassed to make way for Trump, who was walking from the White House to the St John’s Episcopal church. He stopped at the church, held the bible up, and said, “We have the greatest country in the world. Keep it nice and safe.” This happened after he delivered remarks demanding state governors deploy National Guard units and “dominate the streets.”
Brendan Smialowski / AFP via Getty Images
5.“Charlottesville.”
6.“When he said that immigrants were poisoning the blood of our country. Our daughter-in-law was born to an immigrant family, a wonderful group of caring, loving people. I could never support a candidate who said such horrible things about a member of my family.”
7.“I voted for Trump in 2016 because I had always voted Republican. I didn’t know much about the guy besides what was on TV. I thought, ‘Oh, a businessman, not a politician, is what the country needs,’ despite all the drama that was going on, but then again, I was pretty brainwashed to begin with.”
“The constant hateful nonsense was too much. After I moved to a MAGA town in 2018, the hypocrisy and lack of empathy hit me like a ton of bricks. Like a bad relationship where red flags are ignored, I finally left the racist school, boyfriend, oil-crazed town, and Republican Party. Never looked back and certainly don’t miss any of it.”
8.“I’m a physician with a degree in microbiology/immunology and research (actual) experience in vaccine development. I am also a Republican. When COVID started, my mind was absolutely blown by the things Trump and Fox News were saying on a daily basis. My wife (also a physician) and I would look at each other and say, ‘A lot of people are going to die because of this.'”
“There are a lot of components to politics that most of us have no idea about, myself included, which makes it easy to believe what we are told. However, I know medicine, immunology, microbiology, etc… I cannot be lied to about that. All of the lies and misinformation made me take a deep look into my own political beliefs and revealed a whole new perspective on Donald Trump. The further I looked, the worse he became. I cannot overstate how disappointed I am with what he and his followers have done to the Republican Party.”
—Anonymous
9.“When he was found liable of sexually assaulting E. Jean Carroll by jury. And then when he continued to debase her, and he still does. After all the accusations against him over all the years by women and his own admission caught on tape where he said, ‘When you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. … Grab ’em by the pussy. You can do anything.'”
“It is hard not to believe this didn’t happen to her and others. So many women have come forward. I could never vote for him again.”
—Anonymous
Ed Jones / AFP via Getty Images
10.“It started with him suggesting injecting disinfectants for coronavirus; it ended with him siding an insurrection, a coup if you will, on January 6, 2021…”
“You can go on and on with this man. He’s a sexual abuser; he ran with Jeffrey Epstein, [argued about immigrants] eating the cats and dogs, [enabled] white supremacists… but the attempted coup on January 6, 2021, was the final straw.”
11.“I reluctantly voted for him in 2016 as I had been a lifelong Republican. I didn’t like him then, but I couldn’t justify supporting Clinton (I still don’t care for her). During most of his term, I still didn’t care for or agree with everything he did, but I still gave him the benefit of the doubt and defended some things. But then COVID happened. I work in healthcare, and seeing him and his followers (including my parents and siblings, who had always been rational and levelheaded until that point) become conspiracy theorists and seeing my fellow Christians not care about the safety of others pushed me over the line. I voted for Biden in 2020 and am all in for Harris. I don’t think I can ever vote for a Republican again.”
12.“When Trump shoved the Montenegro Prime Minister at a NATO meeting and then stood there like he owned the world. Never been so embarrassed to be an American citizen.”
13.“I liked him at first. I voted for him the first time. But then, when it came time for the next election, he seemed more worried about winning than he did about his actual job as president. Then he threw the temper tantrum when he lost, and I listened to his speech on January 6. That was his fault. He needs to own up to it.”
“At that point, all I could see was an overgrown child, a narcissistic man who let his ego overtake his reason. Now, when I see his speeches, I see a sad little man who thinks he is God’s gift to America.”
14.“When all of his ‘best people’ started resigning. Everything I saw in the day-to-day chaos was confirmed by his upper-level advisors, who left his administration because they refused to be part of the lunacy that he brings.”
—Anonymous
15.“I initially supported Trump as an outsider to the political scene. While I still agree with some of his policies, there’s absolutely no place for racism or misogyny as a leader. When Trump failed to completely and unequivocally condemn all actions of white supremacists, specifically the Proud Boys, in the 2020 debate, this was the moment I knew Trump couldn’t unite this country moving forward.”
16.“Never giving a straight answer in a debate is the main one. The AI-generated memorabilia is another.”
17.“I didn’t actually end up voting for him, but when he first started his candidacy, I would say I was (quite naively) pro-Trump. Then, he started calling Elizabeth Warren Pocahontas. As a Native American, this is unacceptable and racist behavior. I think Elizabeth Warren was in the wrong for her statements about being Cherokee, but regardless, Trump’s behavior was horrific, and his pattern of name-calling continued. Don’t even get me started on how misunderstood the story of Matoaka (Pocahontas) really is.”
18.“I am a nurse from Milwaukee, WI, previously an undecided voter. After watching the presidential debate and talking with my sister-in-law, a staunch supporter of Harris, I am officially voting Democrat for the first time. I voted for Trump before, but after that presidential debate, I would question my patients’ mental status if they talked to me like that.”
“He was just appalling, while she was the definition of poise and grace. I don’t agree with her on everything, but there is no way I’m voting for Trump again in this election. As a woman, my autonomy and rights are too important for me to stand by and watch this delusional billionaire run our country.”
—Anonymous
19.“When he reportedly said the servicemen on D-Day were suckers and losers. Plus, saying he liked ‘people who weren’t captured,’ referring to prisoners of war.”
20.“When he mocked the reporter with a disability.”
—Anonymous
21.“I was a very conservative Republican who had voted Republican since 1978. I’m ashamed to say that it took me three months into Trump’s presidency to turn my back on the Republican party. Every day he was president, I woke up with dread, wondering what stupid, hateful, racist, ignorant tweet he made during the middle of the night. After George Floyd was murdered, I registered as a Democrat. l did a lot of soul-searching into my beliefs, words, and actions. I’ve lost a daughter and friends to MAGA and QAnon.”
And lastly:
22.“I voted for Trump in 2016 as part of the Evangelical community and those hoping for an outsider businessman who promised to do many things that seemed to promote traditional Republican conservatism, like less government, lower taxes, etc. But it was still a real struggle at the ballot box. I recall it was almost like flipping a coin after a short prayer right there in the voting booth. One of the rationalizations I used in voting for him was that the checks and balances of our government branches would provide guardrails and prevent him from running amuck. OMG, was I wrong and way too idealistic, if not naive.”
“So, after confessing this to my wife, who voted for Clinton and living in the doghouse for quite some time afterward, I came to realize quite immediately at the start of his term how wrong I was and how toxic and incompetent and even dangerous this man was to our nation and the world. I’m a fairly well-educated former US Naval Officer, a graduate of one of our best service academies, and fairly well-versed in both history and Biblical study. Yet, I still kick myself and lament my poor voting decision back then in light of all that has transpired since.”
—Anonymous
Adamkaz / Getty Images
Now, I turn it back over to you, but with a bit of a different question – if you previously held racist, homophobic, or sexist beliefs, what changed? What “breaking point” moment changed your perspective, and how did you deconstruct your harmful beliefs? Let me know in the comments or by using this anonymous form.
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.
