Welcoming Regretful Trump Voters
Many Americans who voted Donald Trump into office, have become not only disillusioned, but also even ashamed, angry, heartbroken, and downright regretful of providing support to the current occupant of the People’s House. From broken promises to soaring fuel prices, it is no wonder many Americans are feeling heartbroken, and those who wanted things to be better and made the wrong choice toward that goal are becoming disillusioned.
But where do we go from here? How can we heal our country and reconcile with those we have had disagreements with in the past who now repent? What path will our country take? One of continual resentment or one of forgiveness? A prior Indivisible SF blog post spoke about the importance of forgiveness. It offers a lesson that all Americans might learn from the endurance (and survival) of African-Americans in this country.
Wherever you plant our feet, ask yourself “where does my choice lead to?” If you choose empathy or forgiveness, or even if you simply want to gain every vote of support for our causes that you can, then we ask your help to get regretful Trump voters to our side. From there you may wonder: How the hell do I do that?!
In this post, we’ve collected a wealth of resources for how you can appeal to people who’ve made the wrong choice and now regret it, using empathy to help change their minds and win their votes. The list includes a guide produced by the folks at Leaving MAGA, in which they said: “We have created a how-to guide for people who want to reach out to loved ones and friends in MAGA, but aren’t sure how.” Their guide and more resources are listed below.
We’ve also produced a humorous video to encourage folks like yourself to take up this cause. In the competitive world of online media, we took an approach that could direct viewers to act! We made an homage to a classic advertisement by the World Wildlife Fund, using the GOP’s symbolic elephant to represent MAGA voters. Check out our version here.
Please review the material and speak with members of your inner circle, your family, and folks within your communities. Let’s spread fact-based information in time to make their own choices and thereby anchor their decisions to VOTE BLUE this fall!
RESOURCES for Help and Guidance
Leaving MAGA https://leavingmaga.org/
Leaving MAGA “Reaching Out” guide: https://leavingmaga.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Reaching-Out-Guide.pdf
Life After Hate:
https://www.lifeafterhate.org/
Parents for Peace: https://www.parents4peace.org/
“A bit of what we do as well as some stories and testimonies on how we prevent all kinds of violent extremism in our communities. If you know someone struggling with extremism, call our helpline: 1-844-49-PEACE”
More In Common: https://moreincommonus.com/
“More in Common is a nonprofit organization that publishes research, builds strategies, and works in partnership with leaders and organizations throughout the United States. We help these partners bring Americans together across differences to engage meaningfully in our civil and cultural life. In addition to the US, More in Common has teams in France, Germany, Poland, the UK, and most recently Brazil. We develop evidence-based solutions to disrupt the dynamics of polarization. We work with leaders across America to bring these solutions to life.”
A couple of items by More In Common bear particular note:
Beyond MAGA - A Profile of the Trump Coalition: https://beyondmaga.us/
“There is an image at the heart of American politics: a sea of red-hat-wearing MAGA supporters at a Trump campaign rally, representing the millions of Americans who voted for him over the past three elections — 63 million in 2016, 74 million in 2020, and 77 million in 2024. Yet this image is misleading. President Trump has built a coalition, not a cult. This coalition shares many common concerns, from unregulated immigration to progressive overreach to American decline. But it also contains groups with distinct identities, competing priorities, and clashing worldviews. And while there is a strong core of ardent Trump supporters whose identity is wrapped up in the MAGA movement, they represent a minority: only 38 percent of Trump voters say that being MAGA is important to them.”
Hidden Tribes
“America has never felt so divided. Bitter debates that were once confined to Congressional hearings and cable TV have now found their way into every part of our lives, from our Facebook feeds to the family dinner table. But most Americans are tired of this "us-versus-them" mindset and are eager to find common ground. This is the message we’ve heard from more than 8,000 Americans in one of our country’s largest-ever studies of polarization: We hold dissimilar views on many issues. However, more than three in four Americans also believe that our differences aren’t so great that we can’t work together.”
https://hiddentribes.us/
The Perception Gap
“Do you have a yawning Perception Gap, or are you in sync with the American public? Our study explores how Americans tend to have a distorted understanding of people on the other side of the aisle, what causes it, and why it matters.”
https://perceptiongap.us/
Promising Revelations:
Undoing the False Impressions of America’s Faithful
“Is America still religious? How deeply are our faith communities driven by politics? In an era of deepening polarization, can religious Americans help us transcend politicized narratives and unite around shared values? The answers may surprise you. They may even challenge and inspire you to rethink faith in America — and the role that faith communities can play in bringing us together as a country. Our perception of religion in the United States has become increasingly distorted by partisan politics and misinformed stereotypes. More in Common’s newest report, Promising Revelations, sheds light on false assumptions about faith communities and explores how misperceptions contribute to division in our society. By dispelling common myths about religious America, Promising Revelations paints a hopeful and clear picture of what it means to be a person of faith in America today.”
https://www.faithperceptiongap.us/
VIEWING and LISTENING Material
Radioactive: The Father Coughlin Story
“The radio priest, Father Charles Coughlin. A raging antisemite. A man who emulated Hitler and wrote fan mail to Mussolini. The first mass media demagogue. Radioactive tells the story of a crafty bigot who used a new mass medium to spread hate and get much too close to political power. This eight-part podcast, hosted by Detroit journalist Andrew Lapin, weaves together archival materials and present-day interviews to tell the story of Father Charles Coughlin’s dangerous rise and dramatic fall. Who was Father Charles Coughlin, and what were the conditions that allowed for the rise of the first mass media demagogue? In the first episode of this eight-part podcast, host Andrew Lapin details the humble origins of Father Charles Coughlin and his fellow antisemite, Henry Ford, and reveals how the dawn of radio combined with world-shattering events to fuel Coughlin’s meteoric rise. ”
https://www.pbs.org/wnet/exploring-hate/series/radioactive/
Arno Michaelis - former white supremacist
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OML1tFIFBjw
Different Forms of Extremism, Similar Narratives - with Arno Michaelis and Mubin Shaikh
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iID9aOl3jLM
Empowering Students Against Extremism
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMdZwF_IktA
Trump Voters To Conservative News Outlet: "I Regret It"
(...We are not in this position because of socialism; we are in this position because of capitalism…)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmsQZJVXdn0
READING Material
A previous Indivisible SF blog piece:
What happened to the Waterbuck?
https://indivisiblesf.org/blog/2025/9/16/what-happened-to-the-waterbuck
Our most popular previously published Indivisible SF blog piece:
Talking to your friends and family about Trumpism
https://indivisiblesf.org/blog/2018/11/19/talking-to-your-friends-family-about-trump
Four MAGA defectors addicted to fear and rage
“Four Maga defectors on what led them to walk away: ‘I’d been addicted to fear and rage’ Ex-Maga supporters unpack their role in bolstering Trump’s platform and share what brought them to the Leaving Maga non-profit support network. ‘I had to reckon with the fact that I’d been complicit in … amplifying conspiracy theories that caused real suffering,’ says Rich Logis, the founder of Leaving Maga.”
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/sep/01/former-maga-supporters-trump
Life after Maga: the group offering an ‘exit ramp’ for rightwingers questioning Trumpism
The non-profit Leaving Maga is built on the premise that abandoning the Trump-built movement is like fighting a disease or breaking an addiction
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/sep/01/leaving-maga-support-group
The Prodigal Repuglians - The Never Again Trumpers?
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/the-prodigal-republicans
Uncommon Knowledge: Exhaustion, Not Rage, Is America’s Political Currency
According to this Newsweek article, the dominant emotion among the American public regarding politics is profound exhaustion rather than anger, despite the proliferation of online "rage bait". Polling data shows that 65% of Americans feel exhausted by politics compared to 55% who feel angry, leading a majority to reduce their consumption of political news. https://www.newsweek.com/rage-bait-donald-trump-america-11153886
Not All Trump Voters Love Him but They Regard the Other Side as Out of Touch with Them: A Conversation with Jason Mangone
The article explores how a critical and demographically diverse segment of Donald Trump’s base supports him primarily due to cultural alienation and negative partisanship rather than devotion to the candidate himself. These voters tolerate Trump's controversies because they view the political opposition as an elitist establishment that is out of touch with their everyday realities. Identifying opportunities to win them over requires understanding them as they understand themselves
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/not-all-trump-voters-love-him-but
Why Is Leaving MAGA So Difficult?
https://www.newyorker.com/podcast/the-new-yorker-radio-hour/why-is-leaving-maga-so-difficult
Liberals Should Try Harder to Understand Their Adversaries
Even—or especially—in emotionally fraught times.
The commentary published argues that proactive liberals can minimize political blind spots by understanding the genuine motivations and perspectives of their political opponents rather than viewing them as a monolithic bloc. This approach is presented as a strategic necessity for accurately mapping conservative viewpoints and addressing past electoral losses.
https://www.liberalpatriot.com/p/liberals-should-try-harder-to-understand
What does Gen Z think about political polarization?
Research from a Stanford University political science course reveals that Generation Z is more optimistic than older demographics about bridging America's political divides and does not view polarization as permanent. Furthermore, the study found that while heavy social media use hardens partisan feelings, it does not distort basic facts or uniquely warp Gen Z's reality compared to other generations.
https://news.stanford.edu/stories/2026/06/gen-z-political-views-undergraduate-students-survey